Balance & Options

Balance & Options is the fifth album by West Coast rapper/producer DJ Quik. It was released on May 16, 2000 on Arista Records (who inherited DJ Quik's contract when they bought Profile Records). The album debuted at number eighteen on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, with 68,000 copies in its first-week of sales.^[1] It was his first album not certified by the RIAA. It features the single "Pitch in on a Party" whose video was directed by photographer Patrick Hoelck.

Despite the fans claiming Balance & Options was his best work, DJ Quik felt he wasn't giving his all on this album. He was losing interest in recording due to the changing trends in the music industry at the time.^[2]

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	link
DubCNN.com	link
RapReviews.com	link
Rolling Stone	link
The Source	link
USA Today	link
Vibe	(Favorable) link

Balance & Options received rave reviews from contemporary music critics. Incognito from DubCNN gave the album 4.5/5 stars and wrote "On his latest effort "Balance & Options", Quik is wiser and is able to admit that he aint no gangsta. There is nothin wrong with that, Quik can still rock the parties and get respect from peeps on the streets. I really like this record, songs like "Change The Game", "Pitch in on a Party" and "Well" really mean a lot. The Beats really make the record, though I still love it, I think it deserves a 4/5 because of incredible production and deep meaning. With this album, Quik has again shown us how he has established himself as a key factor in the West coast".^[3] Rolling Stone gave the album 3.5/5 stars and wrote "...Could be the most unexpectedly progressive hip-hop album of the year."^[4] The Source gave the album 3/5 mics and wrote "...The gems of BALANCE are scattered like buried treasure, weighing heavily toward the LP's end. When you hear the stronger cuts, you realize BALANCE's potential..."^[5]

Nathan Rabin from The A.V. Club wrote that "Balance & Options, like his stellar Rhythm-al-ism, finds the rapper-producer moving away from gangsta-oriented lyrics in favor of a more self-consciously "positive" worldview. Balance & Options finds the occasional socially conscious lyric mingling freely with rampant misogyny and homophobia—sometimes within the same song—that's too pervasive and persistent to be incidental. The album gets off to a good start and scatters strong moments throughout. "Sexuality" isn't exactly progressive, but its dense P-Funk groove is undeniable, while "Do Whatchu Want" showcases Quik and Digital Underground at their irreverent best. The instrumental "Quik's Groove" is sure-footed enough to buck the self-indulgence that plagues most instrumentals by rappers, while the melancholy "Tha Divorce Song," co-written and sung by James DeBarge, hints at intellectual and emotional growth. Balance & Options is a mixed bag, but Quik is such a talented producer that even when he's not at his best, he's still superior to the vast majority of his peers.^[6]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number eighteen on the US Billboard 200 and number five on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, selling 68,000 copies in its first week.^[1] It spent 18 weeks on the Billboard 200.^[7] As of March 21, 2002 the album has sold over 324,000 copies in the United States.^[8] It was his first album not certified by the RIAA.

