K-Quick Talks: Opening for Legends, Building Legacy, and Staying Rooted in the DMV
January 5, 2026
Kicking off my first interview is DMV based rapper K-Quick
Following the lukewarm response to Sisqo’s second album in 2001, Dru Hill returned with a new member Scola in 2002 for the vastly underpromoted Dru World Order. The group would spend the next eight years touring and eventually add new member Tao for its fourth album InDRUpendence Day this week’s Second Listen Sunday pick.
Eight years is an eternity in the music business, but Dru Hill had four lead singers, so how would they sound in the age of streaming? The group reunited with past collaborators Keith Sweat, Nate Mooring, and Wirlie Morris, so the potential was there. Initially, I didn’t care for the album as The album’s first half was filled with secondary Will I Am-style beats. The songs sound better suited for Justin Bieber or Bruno Mars instead of a group like Dru Hill.
However, I now realize what Dru Hill was going for, and I won’t fault them for trying to branch out since that sound was the famous sound at the time. The CD starts to pick up with “Remain Silent,” which is the signature Dru Hill slow jam vibe I like. “State of Emergency” follows and is another mood setter while Sisqo & Jazz both have a chance to shine on “Back To The “Future’ & “Love MD.” The album’s final ballad, “Away,” still sounds fresh and would feel right at home on any streaming Black-led series. The album ends with a decent cover of Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.”
While InDRUpendence Day is my least revisited Dru Hill album, I respect them for trying something new. Besides, Dru Hill has album tracks from its three albums that are better than some people’s biggest hits running streaming in 2023.
Final Grade: C
InDRUpendence Day is available on most streaming platforms sans Apple Music.
Kicking off my first interview is DMV based rapper K-Quick
On the morning of February 8, 1977, Tony Kiritsis walked into a mortgage office in Indianapolis convinced the system had finally turned on him. What followed was one of the most unsettling media spectacles of the decade: a 63-hour hostage standoff in which Kiritsis literally wired a sawed-off shotgun to both his victim’s neck and his own chest. It was desperation theater, broadcast live, raw and ugly, and fueled by a man who believed grievance was the same thing as righteousness.
Eric Benét’s holiday album, “It’s Christmas”, finds the four-time Grammy nominee embracing comfort rather than challenge. He delivers a collection that is impeccably sung and tastefully arranged, though it ultimately feels a bit too cautious for an artist of his talent and history.