DJ Quik: Safe + Sound (Vinyl 2xLP)

Be With Records present a reissue of DJ Quik's Safe + Sound, originally released in 1995, complete with "Tanqueray", the hidden track from the original CD release.

DJ Quik is a giant of West Coast hip-hop. With 1995's Safe + Sound, he scaled new levels of musical magnificence with his signature new age P-Funk/laconic G-Funk. A quintessential, sun-scorched LA album, this is pretty much essential.

A preternaturally gifted producer / rapper, DJ Quik has produced scores of LA gangsta rap classics. He's released platinum and gold records of his own, as well as helped craft them for the likes of Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and Dr Dre. Quik has always been quirkier and more interesting than his gangsta rap peers, both musically and lyrically.

An old-school funk producer at heart, he's also incredibly nice on the mic. His raps often deal in boasts, jokes and good times but also cover his beefs, his trials and his trauma. Partying and pain, all mixed up.

DJing and producing hype beat tapes from age 14, Quik's tracks blended the languid funk and rubbery synths of Zapp and George Clinton with a gangsta aesthetic, creating a more danceable foil to Compton's more typical nihilistic hedonism. Ultimately, his records sound custom engineered to drift out over sun-soaked barbecues.

By the time of his third album DJ Quik was a household name on the West Coast -- California's premier rapper/producer not named Andre Young. Released on Profile in 1995, Safe + Sound was certified gold. Less reliant on samples and more focused on live instruments, it elevated him from producer to fully-fledged composer. This sound -- the quick, winding basslines, tinny high hats, smooth instrumental solos, soulful pipes, and Roger Troutman's talkbox -- defined him.

This is an album of full-blown masterpieces. Rich soundscapes and masterfully arranged orchestrations with dense layers of sounds, intricate rhythms, and well-balanced songwriting.

1. Street Level Entrance
   
2. Get At Me 
   
3. Diggin' U Out 
   
4. Safe + Sound
5. Somethin' 4 Tha Mood 
   
6. Don't You Eat It! 
   
7. Can I Eat It? 
   
8. It'z Your Fantasy
9. Tha Ho In You 
   
10. Dollaz + Sense 
    
11. Let You Havit 
    
12. Summer Breeze
13. Quik's Groove III 
    
14. Sucka Free 
    
15. Keep Tha "P" In It 
    
16. Hooray 4 Tha Funk 
    
17. Tanqueray