![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/premier-live-big.jpg?fit=640%2C299&ssl=1\" "\\"premier")
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It\u2019s not every day you get to interview a true hip-hop legend, someone who has paid their dues ten times over and always held on to their core values despite the ever-changing musical landscape. That kind of strength and character not only made Preem\u2019s signature drums and crisp scratches great but immortal, destined to live forever in the same vein as Miles Davis, James Brown and Bob Marley. And sure, DJ Premier has been doing more interviews as of late to promote his upcoming compilation Year Round Records: Get Used to Us, but it\u2019s not until you hear his scratchy, deep baritone vibrating through your cell phone speaker that it really hits you that you\u2019re carrying on a conversation with THE DJ Premier, the man responsible for crafting countless classics as one-half of Gang Starr while still snapping necks with the likes of Jeru the Damaja, KRS-One, the Group Home, Notorious B.I.G, Jay-Z, Cormega, Screwball and Nas (among many, many others).<\/p>\n
As Primo\u2019s voice battles the static on our phone connection, I can tell he\u2019s excited about where his talents have been taking him lately, as he\u2019s wrapping up his compilation album along with albums from NYGz, Khaleel and MC Eiht and Young Malay while continuing work on signee Nick Javas\u2019 debut album Destination Unknown, DJ Premier Versus Pete Rock and a new KRS-One album Return of the Boom Bip. But right now, Premier is more hyped over what just transpired in his day. DJ Swa, a talented DJ from France, was hanging out with Premier and asked to go to Queensbridge to sit on the same park bench where Nas once sat to write Illmatic. Not only did Preem take Swa to QB, he took him to Nas\u2019 old apartment. The current tenant, upon recognizing Premier, invited the two of them into Nasir\u2019s old stomping grounds for a makeshift tour that reduced Swa to tears.<\/p>\n
As soon as Premier drops Swa off at the airport, it\u2019s back to the grind, which means answering questions that I\u2019ve been mentally storing ever since I heard his first scratch. Thus began an interview that flowed more like a conversation that ranged from his upcoming projects to staying motivated to why Busta Rhymes hasn\u2019t been able to find a suitable banger from the production god. Read on for the full, unedited DJ Premier HipHopGame interview.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A must read for all Premier fans, it’s pretty long but it’s one of the best interviews I’ve read in a while. Hit continue reading for the full interview. Props to HHG<\/a> & DPB<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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You must be really excited about the upcoming releases you have on your label Year Round Records because you\u2019re one of the hardest interviews to get.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Oh, damn, son, I didn\u2019t even know that! I\u2019m glad I know that. I\u2019ll have to be a little bit easier to find. But yeah, what I\u2019m mainly excited about is for the simple fact that my market has already been established and I want to prove, not even prove, but show that hip-hop has gone from age 5 to age 65. There are 50 and 60 year-olds\u2026You gotta look at it\u2026The people that started the hip-hop culture like Afrika Bambaataa and Kool Herc are in their 50s. They were the teenagers hanging out.<\/p>\n
Just like me, I\u2019m 44 and I\u2019ll be 45 next year. I still love banging out beats and making hot shit so why is there an age limit on keeping it funky? James Brown worked all the way up until he died. He had tons of money but he did it because he loved his job. I love my job. I don\u2019t want to quit and I don\u2019t want to hang it up because I\u2019ve seen what hip-hop has gone to when we left it in the hands of the youngsters and I\u2019m not mad at the younger generation \u2018cause we have to pass the torch, but you still gotta maintain the pureness and the rawness.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like when I took DJ Swa to Queensbridge. Every kid there wanted to kick a verse and every verse was about how there were no lights in their \u2018hood and all you hear in their hood is shootouts in the park and everything is dark. They still see darkness and not a lot of happiness but they\u2019re still living the life and maintaining who they gotta be. If they\u2019re still talking about how dark the ghetto is and how fucked up the ghetto is, somebody\u2019s gotta still make sure that it\u2019s dirty and it\u2019s where hip-hop originated, which was in the \u2018hood. You gotta make sure that that part of it still exists until there\u2019s no more ghettos and if there\u2019s no more ghettoes in New York then there\u2019s going to be ghettoes in Haiti and there will be ghettoes in L.A. and there\u2019s gonna be ghettoes in Ghana and ghettoes in Nebraska somewhere.<\/p>\n
