DJ Quik vs. Battlecat vs. Dr. Dre from 1997-2001.....

[Tanjential]

my old band director from middle school did the flute on that album. i know he did some shit with quik, check for the name townshend over the flute credits. dude was crazy.

-T

[WestCoasta]

^  credits say Ron Townsend did "You'z a Ganxta" and "Medley For a V"

[Tanjential]

Yep. Forgot his first name cause I was 12 and 13, but he was my band instructor at Jehue Middle School in Rialto during 7th and part of 8th grade. One time during a rehearsal he got a call from Quik and put him on the phone with some black girl who started flippin' out as soon as quik started talking "oh my god it's dj quik" then mr.townsend said "yeah yeah quik i'll be down at the studio later, i gotta teach these kids..all right, later." and just continued. was cool, but man dude had a temper, he was in his 40's or 50's. But trust, dude was  SICK flute player.

-T

[Chief]

battlecat himself would tell you he's not on quik's/dre's level.

i'd say dre, even though quik is more consistent than dre, when dre makes a hit, it's a damn hit, quik hasn't managed to make anything like "the game dont wait".. and dre's music can be played at parties, clubs driving whatever... quik's music is chillen/cruisin music... it's hard to compare the two styles.

i'm a bigger quik fan than i am dre, but props need to be given where due. dre takes it for sure.

[Okka]

voted: D.R.E

Dre>Cat>Quik

[Nasty Nem]

pepsi or coca cola?

[Diggfinger]

I still can't even vote.......

Album wise....Quik dropped the most full albums that he produced entirely, along with rapping on some of them, which is a LOT harder than most people would think it is. Quik was definitely the most musically inclined. I think Battlecat came with the funkiest, bounciest West Coast beats at the time, and his style was recognizable as hell but still great. Dre was Dre, and changed the entire game up as usual. Listening to Chronic 2001, the music itself wasn't as inclined as Quik's music on Rhythmalism, Street Gospel, 2nd II None, or B&O...but the songs themselves were a lot stronger, and it just had that epic feel to it.

I'd give Battlecat points because from what I know, he does most of his beats on his own, and doesn't use any help at all. I know that producers don't always have to play every single instrument, because Dre, Quincy Jones, and John Williams are brilliant at putting everyone else's instruments together. But the fact that Battlecat did most of his beats on his own does get him a couple extra points.

But umm........I still think it's too close to say. I do think Battlecat came with the most heat volume wise, because he was fuck'n with EVERYBODY and giving them all heat, even the rappers who didn't deserve it. Quik stayed within his family, and Dre only worked with major artists and those he put on...but Battlecat was givin it to whoever had the money, and wasn't just givin em leftovers.

yeah I feel ya. Rhythm-Al-Ism is just a musical masterpiece, who probably even Quik himself wont ever be able to outdo. Judging by beats alone it was also far superior over Dre's 2001....but Dre just has a feel for lyrics that really no one can mess with. EVERY damn word spat on 2001 just sounds tight and right...and that's amazing aswell....so it's hard to pick, but imma go with Quik though just because he is the musical giant that he is.

What was that about BC though?? Does he really play the instruments himself??

I think Quik plays bass, drums and keyboard sometimes too....

[XaNdEr]

pepsi or coca cola?

dr. pepper 

[R-Tistic]

I still can't even vote.......

Album wise....Quik dropped the most full albums that he produced entirely, along with rapping on some of them, which is a LOT harder than most people would think it is. Quik was definitely the most musically inclined. I think Battlecat came with the funkiest, bounciest West Coast beats at the time, and his style was recognizable as hell but still great. Dre was Dre, and changed the entire game up as usual. Listening to Chronic 2001, the music itself wasn't as inclined as Quik's music on Rhythmalism, Street Gospel, 2nd II None, or B&O...but the songs themselves were a lot stronger, and it just had that epic feel to it.

I'd give Battlecat points because from what I know, he does most of his beats on his own, and doesn't use any help at all. I know that producers don't always have to play every single instrument, because Dre, Quincy Jones, and John Williams are brilliant at putting everyone else's instruments together. But the fact that Battlecat did most of his beats on his own does get him a couple extra points.

But umm........I still think it's too close to say. I do think Battlecat came with the most heat volume wise, because he was fuck'n with EVERYBODY and giving them all heat, even the rappers who didn't deserve it. Quik stayed within his family, and Dre only worked with major artists and those he put on...but Battlecat was givin it to whoever had the money, and wasn't just givin em leftovers.

yeah I feel ya. Rhythm-Al-Ism is just a musical masterpiece, who probably even Quik himself wont ever be able to outdo. Judging by beats alone it was also far superior over Dre's 2001....but Dre just has a feel for lyrics that really no one can mess with. EVERY damn word spat on 2001 just sounds tight and right...and that's amazing aswell....so it's hard to pick, but imma go with Quik though just because he is the musical giant that he is.

What was that about BC though?? Does he really play the instruments himself??

I think Quik plays bass, drums and keyboard sometimes too....

It sounds like Battlecat uses synths and keyboards on most of his songs....I rarely hear acoustic instruments or real instruments on his songs. So I'd imagine that he plays and composes everything from his machines.