Accolades

In 2012, Kendrick Lamar ranked the album at number 23 on his "Complex Top 25 Favorite Albums" list and wrote that "My homeboy Earl would play that album all day. One of the first songs on there ‘I Don’t Wanna Party Wit U’ is one I could remember that really jumps out to me and really gave me that feel. It was summertime, we was running around and that was always playing.”^[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Change Da Game" (featuring Mausberg)	David Blake, Johnny Burns	DJ Quik	4:04
2.	"Did Y'all Feel Dat" (featuring Mausberg & Skaboobie)	Blake, Burns	DJ Quik	3:27
3.	"We Came 2 Play" (featuring AMG & James DeBarge)	Blake, James DeBarge, Jason Lewis	DJ Quik	3:49
4.	"Pitch in on a Party"	Blake	DJ Quik	4:06
5.	"I Don't Wanna Party Wit U"	Blake	DJ Quik	5:06
6.	"Motex Records I (Interlude)"	Blake	DJ Quik	1:43
7.	"Sexuality"	Blake	DJ Quik	4:03
8.	"How Come?"	Blake	DJ Quik	3:53
9.	"U Ain't Fresh" (featuring Erick Sermon & Kam)	Blake, Joe Malloy, Craig Miller, Erick Sermon, Rudy Sheriff, William Stroman	DJ Quik	3:54
10.	"Roger's Groove"	Blake	DJ Quik	2:48
11.	"Motex Records II (Interlude)"	Blake	DJ Quik	0:36
12.	"Quikker Said Than Dunn"	Andre Young, Blake, Antoine Carraby, Eddie Floyd, O'Shea Jackson, Rahiem Thomas, Eric Wright	DJ Quik	3:44
13.	"Straight From the Streets (Interlude)"	Blake	DJ Quik	1:30
14.	"Speak on It" (featuring AMG & Mausberg)	Blake, Burns, Lewis	DJ Quik	2:32
15.	"Do Whatcha Want" (featuring Digital Underground & AMG)	Blake, Ron Brooks, Ronnie Caldwell, Ben Cauley, Gregory Jacobs, Lewis	DJ Quik	5:08
16.	"Well" (featuring Mausberg & Raphael Saadiq)	Blake, Courtney Branch, Burns, Warryn Campbell, Charles Wiggins	DJ Quik, Warryn Campbell (co.), Courtney Branch (co.)	5:42
17.	"Quik's Groove V"	Blake	DJ Quik	4:58
18.	"Do I Love Her?" (featuring Suga Free)	Blake, Dejuan Walker	DJ Quik	4:00
19.	"Tha Divorce Song" (featuring James DeBarge)	George Archie, Blake, DeBarge	DJ Quik, G-One (co.)	3:33
20.	"Balance & Options (Outro)"	Blake	DJ Quik	1:08
Total length:				70:41

• (co.) Co-producer

Sample credits

"Pitch In Ona Party" contains sample of "We Still Party" - earlier Quik's track, from his previous album "Rhythm-al-ism".
"You Ain't Fresh" contains portions of "You Ain't Fresh" by Boogie Boys.
"Quikker Said Than Dunn" contains samples of "Eazy-er Said Than Dunn" by Eazy-E.
"Do Whatcha Want" contains samples of "Let's Have Some Fun" by The Bar-Kays.

Personnel

Credits for Balance & Options adapted from liner notes.^[10]

AMG – composer, performer, primary artist
Courtney Branch – composer, performer, primary artist
El DeBarge – guest artist, vocals
James DeBarge – composer, performer, primary artist
Digital Underground – composer, performer, primary artist
DJ Quik – bass, composer, featured artist, guest artist, performer, primary artist
Eddie Floyd – composer
Brian Gardner – mastering
Will Hudspeth – featured artist
Kam – featured artist
Jonathan Mannion – photography
Marco Polo – background vocals

Mausberg – composer, performer, primary artist
Raphael Saadiq – featured artist, primary artist
Erick Sermon – composer, performer, primary artist
Skaboobie – featured artist
Suga Free – composer, performer, primary artist
Rahiem Prince Thomas – composer
Charles Veal – concert master
Courtney Walter – design
Warryn Campbell – composer, producer
Benjamin Wright – orchestral arrangements
Andre Young – composer

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[7]	18
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums^[11]	5

References

DJ Quik

Discography, Production discography

Studio albums	Quik Is the Name Way 2 Fonky Safe + Sound Rhythm-al-ism Balance & Options Under tha Influence Trauma The Book of David

Collaboration albums	Blaqkout (with Kurupt)

Mixtapes	The Trauma Mixtape The Audiobiography of David Blake

Singles	"Born and Raised In Compton" "Tonite" "Quik Is the Name" "Jus Lyke Compton" "Way 2 Fonky" "Safe + Sound" "Dollaz + Sense" "You'z a Ganxta" "Hand In Hand" "Down, Down, Down" "Pitch in on a Party" "Put It on Me" "Trouble" "Black Mercedes" "Fandango" "Get Down" "Ladies & Thugs" "Luv of My Life" "Real Women" "Nobody"

Featured singles	"Let's Get Down" "Strait Playin'" "Up N' Da Club" "Focus" "Buck Bounce" "Not Really Lookin" "John Doe" "Rise To Glory" "L.O.V.E."

Related articles	The Fixxers

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