“If it don’t make dollaz/It don’t make sense.” DJ Quik spit these words on the aptly titled “Dollaz + Sense,” one of the lead singles from the Compton legend’s third studio album, Safe + Sound.
Released on February 21, 1995 via Profile Records, the 17-track project overflowed with West Coast G-funk flavored bravado and further propelled Quik’s discourse with Compton’s Most Wanted rapper and (then) rival gang member MC Eiht. At the time, Quik was a member of the Tree Top Pirus while Eiht repped the 159th St. Tragniew Park Compton Crips.
CMW and Quik had already swapped a couple of diss tracks but on “Dollaz + Sense,” Quik went for Eiht’s jugular.
“You fuckin coward, tremblin like a nervous wreck/Cause when I caught your ass, you put yourself in check/And when you left my presence, you left expedient/You ain’t no fuckin killer, youse a comedian, beyotch,” he rapped. “Tell me why you act so scary/Givin your set a bad name wit your misspelled name/E-I-H-T, now should I continue/Yeah you left out the G cause the G ain’t in you.”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0UPhZk7mG0&feature=youtu.be
From there, it only got worse. Quik slammed Eiht for an alleged violent encounter they had with one another.
“Remember that time you was rollin on the Westside/And a little brown bucket pulled up on your side/Caught at that light in your Camry in the midst of a real killer/Tell me, did you feel a little nervous (hell yeah),” he spit. “You was in the shadow of death/With two trey-five-sevens pointed at your chest, hmm/Whatchu gon do/Where was your niggaz that kill at/You ain’t got no killers so kill dat.
“Holdin up your hands and beggin for a pass/You lucky they didn’t just to get to dumpin on yo’ ass/Cause this game you think is funny is some real shit/So you need to be more careful who you fuckin wit, beyotch/I’m through playin with your punk ass.”
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Their beef lasted over six years, but the two MCs ultimately squashed it. In fact, Eiht was low-key impressed with the song’s sound back in the day.
“I thought it was a nice beat,” he tells HipHopDX. “I’m a connoisseur of just good music so on the music side, yeah, it was nice.”
Safe + Sound was executive produced by the currently incarcerated Suge Knight, while Quik himself produced the majority of the tracks on his own. It served as the follow-up to 1992’s Way 2 Fonky and his 1991 debut Quik Is The Name.
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Following its release, the album peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It was certified gold by the RIAA on July 11, 1995.
Other highlights from the project include “Get At Me” and “Keep The ‘P’ In It” with Playa Hamm, Hi-C, 2nd II None and Kam.
Revisit “Get At Me” below and cop the album here.