[Tanjential]

battlecat himself would tell you he's not on quik's/dre's level.

i'd say dre, even though quik is more consistent than dre, when dre makes a hit, it's a damn hit, quik hasn't managed to make anything like "the game dont wait".. and dre's music can be played at parties, clubs driving whatever... quik's music is chillen/cruisin music... it's hard to compare the two styles.

i'm a bigger quik fan than i am dre, but props need to be given where due. dre takes it for sure.

word +1

also, battlecat's stuff sounds almost completely synth. i think he MAY have a real guitar going on the last track of x's restless 'loud and clear' but even that'sm suspect. I like him because he's dre in an MPC...or like...he's a travel sized dre..."Need to make a funky hit but can't take a whole damn funk orchestra? Get battlecat in the back with his mpc and you'll get a few funky layers" kinda.  Dre plays his own keys often but he often doesn't as well, any other instrument someone else.  I didn't know quik could play bass but for the record, I think alot of his records are great to party to.

-T

[SouthernG]

man thats like picking your favorite kid, lol you just cant do it, lol lol But Battlecat is my all-time favorite !!

[R-Tistic]

battlecat himself would tell you he's not on quik's/dre's level.

i'd say dre, even though quik is more consistent than dre, when dre makes a hit, it's a damn hit, quik hasn't managed to make anything like "the game dont wait".. and dre's music can be played at parties, clubs driving whatever... quik's music is chillen/cruisin music... it's hard to compare the two styles.

i'm a bigger quik fan than i am dre, but props need to be given where due. dre takes it for sure.

word +1

also, battlecat's stuff sounds almost completely synth. i think he MAY have a real guitar going on the last track of x's restless 'loud and clear' but even that'sm suspect. I like him because he's dre in an MPC...or like...he's a travel sized dre..."Need to make a funky hit but can't take a whole damn funk orchestra? Get battlecat in the back with his mpc and you'll get a few funky layers" kinda.  Dre plays his own keys often but he often doesn't as well, any other instrument someone else.  I didn't know quik could play bass but for the record, I think alot of his records are great to party to.

-T

I still wouldn't say Battlecat at that time was that far behind Dre...he just had a completely different style. His style actually evolved from Dre, Warren, and Daz's Death Row G-Funk Sound...while Dre's style evolved into a darker sound that didn't have as much funk. With that, the songs that they were each makin durin that time were a lot different from each other...and it really just depends on what style or song you'd prefer. For those of us who loved the 96-01 G-Funk sound, we'd probably agree that Battlecat was the leader of that. Dre's sound had West Coast elements at times, but many of his songs were on a different tip that we hadn't heard much in rap. So if I was in the mood for a hype azz C-Walk type of song, I'd usually look for Cat...but if I wanted somethin darker, I'd go for the Dre one.

[Tanjential]

to me, battlecat's stuff has always been a more synthesized variation of the kind of things dre, daz, and warren did. Doggy dogg world for example, i'm sure influenced cats melodicism and layering but whereas dre has just as much live instrumentation in that song as he does sytnh whereas cat's version of a song in that style would be completely synth and that's why his (and all the dogghouse generation producers of meech, cat, fred wreck) shit never hit as hard. then only two songs where I've heard cat fuckin' with dre out get you walk on with mel man, and loud and clear also from restless. even bangers like g'd up and nah nah are just synth'd out variations on shit we heard from 90-96.  so I love battlecat, but I wanna re say what dude said that battlecAt would tell you himself he's not on dre or quik's level. also cause he's a beatmaker not so mucha  producer. a producer puts the song together from the vocals, all kinds of contextual and conceptual ideas..I see battlecat as more of a dope beat on demand for the dpg kind of guy.

quik....has always just been about the P-Funk and is sickadiddy at it, but I'd say quik is to dre what Roger to Quincy Jones....quincy can do funk but he's a very wel rounded and more ambitous producer...whereas a dude like roger or even dudes like james brown and george clinton are just trying to make funk...they're sick as fuck at funk, but that's all they're tryna do: funk. quincy and dre...are trying to do something much broader in their works.

-T

[R-Tistic]

to me, battlecat's stuff has always been a more synthesized variation of the kind of things dre, daz, and warren did. Doggy dogg world for example, i'm sure influenced cats melodicism and layering but whereas dre has just as much live instrumentation in that song as he does sytnh whereas cat's version of a song in that style would be completely synth and that's why his (and all the dogghouse generation producers of meech, cat, fred wreck) shit never hit as hard. then only two songs where I've heard cat fuckin' with dre out get you walk on with mel man, and loud and clear also from restless. even bangers like g'd up and nah nah are just synth'd out variations on shit we heard from 90-96.  so I love battlecat, but I wanna re say what dude said that battlecAt would tell you himself he's not on dre or quik's level. also cause he's a beatmaker not so mucha  producer. a producer puts the song together from the vocals, all kinds of contextual and conceptual ideas..I see battlecat as more of a dope beat on demand for the dpg kind of guy.

quik....has always just been about the P-Funk and is sickadiddy at it, but I'd say quik is to dre what Roger to Quincy Jones....quincy can do funk but he's a very wel rounded and more ambitous producer...whereas a dude like roger or even dudes like james brown and george clinton are just trying to make funk...they're sick as fuck at funk, but that's all they're tryna do: funk. quincy and dre...are trying to do something much broader in their works.

-T

That makes sense. As far as Dre bein Quincy....I think he is a rap version of Quincy in a way, but overall, his talent level is nowhere near Quincy's. Roger, James Brown, and George Clinton are a whooole lot more innovative than Quik, and they are more musically inclined than he is...but in the rap game, Quik is the most musically inclined producer we've ever heard, hands down. So I would actually say that Quik could produce a much better Jazz or R&B album than Dre....but I think Dre might do a better movie soundtrack. And I'm not talkin bout the beats he did for Bad Boyz...but if he was able to do a "modern Star Wars" and be John Williams to it, he could probably make it better than Quik. But he's not as musically inclined as Quik is.

[WestCoasta]

^  ya, good outlook