DJ Quik’s legacy in hip-hop has long been established, but the veteran rapper, producer and sound engineer feels he hasn’t gotten the respect he deserves. The Compton MC showed a “little” royalty check he recently received from Death Row Records and was so heated at the amount that he set the check on fire.
“I’m not so happy. I’m real offended by this Death Row check and this amount. As much work as I did for these sons of b——-, I feel the respect factor is crazy. There is none. So to show you how much your money means to me, Mr. Death Row Records — all the Tupac stuff I did, help with Tha Dogg Pound project. Devil, you are a b—–. I want my real money and I want all my credits for everything that I did in this industry,” explained the producer.
“All the songs, including ‘Hot In Here’ by Nelly and Pharrell. I want my credit for being ‘Get Nekkid.’ I want my credit from Kendrick Lamar — and this is no disrespect to Kendrick Lamar, I love TDE, you guys are awesome — but the fact y’all left my credit off ‘King Kunta’ [To Pimp A Butterfly] was crazy,” Quik commented.
The well-respected rapper was also a sound engineer at Death Row Records and is determined to not let his work go uncredited.
“R. Kelly ‘Home Alone,’ that’s 100 percent all of my drum sounds, my music, and me playing percussion. I want that too. All Eyez On Me, it’s my credit, I want that. ‘In Da Club,’ ‘If I Can’t,’ I helped with those records by 50 Cent. I want that too. I want all my credits. I’m starting to get to a point where I’m impatient and I feel disrespected,” Quik declared. “I’m not going to be the underdog of this music industry anymore. I am to be respected as a king and a lord that I am, a God when it comes to production. I need all of my f——- credits.”
The label lost several artists to the streets — including Tupac — and the company was frequently in some kind of street beef. “I took death chances over there. I could have been killed being at that record company. I need all of my f——- credit. Give me my s— while I’m alive. Give me my roses when I can smell them,” he concluded.
Check out DJ Quik demanding his respect on the next page.
