So at first I was like, I don’t really have time to concentrate on a band! That’s a lot of individuals mixed in with the way I do my thing. So that idea (the band) being pitched to me so soon from moving and getting the studio set up was a challenge – I mean, where are we gonna rehearse? What songs are we gonna do? You want 70 minutes? OK. I like challenges that will be tough to pull off. So I wanted to go back to that work ethic, and it feels good to do that.īut I’m a challenge guy. I can do 10-15 records in a week – done! Like, completely recorded, mixed, out there. And I’ve revamped my business with my team to go back to the way I was in the ‘90s, like lickety-split.
Notorious big albums 2015 plus#
Plus I’m moving from my studio from 24 years, D&D, so that’s a big stress on my brain. And this was a last-minute thing, brought up by my manager and also Yuji who brought us out here. I’m the type of person that’s very stuck in my ways, from all I’ve done and accomplished. But on his Japan tour in January, he debuted a brand new 4-piece band that played along with his beats and scratches at Billboard Live in both Tokyo and Osaka.Īs he sipped on hot tea with lemon to soothe his sore throat, we asked Premier how it felt to be on stage with a band for the first time. He just released the album PRhyme, a collaboration with Royce da 5’9”, who has worked extensively with Eminem and Dr. The final Gang Starr album was released in 2003 (Guru died of cancer in 2010), but Premier has never stopped working, producing literally hundreds of tracks and several full-album projects for hip-hop legends (Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim), superstars (Kanye West, Snoop Dogg) and underground heroes (M.O.P., Bumpy Knuckles), and even R&B singers (Janet Jackson, D’Angelo, Christina Aguilera) and rock artists (Robbie Robertson, Maroon 5). Along with several more Gang Starr LPs and singles, including the gold-selling Moment of Truth, he produced tracks on the albums now considered “golden era” classics, including Nas’ Illmatic, Notorious BIG’s Ready to Die, and Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt. Guru launched his solo project Jazzmatazz, while Premier became New York hip hop’s top producer, doing most of the Return of the Boom Bap solo album for KRS-One (Boogie Down Productions).
The B-side of that album’s first single “Take it Personal,” a collaboration with Nice & Smooth called “DWYCK,” became a massive club hit. Then came Gang Starr’s third album Daily Operation in 1992, with a harder-edged sound that showcased Premier’s innovative approach to chopping up samples, programming thumping drums, and putting his signature scratches on every hook. He also raised his profile with tracks for hip hop stars Ice T, Heavy D & the Boyz and Lord Finesse.
Initially, after Gang Starr’s single “Jazz Thing,” featuring Branford Marsalis and included on the soundtrack of Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues, made waves internationally, he was sought out for the “jazzy hip hop” sound, working with Soul II Soul, Neneh Cherry, and Loose Ends. As one half of the duo Gang Starr with late rapper Guru, he hit the scene in 1989 with the breakthrough single “Manifest” and quickly became one of the most in-demand beat makers in hip hop. When magazines and websites do surveys on the greatest hip hop producers of all time, DJ Premier is almost always near the top, if not number one. Here’s an interview done by Kevin Glenz in January for a Japanese magazine called Beatleg:
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