Producers Guild: Six Shots from DJ Premier

Chris Martin is often referred to as the lead singer from Coldplay.


Usually, the person that offers up this musical fact is either (a) a fan of Coldplay, (b) a music critic, or (c) completely unaware that the name "Chris Martin" is terribly generic, and there are probably millions of guys in the world that share this moniker. Luckily for hip hop heads, one of those guys just so happens to be one of the best producers in the history of our chosen genre.

DJ Premier used to have a day job that consisted of being one half of the duo Gang Starr, alongside rapper-slash-producer Guru, but even when that group was around Primo went on the offensive, producing both singles and album tracks (read: "street" songs) for a wide variety of artists, from folks in his own crew, the Gang Starr Foundation, to outsiders, to folks on the West Coast, to the likes of Christina Aguilera. Primo's boom-bap-heavy production technique, mixed with choice samples (both musical and vocal), scratching, and a heavy-handed jazz influence, have brought to the world numerous examples of some of the finest that hip hop has to offer. With (almost) every effort, Premier's production is more of a co-star on the track, as opposed to background music: in fact, ninety percent of folks that frequent blogs and rap forums will oftentimes check out a song by an unknown artist specifically because DJ Premier is behind the boards. (Okay, I made that statistic up, but it's probably not that far off from the truth.)

What I hope to do with this new category is introduce some key selections from the catalog of hip hop producers, and although a lot of you will already be familiar with these tracks, some of you two might not be, and hopefully you'll be convinced to dive even further into the works of the producer in question. In no way am I saying that these next seven songs are Primo's best: they're simply some of my favorite songs, and there is always room for sequels if this post works out.

(Please note: I'm not actively trying to post the videos of each track, as some of them don't have official videos anyway. These selections are simply for your listening pleasure only, not for your eyes, so if you feel like actually watching the videos, Max assumes no responsibility if it sucks.)


Jeru the Damaja - "Me, Not The Paper (Remix)" (b-side from the "Me Or The Papes" single, 1997)




Jeru's "Me Or The Papes" (from Wrath Of The Math) found The Damaja riffing on golddigging women over some sparse piano keys, but its remix, "Me, Not The Paper", masterfully deconstructed the original song, mutating it from a brighter song (relatively speaking) into a dark and murky walk through the back alleys of New York, while Jeru flips the original subject matter into a monologue about how rhyming for the money is for chumps, while rhyming for the sake of rhyming, without saying anything of any substance, isn't much better. I especially love how Primo took the same basic concept (piano keys over a drum loop) and makes a completely different song, not just in the sound, but in the spirit: the Jeru presented here does not appear to be the same guy that was just spitting about the difference between a woman and a bitch.


Group Home featuring Amel Larrieux - "Suspended In Time (Groovy Remix)" (from the "Suspended In Time"/"The Realness" single, 1996)







I've trash talked Lil' Dap and Melachi The Nutcracker from Group Home on numerous occasions on the blog, but the simple fact is: neither one of these guys are great rappers (especially The Nutcracker). Their debut disc, Livin' Proof, was, um, living proof that a rap album could be either made or broken by the production provided, regardless of the level of talent behind the mic, and although DJ Premier did not, in fact, produce every song (a fact that a lot of websites and blogs seem to get wrong), his work on the disc was nothing short of extraordinary. The original version of "Suspended In Time", which appeared on the album, brought us two rappers stuck in their ways, trapped in a lifestyle that isn't easy to get out of. Primo's remix uses the exact same beat that he utilized on the original, but with one key difference: he reached out to Amel Larrieux, from the defunct R&B duo Groove Theory, to sing the hook, and her contribution takes the song to a different level. We all know how Max feels about bullshit R&B hooks on rap songs, but this is one of the handful of times where it actually works.


Royce da 5'9" - "Boom (Street Version)" (from the "Boom"/"Soldier's Story" single, 2000)






I actually didn't know that Royce had shot a video for this song until today. However, the video is for the album version (read: "major label version"), which includes an awkwardly-placed hook instead of simply relying on Primo's scratches, and I hate that version, so I'm not bothering with it. (Instead, you get a video of a guy doing a lot of broad jumping. Remember, this post isn't about the visuals.) The original version of "Boom" was released on Game Recordings, the label that (a) Royce was signed with before his boy Eminem blew the fuck up, provoking Columbia Records to come a-calling, and (b) is known for putting pics of models on their album and single covers instead of the artists themselves, and are now best known for the Hip Hop Honeys DVD series. Anyway. DJ Premier's fruitful relationship with Ryan Montgomery was cemented with this track, an ode to how much better a rapper Royce is than whomever he's comparing himself to at any given moment, and the musical accompaniment couldn't have been more perfect. Royce probably uses this shit as his entrance music whenever he walks into the bathroom.


Big Shug - "Crush" (from the "Crush"/"Official" 12-inch single, 1996)






I also never knew there was a video for this track. Big Shug is one of the lesser known members of the Gang Starr Foundation, and one of the perks of membership is access to DJ Premier beats whenever the hell you feel like rhyming. Nobody ever brings up this track when folks discuss and debate over Primo's best contributions to the game, and while it's not his best beat, it's great in its own way. The sounds sweep over you while Shug's slow and simple flow commands you to, if not listen, at least respect the fact that he's speaking. Also, the Inspectah Deck vocal sample is a nice touch. All of the green in the video clip is weirding me out, though.


Crooklyn Dodgers '95 - "Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers" (from the Clockers soundtrack, 1995)






In 1994, Spike Lee released Crooklyn, and its soundtrack featured a trio of emcees not really known for working together often (Masta Ace, Buckshot, and Special Ed), recording under the name Crooklyn Dodgers for "Crooklyn", a track produced by A Tribe Called Quest (probably more Q-Tip than Ali Shaheed Muhammad). In 1995, Spike Lee released Clockers, and DJ Premier was brought in to create a sequel to the original "Crooklyn". What he ended up doing was completely destroying the memory of the original song. Primo brings in O.C., Chubb Rock, and his apprentice-at-the-time Jeru the Damaja (who has a history of getting on some of the best Primo-laced songs), and together the three men essentially rip shit up. The Chubb Rock spot surprised me at the time, especially since his social commentary (and general hatred towards Barbara Walters) wasn't what I was familiar with when it came to him, but it works. and O.C. and Jeru bring their worth to the table as well. For his part, Primo provides a beat that will probably rank among his all time best. Give it a listen and judge for yourself.


Ill Bill - "Society Is Brainwashed" (from The Hour of Reprisal, 2008)









This track is actually brand spanking new, and it shows that DJ Premier is still fully capable of bringing the "real hip hop" (a phrase which I'm not a fan of, but is a true statement) to the fans that still remain after the onslaught of garbage on the radio. Ill Bill, late of the group Non-Phixion, waxes poetically like a conspiracy theorist over a genuinely creepy-as-fuck Primo instrumental, one which is all about the dark and the dank. This is some good shit right here, but only for those of you two readers that actually like songs where the rapper is trying to actively open your eyes.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave them below. Hopefully this category will receive a good enough response to keep it alive. And, once again, these are not intended to be Max's favorite six Primo beats. DJ Premier has so many great songs that I will probably never be able to get to them all on this blog, but that doesn't mean I can't write about him again...

-Max