Balance & Options - DJ Quik
Balance & Options

Quik continues the musicality from Rhythm-al-ism on this Balance & Options album. He combines sparse tracks like “Do I Love Her?” with lush string-filled productions such as “Well.” While he moved on from his beef with MC Eiht, DJ Quik took some subliminal shots at Dr. Dre on “U Ain’t Fresh!” He also pays homage to a couple of his fallen musical influences, flipping fellow Compton native Eazy-E’s song “Eazy-er Said Than Dunn” and recording a talkbox tribute to the recently deceased Roger Troutman on “Roger’s Groove.” Aside from appearances by Erick Sermon and James DeBarge, Quik keeps the guest list West Coast with features from Kam, Digital Underground, and Raphael Saadiq, as well as his old friends AMG and Suga Free. Quik was also using this album as a showcase for Compton rapper Mausberg, who is featured on four of the album’s 20 songs. While the duo was working on Mausberg’s debut album, Non-Fiction, he was killed on July 4, 2000, two months after the release of this album. The album peaked at #18 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts with support from the singles “Pitch In Ona Party” and “Do I Love Her?” with Suga Free. Quik said the following to Vibe about his vibe while creating this album: I wasn’t giving it my all on this album. I was ready to be done with the business as far as being an artist. I didn’t think I was keeping up where the trends were going. I wasn’t rapping about the same things that everybody else was. I was pretty much just showing my prowess in the studio. Some people say Balance & Options is one of their favorite records.
Distribution of songs on Balance & Options by producer