DJ Quik The Book Of David (2011, Mad Science): REVIEW
DJ Quik’s eighth studio album, The Book Of David, is, in his words, “catharsis”. After being sent to prison on assault charges in 2006, Quik felt that he was at the end of his life. Despite escaping a violent upbringing, homelessness, and addiction to become a platinum-selling artist with a career spanning three decades, the gangsta rap architect had been told growing up that his destiny was to end up either dead or in jail. “…And I ended up in jail, so maybe God was trying to say something to me,” he told Vibe Magazine for a career retrospective last month. And so, after his release from behind bars, what initially started as an idea for a book became 16 tracks of the man born David Blake, “letting all the bullshit go.”
The first words spoken on The Book of David, “You’re going to like this” are delivered in a sultry, computerized voice-over, and are unequivocal. This is crucial, because there’s no compromise in any of the rhymes that follow. “I don’t give a fuck about you, you, her, him / That bitch, that n***a, ya’ll, them,” sneered on the opener, “Fire and Brimstone,” over Dilla-esque drums. “I don’t need nobody, I don’t want nobody, I don’t care about nobody, they don’t care about me,” on his reunion with Suga Free, “Nobody”, and “I hate you so much it just shows, I hate you more than Michael hated Joe,” speaking to his sister, a frequent target of his animosity, on “Ghetto Rendezvous”. Perhaps most intriguing, though, is the line on “Killer Dope”, “I ain’t no house n***a like ________, if this is UAC music, than what makes it so awful?” Though the context of this jab seems to be towards a specific artist comprimisng his/her sound to appease a label and avoid the UAC (urban adult contemporary music) tag (and it’s reduced “street” appeal), the target of Quik’s ire is actually censored on the record. Given Quik’s propensity to air out any and everyone, friend, family or foe, throughout his career, it’s especially notable that this person is so “untouchable” as to have their identity protected on wax.
But it’s Quik’s quintessential ability to successfully navigate the harder elements of gangsta rap and the softer melodies of R&B, that puts this new record on par with his best work. On “Do Today”, frequent The Book of David collaborator Jon B croons about exotic getaways over an 80s synthpop beat, replete with Devo whip claps, and the neo-soul of “Slow Down” is reminiscent of The Foreign Exchange. There’s also the slowed Zapp! and exotic percussion of first single, “Luv Of My Life,” with Quik clarifying, “I’m lookin for the cash, that’s the love of my life,” and the skeletal, late night summer jam sensibilities of “Boogie Till You Conk Out” with it’s Ice Cube appearance and Biggie interpolating chorus, “To all the ladies in the place with stlye and taste, allow me to place my hand on your waist and we can boogie till you conk out…”. While these crossovers into funk, (neo-)soul and Prince-infused 80s R&B, are only tangentially related to most “current” streams of rap, they’re all executed with a precision and attention to detail and melody (and clear reverence for the source material), that it’s easy to get wrapped up in the story.
The record ends, fittingly, with “The End”, a collaboration with the late Garry Shider, the diaper-clad bassist for George Clinton’s experimental 70s funk outfit, Parliament. Fitting because the synth runs, throbbing baselines, funky horns and “roller disco” funk of Bootsie, Bernie, Garry and co., are all over the DNA of The Book Of David. And it doesn’t hurt that the ached screams that start the record are an overt paen to the Godfather.
Ultimately, The Book Of David succeeds foremost because, even when dealing with harsh realities, it is fun to listen to. There’s very little darkness in the music, itself. That’s not to say the tracks all have a soulless, studio sheen to them (quite the contrary), but even when Quik is airing out his detractors, he does so in an incredibly sharp, witty and nearly celebratory way, “Sometimes when I’m bored I kick it with dumb folks, they all really hate me, like rottening eggs yolks / I love to rub it in, because I’m not a proper fit for your world of bullshit.”
This is the story of DJ Quik.
-SM (April 24, 2011)
