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DJ QUIK
(March 2011) | Interviewer Paul Edwards 
It was almost 5 years ago when Paul Edwards contacted Dubcnn with the
idea he had to write a book focusing on the "Art & Science of the Hip-Hop
MC" and asking for help in speaking to artists themselves to get their
input. Years later and with more interviews than countless journalists will
ever manage to secure Paul finally released his epic read to critical
acclaim and commercial success, it has been in Amazon's Top 10 Hip-Hop and
Rap books since it came out and it's also being published in Japanese and
Korean.
"How
to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC" is compiled
from interviews with over 100 MCs, and featuring many West Coast artists.
Highlights include – Shock G describing working with 2Pac and his writing
processes, RBX on ghostwriting for Dr. Dre, Lady of Rage explaining how she
comes up with flows and content, B-Real recalling how he came up with
Cypress Hill’s biggest hits, Crooked I on writing lyrics down and using tape
recorders, DJ Quik discussing being both an MC and a produce, E-40 on coming
up with slang and rhythms and much more.
Other West Coast artists and groups interviewed include Bishop Lamont,
Cashis, Crooked I, Yukmouth, Glasses Malone, Guerilla Black, Omar Cruz,
Spider Loc, The Federation, Tha Alkaholiks and more.
Now, thanks to the great relationship between Dubcnn and Paul Edwards, the
writer has given Dubcnn EXCLUSIVE rights to release all the
key WestCoast interviews that were compiled to create "How
to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC." Each
of these interviews give an insight into an artists thought process around
creating a track and help you understand why being a Hip-Hop MC is truly an
Art and Science!
Read on and enjoy. As always feel free to hit up
the forum with questions or comments.
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Previous "How To Rap" Interview Installments
Week One:
The Lady Of Rage
Week Two:
Bishop Lamont
Week Three:
Shock G
Week Four:
Yukmouth
Week 5:
Omar Cruz
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Questions Asked By: Paul Edwards in March 2007
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HHow To Rap: How did you learn to rap?
DJ Quik: I used to do little tapes in my house, back in ’85 I
used to make cassettes with a little microphone and practice. Fisher
cassette deck, funny little fake microphone, recording and playing back
and seeing what I sound like. It started from there, I guess from ’85 to
’91 was my little practice period.
How To Rap: So it was a subconscious thing, you never sat down
and thought, I’m really gonna practice or anything like that?
DJ Quik: No, I know I heard a 12 inch, one of the first rap 12 inches I
ever heard, that I had in my house rather, not that I heard, I mean we
all heard “Rapper’s Delight” and Kurtis Blow and all that stuff, but the
one that struck me the most was, “It’s Like That And That’s The Way It
Is” by Run DMC, with “Sucker MCs” on the flipside I think it was. And I
know I got caught in the mix of flipping that record over and over again
and enjoying both sides of it. I think that kind of was the impetus too,
for me.
How To Rap: Is there a set process you go through when you’re
writing lyrics?
DJ Quik: No, sometimes it’s a little random, matter of fact I always
think it’s random. Because when you write, if you pay any conscious
attention to it then you don’t really speak from the heart, you kinda
let the pen go, so there’s no structure. Sometimes an instrumental track
might spark me a certain way and might guide the way I’m putting rhythm
to words, but for the most part there’s no set structure.
How To Rap: Do you write your lyrics down on paper?
DJ Quik: Yeah, I do, I’m a traditionalist.
How To Rap: Where do most of the ideas come from?
DJ Quik: Most of the ideas come from what I hear, if I hear something I
like that’s new on the radio, I’m motivated by it, if I hear something
that’s original and old I want to sample it and I’m motivated by it, so
I guess I’m kinda lucky in that sense.
How To Rap: How do you come up with the flow and the rhythms for
the lyrics?