Until there\u2019s no more, you\u2019ve got to make sure that you maintain that level of the music because that\u2019s where it was born from and that\u2019s what I\u2019m here for. I\u2019m here to represent the have-nots, the poor people. I know I\u2019m not poor, but somebody\u2019s gotta be an advocate for them. That\u2019s why there\u2019s advocates like Bono from U2 and artists like that give so much of their money and their time to show people that we do have a bigger heart than just our stardom and our financial situation and our level of success. And you don\u2019t have to do it, it just makes me feel good to do something on that level when I can.<\/p>\n
Do you think that\u2019s also why you work so well with artists who think the same way as you, like Cormega, Blaq Poet and the NYGz?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019m very selective based on what I know an artist could bring to me. I know by myself I can do it all. I can MC, I can DJ, I can run a label, I can score films, I can do anything because I\u2019m a DJ first, always first. I\u2019m a producer second. I only became an artist because people took interest in me like Guru who wanted me to be a part of a group. I was already a part of a group but that was not my dream. My dream was just to be able to produce artists and give them hot music that would make them banging and make something that people would want to play. That\u2019s all I wanted to do.<\/p>\n
When I joined Gang Starr it took me to a whole different level but I still wanted to do what my dream was, which was to produce all of my artists that I wished would like me. I wanted EPMD to like me. I wanted Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One to like me. I knew if I could get them to say, \u201cYo, I think you\u2019re dope,\u201d then I made it. I wasn\u2019t thinking about the money and all that because that comes along with it. Every one of them saw me in some circumstance, whether it was me and Guru hanging out at the Apollo or whether it was at the underground clubs like Mars or The Milky Way or The Amazon or the car wash called Quando where Leaders of the New School had to get their stripes when they were unknown. And every one of those artists like Just Ice, they used to call Guru “Gang Starr” and me Premier. They would ask me where Gang Starr was at!<\/p>\n
But they would still recognize us and say they liked our shit. I remember seeing KRS-One in Music Factory buying every 12\u201d on the wall. \u201cI\u2019ll take that, I\u2019ll take that. I\u2019ll take that.\u201d And he goes, \u201cOh, Gang Starr, I\u2019ve been looking for that!\u201d He didn\u2019t even see me standing there and he grabbed my record, my 12\u201d for \u201cWords I Manifest.\u201d I was like, \u2018KRS just grabbed my record!\u2019 And so when I walked up to him and told him who I was, he told us, \u2018Yo, y\u2019all shit is dope. Just make sure you\u2019re never wack.\u201d And that shit stayed in my head .that means a lot coming from him. He\u2019s the teacher. I was going to stay following in those footsteps.<\/p>\n
I saw Rakim when he did \u201cLet the Rhythm Hit \u2018Em\u201d and he told me he loved what I was doing. I met Prince one day at a private performance for D\u2019Angelo because D\u2019Angelo\u2019s my homie and Prince told me he loved Daily Operation. Prince? He loved Daily Operation! I don\u2019t give a fuck if I\u2019m broke as a joke right now. Prince loved Daily Operation! Sade said when she tours, Daily Operation is one of the albums that she takes on her tour bus. This is Sade! That\u2019s solidifies everything I do, even if I never did it again. I got solidified by people that mean something to me. So I\u2019m going to continue to give more of what I\u2019ve already been doing. Like Guru said, I just update my formula.<\/p>\n
