DJ Premier Discusses The Seven Jazz Albums Every Hip Hop Head Needs To Know

“I like to grab the parts you don’t expect me to grab,” DJ Premier told Noisey earlier this week, talking about his sampling style. “You grab an ass, I grab a pinky finger—you know what I’m saying?”

Calling the producer a pioneer has become something of a cliche, but it’s an epithet that fits. He’s been behind the boards on everything from Illmatic to Ready To Die to Reasonable Doubt— a Houston-area native, Premier ended up helping define the sound of Brooklyn hip-hop.

Check out which 7 jazz albums Premier is talkin’ about via noisey.vice