Growing up as a kid in California in the 90's, you get exposed to Gangster Rap at a young age and seeing how much society demonized rappers and producers from the Black Community felt biased and misinformed - they were just trying to express themselves to escape the violence in their communities with stories about what they went through so they can inspire change.

One of the artists that really spoke to me was Dj Quik, not because of how "hard" he was but because of how incredibly talented he was as a musician first, and how he focused his energy on more "party" and "fun' lyrics rather than guns and violence.

So when I was able to meet him in person and interview him for Sony and Music.com, I felt so honored to be in his presence and relieved that he was a cool dude that was positive, funny, and a music nerd.

You shouldn't judge someone if you haven't met them and actually interacted with that person to truly understand what they are trying to build and what their values are.

https://music.com/story/3044/dj-quik-dj-quik-x-360-reality-audio