You have projects coming up with the NYGz, Nick Javas and Khaleel. What made you want to take them on as your three main artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Different reasons. The NYGz are homies that I met when I moved to the Bronx with Guru. It was the first apartment that me and Guru had together with our dancer H.L. Rock. He\u2019s still down with us and I met Khaleel through H.L. In the \u201cPositivity\u201d video, the guy that\u2019s got the puppet strings and he\u2019s dancing with the white face and the makeup, that\u2019s H.L. Rock and the \u201cWords I Manifest\u201d video, H.L.\u2019s the dancer with the flattop and the other flattop dancer with the other kid where they have the same shirts on, that\u2019s my label manager\u2019s brother, we call him Mr. President or Prez and that\u2019s Gary and he has his own company Saw Films. And those were our dancers. Back then having dancers was a very vital part of hip-hop and it still is but it got to a point where everybody thought you weren\u2019t too cool if you had dancers and it kind of phased out and came back in.<\/p>\n
But H.L. was down with us and we all lived in the Bronx and Panchi was one of the guys hugging the block and getting money in the streets. He was the funny guy on the block. He could be beating somebody up on the block one hour and the next hour he\u2019s got everybody laughing because he\u2019s that funny. He\u2019s on my radio show Live from HeadQCourterz on Friday nights on Hip-Hop Nation, which is on channel 40 if you\u2019re on Sirius and channel 67 if you\u2019re on XM. I\u2019ve been doing it for over five years. I used to just pre-tape it and now I do it live. Our caller volume is heavy and we only play new music that I think is dope because that\u2019s how I was taught from Marley and Chuck Chillout and the Awesome 2. That\u2019s how they used to do it. They played banging independent stuff because the majors were just starting to get into that groove and they didn\u2019t know a lot about hip-hop yet. It was such a new phenomenon and they just knew that they needed to get a piece of it.<\/p>\n
When it came down to Panchi and Shabeeno, who\u2019s also in NYGz, he\u2019s from Dyckman, which is where Black Rob and all of them are from. He\u2019s from Dyckman but we call it Uptown. That\u2019s not Harlem. Harlem is Harlem. But Sha was really more the rhymer and Panchi always just knew so many lyrics. I remember Guru said, \u201cIf you do a record, you would come off. There\u2019s something about you.\u201d So we were up on 183rd St. in the Bronx and we had a little studio apartment and I had all my records and all my turntables. We would see Panchi every day and buy a little smoke from him and go to the studio to work with him and record our album. Guru put them out first. They were called Operation Ratification and they were on Guru\u2019s Ill Kid label and they had a record called \u201cTray Pound God\u201d and then they put out another 12\u201d called \u201cThe Rotten Apple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Things didn\u2019t work out and Guru moved on to other things and I told them I would give it a shot and see if I could make something happen. NYG\u2019s was their original name but we knew we couldn\u2019t do that because of the team and they are fans, but I said if we just put the letters and you didn\u2019t call yourself the New York Giants and add a \u201cz,\u201d that one letter changes it all.<\/p>\n
So they went back to NYGz instead of Operation Ratification and they did Welcome to G-Dom when I was on tour with Big Shug to promote his Street Champ album in Europe. I left the studio with them with one of the greatest producers and engineers, King of Chill. He\u2019s a legendary producer who produced MC Lyte, Audio Two, The Alliance\u2026King of Chill also does engineering and now he works with us and he ran all the sessions while I was on tour and when I got back, they had a whole body of work done and I was actually impressed. They did 15 songs in two weeks and they never had any experience doing a studio session without somebody who knows what they\u2019re doing. It came out good and then I told them, \u201cLook, the first NYGz official album, I would make sure that I produced all of it.\u201d It\u2019ll be my first all-produced Premier album since Gang Starr\u2019s The Ownerz LP. I did the entire album. We\u2019re actually one song away from turning it in and getting it mastered and ready to go.<\/p>\n
