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"He was so important to culture," DJ Quik says of Tupac, "and I don't think he realized it."
DJ Quik has garnered acclaim and platinum recordings as a rapper and producer, but he’s also a renowned mixer, having worked in that capacity on Tupac’s All Eyez On Me album, among others.
The Compton, California artist’s work with Suge Knight led to his work on Death Row’s All Eyez On Me.
“I ended up mixing 14 songs in two days,” DJ Quik says during an interview with Noisey. "I don’t think I went home, I must have smelled like a goat.”
As for Tupac’s work in the studio, DJ Quik says he was impressed.
“He’d come in the studio, light a blunt, grab a pen and paper, cross his legs, and thirty minutes later he’d be like, ‘Okay, ready,'” DJ Quik says. “I’m like, ‘Who writes these songs so fast?’ He was so important to culture and I don’t think he realized it.”
One artist who DJ Quik says understands his importance to the culture is Dr. Dre. DJ Quik worked on the long-discussed, yet-to-be released project.
“The best way to describe Detox is avant*garde,” says Quik, who was asked to contribute to the album via a handwritten note from Dr. Dre himself. “It’s really out-*of-*box. And I can see why that might have scared him. I don’t believe he’s going to release it, and not because he’s made a billion dollars off headphones, but why would you scar your perfect record?”