Reginald C, DENNIS, DJ Quik - Born and Raised in Compton lyrics

"I want to see the Bronx
" exclaimed DJ Quik as we
Lounged in the "luxurious
Splendor" of the conference room
At Profile Records’
Manhattan office a serious student of rap
Quik would rather see
The birthplace of Hip-Hop
Than remain cooped up in an office
Answering questions on this lovely spring
Day, but it couldn’t be helped such is the
Heavy price of success hailing from Compton
California a city nearly equal to the
Bronx in terms of rap
Success and innovation Quik
Is not afraid to give credit where it
Is due although he sports
Gheri curls and wears
The typical black uniform of the "CPT
" DJ Quik is not
Your typical "gangsta" MC with
His platinum bound debut
"Quik Is The Name, " selling over 25
000 unit's
A day, Quik is putting Compton on the map
All over again to use his own words
"DJ Quik is definitely a force
To be reckoned with"

How long have you been involved in rap?
Believe it or not, I’m kind of new at it
But, I’m no newjack i’ve been a DJ
Since ’81 but I’ve only been actively
Rappin’ since ’89 but in that short
Time I’ve learned and acquired so
Much in terms of rap some
Of my biggest influences
Have been most of the East Coast rappers
And groups like PE and Run-DMC
Have definitely looked out
For me they know what time it is
But a lot of other New Yorker’s
Don’t they’ve been sleeping on me

How does that make you feel?
It doesn’t matter if my record was to stop
Sellin’ right now I hope to God it
Don’t at least I’ve proved something i’m here
For the betterment of rap i write
Everything i play everything
Except bass and guitar
I produce everything it’s
All conceived, arranged, and
Produced by myself i even do a little
Engineering i’m definitely a one man band
All those others are perpin’
What would you say is the factor that makes
You able to handle all of those chores?
Because I’ve been doing it for so
Long when all of my hard
Headed friends was out fuckin’ up gangbangin’
And doin’ all that bullshit
I was in the house learning how to
Work a four track learning how to
Ping-pong learning about equipment
That muhfukahs wouldn’t
Have the patience to pick up
A manual to read about i’m the type of person
That when I buy a new piece of equipment
Before I start messin’ with it I’ll read
The whole manual and get to know
The equipment before I even get
It out of the box that’s the
Kind of person I am, real thorough

What makes you different from
Other Compton rappers?
Well, if you’ve heard most of the
Successful rap out of Compton
You’ll see that it’s gangsta influenced
I’m not totally negative, i’m on more of
The let’s have fun, let's kick it type of
Vibe than my predecessors
NWA, and Ice Cube who I might
Add ain’t really from Compton
Hype… wake up! and
I feel that I’m slightly a breed apart
I think that I’m genuinely talented and
Not just a sample loop artist i
Have a lot of influences in
My work from Hiroshima to Jim Morrison there
Are a lot of jazz and
R&B overtones in my music, even a
Little reggae it’s all evolution
Just like there were people before
Me there will be people after me this is
My contribution to music

Are you thinking of a long
Term career in music?
Yes! I don’t want to rap forever i
Don’t really want to go as
Far as the third or the fourth
Album i see myself as
Playing the backfield in the future
Producing other acts it’s simple to write
A rhyme with a catchy hook
And have it formatted correctly
But, I don’t really see myself
Doing this forever i consider
Myself to be a producer first
And a rapper second

As a producer
Who will you be working with in the future?
One of my homeboys that I
Co-produce is hittin’ hard
Right now AMG on Select
And it's called "Bitch
Betta Have My Money" And my
Boys Second To None
Will be comin’ out on Profile at the
End of the summer, and if I must say
Production wise it’s way different
Than what I’ve done
Before in the past there’s not a lot of
Samples i used real musical
Arrangements, strings, keyboard
Piano the musicality has a real twist to
It i want to get away
From sampling and get into more live
Instruments and creating original music

So you don’t want to become one
Of those guys where as soon
As you put the record on
You know who produced it
And everyone’s record sounds the same?
Nah, I’m not goin’ out like
That i’m always changing
My sound like when I do my new songs
Now, I try to never use the same break beats
I damn near hardly ever
Use breakbeats anyway
Not like "Substitution" and "Funky
Drummer"… because it’s so
Played sorry and out in LA it seems
Like you can’t be a producer without 25
Volumes of Ultimate Breaks and Beats not
To dis classic beats but there’s a lot of
Stuff out there that hasn’t been used
Yet old breakbeats have their place but I’m
Not gonna use them as much

What about your lyrics?
My lyrics will show a real diversity
On the next album i mean
I’m about more than just pussy, dick
8-Ball, suck this, lick that, tramp, ho
Etc it’s no like that all of the time i
Can get just as deep lyrically
As anyone else right now, but I didn’t
For this album because I knew that
The simplicity would sell don’t get
Me wrong, I’m with the third eye
I’m with the Islamic thing
But people don’t want to be taught
All day there’s a time when
People are like "yo lets just
Kick it… it’s friday night
Let's party!" And I think that some of
My music compliments that mood but
On my next album you will hear
A lot of different stuff
I definitely have a whole lot of
New influences and inspirations that I
Can’t wait to get back into
The studio to act upon

Although you say you are not a gangsta
There has been a lot of
Controversy following you the
Past few months would you
Like to address that?
There are a lot of rumors
In my hometown about
Me being a notorious Blood and gang bangin’
And i’m not going to let a bunch of gang
Bangers ruin what I’ve built
Up and accomplished, i’ve got Crips crossing
Out my face at the Wherehouse
And puttin’ up Crip neighborhoods
And shit i grew up in a Blood neighborhood
But, I was never down with
Red rags, red shoes
Never even had a pair of red shoestrings
None of that shit but
Because that’s the neighborhood
I’m from I get sweated for it

I’ve even heard that people
Have supposedly found
Gang meanings in your cover artwork

How does something like this get started?

What about the situation at the
San Francisco concert last March?
The police went to a hard headed
16 year old kid to
Find out what really happened on
The inside he gave them
A way out rendition of what happened
And it wasn’t even true
He said that we got up on stage and made
A reference to the Compton Crips I’m
Not even halfway a Crip
Threw up a "c" or said "cuz" or whatever and
The stage got rushed by niggas
Yellin’ "Filmore" and "HP" and
That was totally garbage the truth
Of the matter is, and
There are plenty of witnesses
Is that we had very weak security
And when I finally made
My entrance, the whole muhfukin’ left side of
The stage caved in with girls screamin’
Kissin’ and grabbin’ all over me i
Couldn’t even perform my show before
I knew it
Security grabbed me and I got rushed out
Of the building out the back to my limo
And was still being chased by women not
By niggas yellin’ "HP" and
"Filmore, " not by police, not
By no flyin’ chairs
But strictly women and that’s the truth!

It’s almost as if the media would
Rather cover a negative event
And if there isn’t one they make it up
Of course! It’s their job to hype all
Of the garbage you get turnouts
Where there are much more people around
Than needed to start a
Riot and nothing happens
But they don’t print that there is a plot
To destroy real street, hardcore rap the
Original stuff not the Hammers
Because they love their Hammer
And their commercial muhfukin’
Vanilla Ice that’s their
Pets…their puppets but
They will try to crush anyone who goes
Against what they think is right

How did that incident affect you?
The saddest part about it is that it
Wasn’t even true i wish there was
A way to sue them for that muhfukin’
Lyin’ now I’ve got a rep
And it will be hard to
Book shows if this stuff
Continues there won’t be
Anymore live shows they’re hurtin’ it for the
People that we influence
The people that will look
At what we’ve done, grab the baton
And take the music to the next level