‘How can you go wrong?’ asks Kurupt at the beginning of BlaQKout’s introductory track. ‘DJ Quik on the beat. Kurupt on the mic. DJ Quik on the mic. How can you go wrong?’ Well my good friend, two of those statements are correct. The DJ Quik half of this so-called dream team formula is a reliable constant. There is no need to describe the extent of his production talents. His beats alone say plenty. However it has been a pleasant surprise to watch Quik also grow into a commendable lyricist. His mic skills have improved drastically while those of many so-called greats have mostly deteriorated.

Take Kurupt for example – a once sensational lyricist whose rhymes have steadily grown tiresome and predictable. I had a feeling that he was going to bring this project down and I wasn’t wrong. Track after track exhibits the Dogg Pound alum’s lazy presumably freestyled bars: ‘I’ma tell you so fast, so quick/ nigga if you say another word that’s it/ I’ma slap him like the bitch that he is/ then I’ma turn around and slap the bitch that he’s with.’ All this mess over a bad ass deep-pocketed Quik track that any self-respecting MC would have murdered. It’s not long before you begin to only look forward to Quik’s microphone appearances. After all, it is arguable that no one rhymes over a DJ Quik track better than the man himself. Hearing this duo trade bars only reinforces this theory.

Another weapon that Quik hasn’t lost is his charisma. He always gives the impression that he’s having fun on the track. Whenever he launches into a verse you can’t help but want to hear it out to the end. His recently developed knack for lyricism and wordplay only makes him that much more enjoyable to listen to.

As far as the production goes, Quik has for the most part returned to the laid-back bubbly West Coast funk that initially defined him as an artist. A notable exception is the lead-single, ‘Hey Playa!,’ which happens to be built around a sample of a Moroccan street performer lifted directly from a Travel Channel program. In the past, Quik has at times abandoned his signature style to dabble into a more electronic-based sound. He does it again on ‘Jupiter Critic & the Mind of Mars,’ a thumping robo-synth jam that features spacey computer-altered vocals (in the vein of Parliament Funkadelic, not Autotune).

Despite the dead weight of his guest MC, Quik delivers a package full of heat. Nothing new or ground breaking, just good old fashioned West Coast party bounce. The sound is unmistakably his own. And with that, you certainly can’t go wrong.

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