With Nick Javas, I ran into his man Spence and he knew who I was and he wanted to introduce me to Nick. He wanted to give me his demo. At that time, he was Nicky J and they called him Nicky Javas. Even around the way they call him Nicky. We kicked it and he kept staring at me with this kind of stalker look and he was like, \u2018Yo, man, I\u2019m telling you I\u2019m nice.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018All right, whatever. People always say that and usually you\u2019re disappointed.\u2019 He was like, \u2018No, I\u2019m telling you, I\u2019m nice.\u2019 I was like, \u2018All right, man. Whatever.\u2019 I wasn\u2019t really turned on by that approach how he looked at me with so much confidence that he was that dope so I just paid it no mind when I left the party and put the demo in my bag and it got lost in the sauce until I started through my demos a year later and I ran across his and I wanted to listen to it to see if he really was what he says he is.<\/p>\n
Once I heard his wordplay and his delivery of rhymes and his subject matter, he had so many different topics to talk on, I liked what he was doing but the production didn\u2019t give him any justice to stand out. He did a freestyle to \u201cNas is Like\u201d but it didn\u2019t match him. We talked for over two hours on the phone and we clicked and I told him we had to find a way to make him stand out. We had to do a couple of demos to just test the weather and see where we\u2019re at.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t try to sound Black. You can tell in his voice he sounds White and we had to make a record that I could stand by and is a Premier record. There\u2019s a lot of White rappers that have wanted to work with me for years like Esoteric, who I\u2019m working with now. Eminem, we never got the chance to do anything. Jojo Pellegrino has been stressing me to do something with him for years. He\u2019s like, \u2018You never do nothing with me.\u2019 And now all of a sudden I\u2019m working with this guy and even on the internet there\u2019s some haters. But he\u2019s the total package. He\u2019s beyond just rapping and doing records. This guy, every day, shows just how much he wants to do this. His work ethic is insane.<\/p>\n
Doing his album, Destination Unknown, is going to be a lot of fun, but in order to launch him to the world, \u201cOpportunity Knocks\u201d was the perfect record to launch him because it\u2019s showing that I\u2019m giving him a chance to audition for the label and I\u2019ve never done a record like that where I let somebody audition and then they get a deal. It might make other people think they\u2019re going to get the same chance and they\u2019re not. It just happened to be mainly because he\u2019s White. I knew that with people like Eminem and Dre having their success, if I\u2019m going to touch a White artist and it\u2019s ghetto music and you have to respect Black and Latino people, you have to come off in a way. I like other White artists like Apathy and Vinnie Paz and Non-Phixion and Ill Bill and Necro and everybody, but there\u2019s still a certain thing that has to fly for approval when it comes to artists outside of Blacks and Latinos because I judge them by what they speak on. What you speak on should be real to what your life is about, even if you\u2019re just having fun. Talk about the realities of your life.<\/p>\n
What I like about Nick Javas is he doesn\u2019t try to be Black. He doesn\u2019t try to be gutter. He sounds like himself and we\u2019re making records that match his personality. We\u2019re not trying to bring him to the world of where he does not come from and I remember when he was about to beat up a guy in Amsterdam. The guy came backstage and asked for an autograph and everything. Nick Javas doesn\u2019t dress like the typical B-Boy. He doesn\u2019t sag his pants and he doesn\u2019t dress like the typical MC. The dude was telling him to let his pants hang off his ass a little bit and Nick was saying that wasn\u2019t him. He was telling him, \u201cI\u2019m saying though, you gotta look the part\u201d and Nick was saying that he was just going to look like himself and he didn\u2019t have to look like no part. And the dude was just going on, \u201cIf there weren\u2019t so many White people in here, I would say what I really feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nick Javas said, \u201cYo, Premier, I\u2019m not being disrespectful because this is your dressing room, but I\u2019m about to beat this motherfucker\u2019s ass.\u201d And he said, \u201cWhat?\u201d And he\u2019s looking at me like, \u2018I know you\u2019re not going to kick me out because this is your dressing room\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Yeah, I am kicking you out because you\u2019ve been talking shit ever since you walked in here and you\u2019re out of order. Get the fuck out of my dressing room.\u2019 He was like, \u2018It\u2019s like that?