Blake was born on January 18, 1970 in Compton, California. He was chiefly inspired by funk and soul artists, such as Roger Troutman (who even taught him the use of the talkbox, which became a trademark for Quik's sound throughout his career) and George Clinton. Out of respect for his beloved friend, Roger Troutman, he retired the talkbox. David's love for music began at 2, as his mother had an extensive record collection.

Before recording Safe + Sound, DJ Quik had previously scrapped an album, which he said was so horrible that he had to smash the masters.  As DJ Quik began to work on his third album, he started working with Suge Knight again. Their relationship dates back to 1988, before he sought refuge with a major label. He was signed to Suge's independent label Funky Enough Records in 1988. The arrangement proved to be short lived. They linked up again in 1993 for another short lived arrangement.  His third album Safe + Sound, released in 1995, made number 14 on the Billboard 200. It featured friends 2nd II None, Kam, Playa Hamm and Hi-C. The album features the singles "Dollaz & Sense" and "Safe + Sound". During the process of the album, Quik was feuding with rapper MC Eiht from Compton's Most Wanted and long time friend AMG. Today, he is on good terms with MC Eiht. Safe + Sound saw Suge being the executive producer. His relationship with Suge led him to produce some of the tracks on Above The Rim, Murder Was The Case, All Eyez On Me, Until the End of Time, Better Dayz and It's About Time and was on Death Row Records for a short period but never released an album while on the label. He also produced a 2nd II None album for Death Row Records, which was never released.  Quik played a part on the 2Pac album All Eyez On Me, though he is only credited for producing "Heartz of Men" on that album (in the credits he used his real name, David Blake, because he was under contract to Profile). He also did additional production and mixed half the album in over two days. Quik made another uncredited appearance on a song with 2Pac named "Thug Passion". He also produced on the albums Dogg Food and Tha Doggfather, although he received no credit. DJ Quik later went to say that he had some of the best times of his life when he worked with the label.

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