producer: dj quik

guests: 2nd II none, peter gunz, suga free, mausberg, amg, playa hamm, el debarge, snoop doog, nate dogg, hi-c

Yo, before you turn away, full of westcoast hate, you better listen to this album. Not only is DJ Quik one of the best producers out there, even his rhyme can stand the test of the most critical of critics ("'cause I rock in stereo or mono hot like gonno- / rhea burnin' every time you take a pee uh" on "Down Down Down". Sure, he's not all a+, but sometimes Quik even has a message ("da game is to be told and not sold dependin' on which game it is, and we gon' keep it way real, you know?" on "We Still Party". Because Quik turned his back to his gangster life, one of the things he talks about on the track "You'z A Ganxta", and with his music he spreads out positivity, one can feel in each and every second of this album's music. It's not only a pleasure, listening to it, it must have been also a real joy for the musicians to record this album. Yes, this album was recorded with live instruments.

Something one could reproach the album for, are the limitation to certain topics. Then most of the times, the rhymers talk about the female sex and certain bodyparts, like for example on "Medley For A 'V' (The Pussy Medley)", in which Snoop Doggy proudly rhymes: "let a nigga from the E.S. L.B. D.P. beat that pussy / 'til it's soft & mushy, I love that bushy". And oftentimes the females don't get treated with the deserving respect, like by Suga Free on "Down Down Down": "peep how I struck up bitch jump in the air / stay there until I tell you come down / and when you do you shut the fuck up".

But it's the music that makes the album a winner, and I consciously don't use the word beats. Because here, we hear flutes, cucumber (the instrument), guitars from the left and right, which light up the room with a summery vibe, from which one can only hardly separate oneself from. Just like Quik tells us himself: "you'll see a whole 'nother different other side of me / 'cause this is only part of me I snap / my fingers twice and like a bird your bitch'll fly to me" ("Rhythm-al-ism").