\u2019 Yeah, it\u2019s like that. He was out of order. I\u2019m not going to just stand up for my artist because he\u2019s my artist. If he\u2019s wrong, I\u2019m going to tell him he\u2019s wrong. This dude was out of order because he\u2019s telling a dude how to dress and that\u2019s his style. It takes nothing away from his presence as an artist or who he is. He\u2019s a former athlete and played four years of college football. He\u2019s always working out in the hotel because he says he wants to look good all the time. He\u2019s doing what most artists need to do. A lot of artists aren\u2019t in shape and that\u2019s why we have the worst health issues and everything. Most MCs are fat and a lot of MCs that were slim have gotten fat because they\u2019ve let themselves go and that\u2019s one thing that can crush your career. This guy cares about everything that\u2019s going to make him the total package and he\u2019s going to be a star. That\u2019s why I invest my money in him. I know how to pick stars versus people who are going to be a waste of time. That\u2019s why I signed him.<\/p>\n
Working with Khaleel, I met him when he was on another label. It was a Texas-based label and they had some problems within their structure and some people were stealing money from the owner and he had an inheritance because his grandfather owns one of the main banks in Houston. So he got a trust fund and whatnot and he wanted to start a rap label. Khaleel, he paid me a grip of fucking money to produce Khaleel and he wanted Lord Finesse and he wanted Showbiz. I hooked him up and we all made a nice little grip of cash.<\/p>\n
And then as time passed, I kept checking in and asking when that record was coming out that I did for him. He was telling me he was having problems and he thought he was going to have to close the label down. The owner was like, \u2018If there\u2019s a way you could try to get him connected with some people, I would really appreciate it, whatever you could do to help.\u2019 I was like, \u2018You know what? I\u2019ve got my little small label and I\u2019m down to try one album with him and if it doesn\u2019t work out, then I\u2019ll keep it moving but I\u2019ll do at least one album because I like him enough.\u2019 And everything with Lord Finesse and Showbiz came out good too and he showed us his versatility. I told him I\u2019d take him under my wing and that\u2019s what I did.<\/p>\n
And now we\u2019re about to put that album out as well. Nick Javas\u2019 single, NYGz\u2019 single, MC Eiht\u2019s single and Khaleel\u2019s single are all on this compilation album that\u2019s dropping, so we\u2019ll be having videos constantly back-to-back dropping.<\/p>\n
And I have my specialty projects that I\u2019m going to put out like MC Eiht. The album is done but the mixes were bad so he\u2019s sending me all his sessions and my engineers are mixing it. We\u2019re going to put it out and it\u2019s called Which Way is West? We did a cut called \u201cFine by Me\u201d and he\u2019s shooting a video for it. Khaleel is putting out a video for \u201cHot Flames.\u201d Nick Javas\u2019 album Destination Unknown is the one that\u2019s the farthest one from being done but he does the most viral stuff. He has the NFL Reel he does on my blog. Check out Week 8 and see who his costume is. You\u2019ll definitely be surprised.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the typical way most up-and-coming rappers approach you? What line do you hear the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u201cMy shit is ill. You\u2019re gonna love it, man. You\u2019re gonna love it.\u201d How can you know I\u2019ma love it when I haven’t even heard it yet? And, \u201cLet me get your number.\u201d I’ll give you the office. \u201cNo, I want your number.\u201d Why would I give you my number? I don\u2019t owe you that. I\u2019ll give you the number to the office but when you call, be serious. They will hang up on you. We\u2019re not here to play games. We\u2019re here to keep the music hot. Most major label artists like a Dre or Eminem or G-Unit, most of the major label artists that do Hip-Hop are not popping right now with any good music so it\u2019s back to independence where we can do it however we want. My label manager wanted me to drop this compilation album in January but I wanted to drop it in December so people would get a taste for what we\u2019re dropping in the next year and that way when all of their albums drop, everybody\u2019s ready for them because they got a taste for it because every project is on the compilation and there\u2019s still projects that I didn\u2019t get to put on the compilation.<\/p>\n
