It's DJ Quik & Kurupt!

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Cause three packed rubbers cost three twenty nine


It's always great to hear new fire. It's even better to hear new fire from guys with 20 years of music already under their belts. I feel like the combination of expectation to live up to past greatness and do something new and in touch with what's going on in the now is really the best recipe for an album, but it rarely pulls through. On BlaQKout, it pulls through without a fliff. The veterans representing on BlaQKout are legendary producer/rapper DJ Quik who has worked with 8 Ball & MJG, 2pac, Dre, and Suga Free to name but a few, and Kurupt, an original Dogg Pound member and founder of Death Row. In other words, these guys are two heavy players in the 90s g-funk socal sound and they've continued to keep it alive past its time on the charts.

While G-Funk may not be my first love in rap (see Memphis, TN), I still think it's one of the better regional hip hop movements ever. While these guys' careers were at their height when I was like 7 and didn't know rap existed, the sound is really familiar. I was born and raised in LA and I definitely understand the aesthetic, like backyard cookouts and palm trees and LA weed and gangstas wearing sandals.

"Ooh!" is probably my favorite cut, "ridin around in the west coast", choppy female vocal loop and super blippy Sega synths and the fattest kicks on the record. "Moroccan Blues" starts out with a sample of a street musician from an episode of No Reservations and launches into a balls-out anthem of SoCal style. "9x's Outta 10" prominently features Kurupt's word-juggling highly-percussive flow. "Jupiter's Critic and the Mind of Mars" is just fucking ridiculous and awesome electro funk. There really aren't any bad tracks, but those are the ones that stick out for me.


DJ Quik (center) and Kurupt (right) with some sort of a man (left).

Enjoy.