On this week’s episode of “Drink Champs,” DJ Quik and JasonMartin, formerly known as Problem, sat down with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN for a celebration of the West Coast.
DJ Quik is a multifaceted creative who truly needs no introduction. He’s been cutting his teeth as a producer since he was in elementary school, and as he got older in life, he reached legendary status in the music industry with output as a beatmaker and artist. The multiplatinum-selling musician dropped his debut album, Quik Is the Name, in 1991 and the rest was history. Not only has the pioneer shaped his own career in a way that will remain unparalleled, but he’s also helped artists like Tupac, JAY-Z, 50 Cent, and more do the same as a collaborator.
As for JasonMartin, he’s also true to this and not new to this. Starting under his previous name, Problem, he always had his own deep love for music and began pushing his pen in the 2000s. With a writing style that was poetically raw and with the peerless ability to put songs together, he became a go-to collaborator in California’s music scene and went on to work with acts like Snoop Dogg, Nipsey Hussle, Kendrick Lamar, and many more. He’s known to hold his own on the solo front as well, dropping his debut project, Deal or No Deal, in 2006 and never looking back.
DJ Quik and JasonMartin have been working with each other for years. In 2017, they dropped their first joint EP, Rosecrans. And now, they’ve dropped a new effort, CHUPACABRA. Nine takeaways from the conversation can be found below and the full episode can be watched here.
1. On the making of CHUPACABRA
JasonMartin offered details on the creative process of his collab album with DJ Quik. “Everything was done in 40 days, bro. I like to call it elevated nostalgia. Because like, we wanted to make sure that the album started with what [the] Quik fanbase is known for by using newer sounds. And then, me thinking of where the West is about to go or where the world is about to go, that’s why you get the Channel Tres and Kaytranadas on the second half. So, everything was done intentionally,” he declared.
2. On the pressure of working with DJ Quik
JasonMartin let it be known that he’s always looked up to DJ Quik. And since he’s had the opportunity to collaborate on wax with one of his idols, he was asked about the pressure of working with someone so esteemed. “You can’t f**k it up when you’re around something this great because he’s not gonna let you. He’ll stop you like, ‘Nah, nope. I’m not putting my name on this if it don’t work.’ I’ve seen him do it with other artists. So I knew what it was going in,” Problem said in relation to teaming up with Quik. “And he knows where I wanna go and he knows I wanna push the limit. He’s the one who reminds me to stay dangerous when I do music.”
3. On how DJ Quik got his name
N.O.R.E. questioned if DJ Quik spelled his name without a ‘c’ because of the producer’s affiliation with the Bloods. But it turns out that the second half of the moniker actually stems from his go-to childhood drink. “I wanted to be the Nestlé rabbit. That s**t was fly. We used to drink Nestlé Quik. That was my favorite drink,” he said. “If you put the ‘c’ in there, I’m gang banging. That’s ‘ck’... That’s Crip killer. I could paint the ‘c’ blue or put a slash in it, and somebody is gonna shoot me for that.”
4. On DJ Quik’s start in the music industry
DJ Quik started working on his craft as a young kid in elementary school. When he began to detail how he cut his teeth early on, Quik explained why he decided to pursue the artform in the first place. “I been programming Apple computers since 1978 … I was DJing before I could talk and walk,” Quik added. “I was walking to the turntable because I wanted to play the [voices of the] people that were in it. I thought they were [actually] in the record. That’s how I became a DJ.” He continued, “I used to take apart my equipment and put it back together because I was looking for the people inside.”
5. On N.W.A’s beef
DJ Quik was a first-hand witness to the beef that occurred between members of N.W.A back in the late 1980s. Though there appeared to be real issues, Quik claimed that there was still mutual respect regardless of the situation. “They loved each other because [Ice] Cube ran into Eazy in New York and he was like, ‘N**ga, it’s business. You did what you had to do,’” he remembered. “I was hanging out with Eazy while they was beefing. It was like, this is weird because I just seen y’all in Water the Bush club all kumbaya... Everybody was just chilling. Everybody was there, all of N.W.A.”
6. On Michael Jackson being a Crip
During this interview, DJ Quik doubled down on his belief that the late Michael Jackson was affiliated with the Crips. He explained, “It was a lot of pictures with him that popped up where he was just throwing up [signs] with his Crip friends. But that was cool. He identified with n**gas. That’s it. That’s why I loved ‘em.” Following that, Quik joked, “I guarantee, because of Michael Jackson, if I die and got resurrected, I’m gonna come back as a Crip. F**k it.”
7. On The Game taking up for Drake amid the beef with Kendrick Lamar
When the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar popped off a few months ago, The Game seemingly sided with the 6 God and even clapped back at Rick Ross in honor of the Toronto rapper. Many fans speculated why The Game, who was also absent from Lamar’s “The Pop Out” event, wouldn’t side with the representative of his own coast.
JasonMartin addressed how that situation was received from the outside looking in. “Bro has been here before us and he’s had a voice longer than us. And if that’s his opinion, then he can have that. He told me like, ‘Bro, Drake gives my kid concert tickets and do all this s**t. I can’t just end that relationship.’ And for him, that makes sense,” Problem said. “I’m [fully] supportive of Game. He’s on the album. [And] he's gonna be on anything else I do.”
8. On the unification during “The Pop Out”
Artists and creatives from all different walks of life banded together during Kendrick Lamar’s “The Pop Out” show in California on Juneteenth. While many people assumed that this was a spontaneous moment of unity, JasonMartin confirmed that the tone was set during rehearsals a day before the event. “Everybody came with the attitude of like, ‘It’s time to win.’ Nobody was on bulls**t. Nobody looked scared. Nobody was nervous… People, I think, were excited to be welcomed,” he said. Of course, people could’ve leaked insight and footage beforehand, but the rapper also explained why no one did. “We knew what we was about to do to the city,” he insisted. “He took a moment that would be deemed negative, and it turned into a positive for everybody from California.”
9. On ageism in Hip Hop
Now that Hip Hop has extended legs that exceed decades, there are several generations of artists who exist and contribute to the genre. With that in mind, the guests touched on the disconnect between young and old folks and responded to being tagged as an OG. “When we came up, Hip Hop was made by young people. And I’ll put Dre in this too; we honored our old school n**gas like George Clinton. We sampled their music and looked up to them. If The Temptations put out a good record in the ‘80s, that muthaf**ka got bought … We never looked at them as ‘old,’” DJ Quik said. “My argument now -- and I take this from my OG homie -- when I get that whole, ‘Ah, you old muthaf**ka,’ I be like, ‘Look here, lil n**ga... I been yo’ muthaf**king age. You ain’t ever been mine.’”