Me and Freddie Foxxx are doing an album called The Kolexion. It\u2019s a collection of everything I\u2019ve ever produced with him and we did four new joints that we\u2019re about to put out along with it. One of them is called \u201cThe Gang Starr Bus,\u201d which I\u2019m actually mixing today and I\u2019m going to leak it out this week on my show. He\u2019s really talking about everybody that was around when we did our Moment of Truth tour with Busta and Wyclef and the Black Eyed Peas before they were even known yet. They were the opening act and that\u2019s how we got cool. Mya was on the tour and Canibus was on the tour and Public Enemy and Alchemist was just a roadie, blowing up the big buddha doll for Cypress Hill. He would ride on our bus and we would ride on their bus and that was one of the best tours ever. And I took M.O.P and my homie HeadQCourterz, Rest in Peace, to sell all our merch. I took Freddie Foxxx, Bumpy Knuckles, with us and we had the best time. And we were on the Rage Against the Machine tour in 1999 together.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s talking about where were you when we were on the Gang Starr bus? It\u2019s a message out to people who were never really with us and to all of the people who have been negative in regards to Guru\u2019s passing and everything. He\u2019s asking where were y\u2019all when we were on the bus? We were touring and arguing and fighting and playing cards and Mike Lowe is doing push-ups on the tour bus when it\u2019s moving and falling over when he slammed on the brakes. It\u2019s almost like the Just Ice record \u201cGoing Way Back.\u201d It proves that you weren\u2019t down if you wasn\u2019t on that bus. Even though me and Guru have been on many a tour before all of that happened, that was one of our greatest memories of our career with Big Shug and M.O.P and all of us together.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m going to put that record out and it\u2019s going on the Bumpy album. It\u2019s actually a Gang Starr beat that we didn\u2019t finish for the Moment of Truth album and I put it on Beats that Collected Dust Volume 2 that I\u2019m releasing in a couple of weeks of just other instrumentals that other people turned down. I didn\u2019t even tell Bumpy that that was a Gang Starr track. He called me and told me he wrote a rhyme about Gang Starr and when we used to be on the bus together. I told him that it was a Gang Starr track that Guru never finished. It\u2019s just dope that it made him write that and he didn\u2019t even know it was a Gang Starr track. It\u2019s spooky how things com about but you gotta love it because at the end of the day, these things are positive energy that you can not deny and I\u2019m all about positive energy 24\/7.<\/p>\n
Do you have any regrets with what happened with Guru after The Ownerz dropped and not making more music together?<\/strong><\/p>\n
No. I would never have any regrets because Gang Starr is our foundation. That\u2019s our foundation and that\u2019s what built me and him. I made him famous and he made me famous. We weren\u2019t enemies when he broke off to do 7 Grand and do the next part of his career. He just didn\u2019t want to reunite and get an album done at that period of time and six years passed and his last email said he would record the next album but he wanted to do it at his studio and I could mix it in my studio. And I was like, \u2018I\u2019m cool with that. We ain\u2019t gotta record here. We can record in the bathroom for all I care just so long as I can mix it where our sound still sounds correct after all these years being at D&D.<\/p>\n
HeadQCourterz is still the same studio as D&D. When D&D went out of business, I took it over and renamed it to honor my homie that passed away and that\u2019s why we call it HeadQCourterz Studio. I had to spell it the same way HeadQCourterz spelled his name. No regrets. I got to see him in the hospital before he passed and I spoke at his private funeral because his father asked me to speak. Me and Shug spoke and had everybody laughing about all of our memories of him and the funny stuff that happened when we used to live together.<\/p>\n
If anybody can ever do a life story on Guru besides his family and Shug I would have to be involved because I lived with him for six years before we branched off and our history is way too long. We spent 18 of 23 years together and 18 of them, we had albums out. You can\u2019t never take that away. There\u2019s no regrets at all.<\/p>\n