DJ Quik: The track pretty much tells you what to do. Honestly, I’m a
late bloomer to these guys, but I’ve been listening to a bunch of
Beatles records lately and I can’t seem to get away from the latest
thing, Love CD, and Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is like my
favourite, I got ‘em all but Sergeant Pepper, the way that album flows
is crazy and I listen to the way they did rhythms. I think the advantage
they had over us is that they spoke really, really proper English, like
the proper way, the King’s English, and that kinda left us behind a
little bit when it comes to rhythm and flow and even in etiquette in
some cases. So I listen to them sometimes just to see how they would
work their words, I like the way John Lennon did things, it was sick. If
I’m gonna bite anybody, it’d be him.
How To Rap: Have you been thinking of sampling anything by the
Beatles?
DJ Quik: By the Beatles?
How To Rap: Yeah, because I heard it’s very difficult to clear
anything by the Beatles…
DJ Quik: Right, right, no—I know that, I don’t look at their music as
fodder for sampling anyway, I look at it as kind of a template, it’s
like a school of music in a sense. It’s a guideline that’ll help you
ultimately make your own great music and make your mark, because they’ve
already blazed a trail that’s so wide and vast that people would
actually get lost in it, it’s a trench, they made a serious impact. It’s
hard to negate that, plus again I wouldn’t sample it anyway because it
probably wouldn’t make sense in the scheme of music that we’re doing
now. But it’s beautiful none the less, and timeless.
How To Rap: Do you write to the beat you will be rapping over?
DJ Quik: No, not lately, sometimes I’ll just write when I feel at the
moment and then I’ll try to find a track that it fits, and if I have to
do a little alteration, I will.
How To Rap: Do you tend to write in the studio or at home?
DJ Quik: I write everywhere. I remember an interview I saw a long time
ago with OutKast, and it was saying that Big Boi would drive around and
write his lyrics, just like driving around the city getting inspiration
from just what he sees. I used to do that too, like I’ll drive around in
my Lexus just writing lyrics down, whatever I felt, whatever I heard.
And in some cases, when you’re on the spot, when you don’t have a lot of
time to experiment, I’ll write in the studio, not forcefully, but I’ll
catch a vibe and write in the studio. And that’s actually my safe-haven,
like those are the records that more aptly become hits because they were
done structurally.
How To Rap: Which part of a track do you write first, the hook
or the verses?
DJ Quik: I prefer verses first.
How To Rap: Do you find that they give you an idea for what the
hook is gonna be?
DJ Quik: Yeah, and vice versa. Sometimes the chorus will set the tone
for the verses, but I’m less into that, I do it the other way around.
I’m dyslexic when it comes to music, sometimes I’ll do the end of the
song first, then I’ll work on the hook, then I’ll work on the verses,
then I’ll work on the intro, sometimes the intro is last. Like when I
pick up a book, I read it from back to front, I don’t know why, I get
the whole story that way.
How To Rap: Is collaborating with another rapper different from
when you write lyrics on your own?
DJ Quik: Yeah, you gotta be a little more open when you collab, you have
to be open for camaraderie, like you’re sharing this record and
sometimes I can be Napoleanistic about it and want to do it my way,
tyrant-like. You gotta give up your brain-child sometimes when you share
lyrics with somebody, or music.
How To Rap: You’ve worked with some of the best rappers around,
do you ever pick up tips from them?
DJ Quik: Believe it or not, no, because I didn’t have a lot of time to
do introspection with them, because I was always running the board! So I
didn’t have time to be like, “how do you...?” I didn’t have time to
interview them, and that’s what’s wrong with me I think, I never have
time to interview the people that I work with. It’s kinda always like-
“let’s get this song done, ah, you think this is a better idea? No, oh
you don’t like that? Ah man, alright that's cool, just that, put
something right there when I said that, ok you got it, alright man, we
gotta go catch a flight, take care, bye!”
How To Rap: Is producing a track and also rapping over it,
harder, because you have to play two roles rather than concentrating on
one?
DJ Quik: No, it’s two different hats. When I’m writing the music, I have
certain pattern of thinking, when the music is sufficient, I’ll stop,
take 5, and put on another hat for writing. I won’t even think about it,
I’ll subconsciously just switch over to the other pole, and start
writing to the track.
How To Rap: When you’re producing a track for another rapper, do
you have any input in their rhymes and how they deliver them?
