Under tha Influence

AMG Review of Under tha Influence

Jason Birchmeier
All Music Guide

During DJ Quik's decade-long descent from superstar status to near obscurity, he lost much of his fan base mostly because he failed to change his style. Ever since he became an overnight sensation back in 1991 with Quik Is the Name, the producer/rapper continued to mine the G-funk style for all it was worth, interpolating Zapp, Cameo, and P-Funk to no end. Thankfully, the end finally arrives with Under tha Influence, a welcomed comeback album for Quik. Rather than stick with the G-funk, he presents an array of beats that sound just as much Dirty South as they do West Coast. Like Dr. Dre, a similar producer/rapper from Compton, Quik obviously found much inspiration in the early-2000s Dirty South style of beat-making -- big, sparse, bass-heavy beats offset by subtle, rattling, high-end percussion -- and replaces the "crunk" element with a slowed-down, smoked-out West Coast sense of groove. The formula worked well on the coast-to-coast hit song he produced for Eightball & MJG in 2001, "Buck Bounce," and it works well here, especially on songs like "Trouble," "Come 2Nyte," and "Ev'ryday," where he features vocalists on the hook -- AMG, Truth Hurts, and James DeBarge, respectively. Granted, Quik still sounds a bit ordinary as a rapper, but his production work here is nothing short of amazing and amazingly varied. The result is his best work in years -- perhaps even his most accomplished work to date.