And the letter was fake. It was bogus, which I knew it was. The lawyers stepped in and that letter didn\u2019t even exist. And I know how he writes. I have all his rhyme books and whatnot. I know how Guru writes. He\u2019s not going to call me his \u201cex-DJ.\u201d He\u2019s going to call me \u201cPremier.\u201d If he don\u2019t wish for Premier to do something, he\u2019s going to write, \u201cI don\u2019t wish for Premier to have any part of whatever.\u201d He\u2019s not going to call me his \u201cex-DJ.\u201d That makes it sound like it\u2019s an old boyfriend or something. That\u2019s not how he writes.<\/p>\n
And plus, why would you put your son in a letter once but mention everybody else that you\u2019re running with 11 times in the same letter. He loved his son. Again, I\u2019m not a fool. I know Solar and I know Guru. We\u2019re not talking about anything that\u2019s strange on my part because through all these years, I\u2019ve been doing what I\u2019ve been doing and nothing but good things come out of people’s mouths when you mention my name. I may be slow when it comes to turning music in. I\u2019ll take that. I\u2019ll take that, which I\u2019m actually working on to fix, but I\u2019ll take that punch with being late when it comes to turning music in, but other than that, there\u2019s not a bad thing about me in the history of hip-hop about me being a bad guy.<\/p>\n
Is the reason you take so long on certain songs because you\u2019re so careful with the sound and trying to have it sound as good as it can?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Absolutely. I really care about every little note, every little sound, every little kick and pop. It has to be that right because I pride myself on quality. I want people to rely on the fact that if Preem would do it, then it\u2019s going to be hot. It\u2019s like how Def Jam used to do it in the \u201880s. Even if we didn\u2019t know who the artist was, if it said Def Jam, we\u2019re just buying it because it\u2019s Def Jam. Now you can\u2019t trust the label. You have to hear it to know if it\u2019s good. I shouldn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n
Look at Redman. If Redman\u2019s dropping an album tomorrow, I don\u2019t care if everybody says that it\u2019s wack. I\u2019m a Redman fan and I know that Redman comes with the rhymes and the boom-bap beats and originality. I don\u2019t need to hear it. I don\u2019t need to wait. I\u2019m going to buy it because I know he\u2019s consistent and he\u2019s going to bring something to the table. That\u2019s what I do. It\u2019s the same thing with my label. If it\u2019s Premier-produced, it has to be where everybody\u2019s happy. It should have scratching and cutting, for the most part. Not all songs will have it all over, but there has to have some type of turntablism on it. What I heard coming up like Cutmaster DC with \u201cBrooklyn\u2019s in the House\u201d and Mix Master Ice from UTFO, who was the king of cutting the \u201cAh\u201d scratch. He cut it the most back then. Howie T with \u201cWhistle\u201d and Chubb Rock and Special Ed and all that stuff. These are legends that would always scratch on their records. Jam Master Jay always scratched on his records. Flash always scratched on his records. I wanted to make sure that I always did the same thing because that\u2019s how the records sounded and the MC always said, \u201cMy DJ this, my DJ that, check out my DJ on the scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n
If I wasn\u2019t raised that way, I probably wouldn\u2019t be doing that steadily, but that\u2019s how it was. If it was that way when I was coming up, that\u2019s how it is when I still do what I do. And I\u2019m intricate and I really, really think that deeply. Like Large Professor, I\u2019m a mad scientist.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the longest you\u2019ve ever spent tweaking one song?<\/strong><\/p>\n
The most? It\u2019s different every time. The record \u201cProject Boy\u201d with Joell Ortiz, I mixed that thing 10 times and I still am not as happy with it as I want to be because I like the track so much and I\u2019m fighting with the vocals to sit right in the pocket to where you can really understand the sound of the sample but still get a strong taste of the lyrics and the way he spit, all combined. All of that, that took me a long time. I\u2019ve never had to mix a record 10 times ever and it was just one joint. It never took me that long to even make an album. That was one record I was stuck on for a long time.<\/p>\n
