Review Summary: Good, but not 8.2 at fucking Pitchfork good.
DJ Quik and Kurupt’s
Blaqkout, in a couple of weird ways, is similar to its more inspired New York counterpart
Blackout, released by Method Man and Redman. They’re both inspired because the two really feel well working together, as DJ Quik and Kurupt both feel comfortable around each other’s contrasting flows, with Kurupts aggressive bark and Quiks nasally whine meshing together well. As well, both
Blaqkout and
Blackout are generally hyped in the media as great albums, but as soon as we see that, that’s when the comparisons end.
Blaqkout, unlike it’s New York counterpart
Blackout, doesn’t deserve that much of the praise it’s gotten, and although there are individual tracks that certainly deserve the 8.2 Pitchfork threw on it, as an album, it seems like a one listen off type of album.
Blaqkout has a unique sound, no doubt, featuring DJ Quik’s futuristic club bounce. DJ Quik takes club prouncy drums, and mixes them with fluffy, clear production and soft jazz guitars and occasionally soulful or R&B vocals. It’s a completely clear-headed sound that’s easy to hear and dance too. However, there is one exception, and that’s the albums best song “9x Outta 10”, which is about as minimalist as Quik’s production gets, meshing thumping militant drums and harrowing medieval vocals for a dark effect for Kurupt’s word play to begin. Kurupt and Quik try their hand in rapping over this rather unique rap transaction, and that’s what makes
Blaqkout a rather mixed effort. “9x Outta 10” and “Blaqkout” feature Kurupt’s tongue twisting lyrical rhythms at their height and he hasn’t sounded this good since
Doggystle, while “Whatcha Won Do” features some of Quik’s funniest punch lines in ages (“They at the pond, but they still my ducks/and even though we don’t ***, they still ***ed up”) , but the rest of the album just settles for mostly lyrical mediocrity. Quik and Kurupt sound comfortable around eachother, and their flows are decent, but the lyrics sort of drag the potential ship down.
DJ Quik and Kurupt have made a good album with
Blaqkout, but it’s simply not anything above good. Lyrically it’s mostly wack, and while the album musically and flow-wise tries to make up for it, it’s still an unavoidable point. Check out a couple individual tracks for production and occasionally lyricism (“9x Outta 10”, “Blaqkout”, “Hey Playa”), it’s mostly just a good effort that could be better. It’s still good to hear that Kurupt doesn’t suck anymore.