DJ Quik: Only if they ask me. Like once I remember Snoop asked for a
lyric, he was writing, he was like, “nephew...” you know, in a Snoop way
that no one can emulate, he was like, “I need an idea right here nephew,
what you hear right here?” and I was like, damn! The fact that you would
ask me, I’m honored, I’m a fan and you’re one of the best rappers of all
time. But for the most part, I’ll really think about it, like if it was
me rhyming, what would I say right here and make it flow to the next
line. I’ll give him a line and if he likes it, he likes it, if he
doesn’t, he doesn’t, but in most cases they like it, because it’s
something I would say myself, it’s not corny, it’s definitely timely and
it fits.
How To Rap: Do you ever go in the booth and just freestyle?
DJ Quik: Sometimes I do and the freestyle will dictate how the final
product will be. At that point you’re just open, you’re open to
creativity and keeping it in rhythm is just like thinking fast, thinking
on your toes, sometimes the magic comes out of that. Some of those
lyrics we’ll keep, some of them we’ll give more structure or whatever. I
guess that’s more rare than habitual these days, I mean just going in
and trying to freestyle.
How To Rap: Do you memorize your lyrics before you record them,
or do you read from the paper?
DJ Quik: I read them from the paper, until I get them memorized, because
if I’m reading from the paper, you can tell that I’m reading. We call
them “scratch vocals,” like you do a guide vocal, where you’ll try to
get it the way you want it to be, listen back to it, put the paper away
and try to learn it from hearing your voice—repetition, hearing it over
and over. Then you get relaxed and me personally I go in there without
the paper, get comfortable in front of the mic, and I’ll act it out,
like I’m having a conversation with a person, as opposed to like I’m
reading a rap, reading a rhyme to them over a beat. There are some
people who do that swell, so I don’t say that mockingly, maybe they
either think faster or they read a little bit ahead. But for me, I like
to put the paper down and be free and say it like I mean it, like I’m
performing it live.
How To Rap: Do you record a verse all in one take, or do you
punch-in different lines and put them together?
DJ Quik: I don’t like punch-ins in verses because you feel that and
that’s not cool, I pretty much don’t like patching together, doing
composites of a verse, that’s like... that’s so cheap, and it doesn’t
sound natural, I like for it to sound fluid. But if I do something, like
if its 8 bars, and it’s hot, and it’s only at the exception of the
people in the room, because I can’t be the producer and the artist at
the same time, if I’m in the mic booth, I can’t go in there and critique
myself in the control room. So I have a group of people that I trust to
tell me what I should do and what I should not, I’ve gotten into
arguments a couple of times about what I wanted to do over and they were
like, “no, that’s fine, you’re tripping, that’s great, just punch the
end and get out of there,” and it’s like, “but that’s cheap” and they’ll
be like, “no, it’s cool.” And if I do it, I’ll live with it for a while,
and then when everybody’s gone, I’ll go in there with somebody else and
do it the way I wanted to do it, which is finish it all the way through.
And sometimes they don’t even notice… I guess I’m a perfectionist and I
think that probably comes from being a little bit obsessive about the
shit, and lately, the good thing is I haven’t been obsessive compulsive
about making a hit record—if it’s not good, it’s just not good, I don’t
try to pretty it up, we just scrap it and move onto something else now,
which is better for us all.
How To Rap: What do you think about today’s MCs, compared to
older MCs?
DJ Quik: I think they’re more put together. I think it’s more of a group
effort, on account of the record company or whoever production company
they’re signed to, I don’t think it’s too much different. I don’t think
that the goal and the intentions are different, I just think that the
faces are different, the sound is different, it’s definitely a more
minimalist sound out there. And I think that some of them don’t really
concentrate on what made us great artists in our time, and that was that
we were performers as well.
How To Rap: What advice would you give to people who are
learning how to rap?
DJ Quik: Follow your heart if you can, and if you can afford it, get the
equipment that suits your level in the game, and that you can afford and
have fun just entertaining yourself with your songs first. If they don’t
entertain you, don’t be fooled, don’t lie to yourself, and don’t try to
pass that shit off to anybody else—if it’s not good, it’s not good. The
key is to entertain yourself first, at least with me.
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