Also \u201cRepresent\u201d from Nas. I had to keep on mixing and mixing and mixing it because I wasn\u2019t happy with it. And I still wish I could have mixed it again to make it a little bit brighter and crisper but when it comes on in the club, everybody still goes crazy so I guess it\u2019s right to them.<\/p>\n
How do you decide what vocal samples to use when you\u2019re scratching a hook in a record?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It just depends. A lot of times the lyrics or the title of the song make me just start coming up with ideas. As a DJ, we pretty much know every rhyme to almost every record because if we\u2019re in battle mode or whatever mode we\u2019re in, we think, \u201cI can scratch that line. That would be ill.\u201d So depending on what the song is about or what the title of the song is, that\u2019s what makes me go, \u2018Ooh wee!\u2019 And the lines just start coming in my head. Sometimes I get the lines in my head. Jay-Z always gave me the scratches to scratch. Guru always told me, \u201cScratch this, scratch that.\u201d Biggie told me, \u201cYou should scratch R. Kelly \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable\u201d in the hook.\u201d I was like, \u2018All right, I\u2019ll try it tomorrow. I\u2019ll go get the record.\u2019 At the time we didn\u2019t have Serato where we could just download it and throw it in. You had to go pull the 12\u201d on vinyl or the album and do that. You couldn\u2019t just sample it and try to cut it up in Serato. You had to physically have that record.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s either way. If an MC tells me to scratch it, I\u2019ll try it and if it doesn\u2019t work to my satisfaction, then I\u2019ll tell them, \u201cYo, it ain\u2019t working.\u201d But when I did \u201cD\u2019Evils with Jay, he did it over the phone. He told me, \u201cI want you to scratch \u201cDear God, I wonder can you save me? Illuminati got my mind, should and my body.\u201d He was doing it over the phone. And then at the end he said, \u201cI can\u2019t die, I can\u2019t die.\u201d I was like, \u2018All right, got it.\u2019 Came to the studio, had the beat laid, had the scratches laid and he just went in there and laid the vocals and it was dope.<\/p>\n
Like I said, Guru gave me a lot of scratching ideas and then I do my own ideas. I\u2019m open to anything but most of the time, I just go off of what the lyrics say and they make me come up with cuts that I want to use.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve used a wide selection of artists not everyone is familiar with from Akrobatik and Murs to the well-known artists. You really run the gamut with the voices you choose to scratch.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Yeah. But that\u2019s how much I really, really know my hip-hop. I still study now. I know Waka Flocka\u2019s biggest records and I know what\u2019s popping with Gucci Mane. I met Gucci Mane backstage getting ready to go onstage to rehearse at the BET Hip-Hop Awards and he was like, \u2018Aw, man, DJ Premier! DJ Premier, you a legend!\u2019 I thought he was short. That motherfucker\u2019s tall as fuck. That motherfucker\u2019s like 6\u20191\u201d! I was like, \u2018Damn, you tall!\u2019 I thought he was like short and stocky. I didn\u2019t realize he was a big old tall basketball player-looking motherfucker. And he was like, \u2018Yo, I love everything you did with Gang Starr.\u2019 And this is Gucci Mane! And we know he\u2019s not the most lyrical but I respect him for his hustle and his grind and he gave me my respect. I didn\u2019t have to introduce myself. It was me and Shug and he knew Shug too.<\/p>\n
I respect that because that means he\u2019s up on what I do and I\u2019m up on what he does. I can talk to him about \u201cLemonade\u201d and sing the lyrics. He can be like, \u2018Premier knows my shit!\u2019 Now that\u2019s not a style of hip-hop that I would do but he\u2019s another piece of the hip-hop puzzle. I just stay in my lane and do what I do. They can do what they do and Jay-Z does a little of both. He\u2019ll take a southern swag style of record and make it his own because that\u2019s what Jay always did. But he can do that because he knows how to make a perfect rendition of those records and I\u2019m the same way. If I had to do a bounce record, my version of a bounce record was \u201cAll for the Cash\u201d because you could bounce to that even though it\u2019s in regular 4\/4 count. Certain people can do those things and certain people can not. I\u2019m deep-rooted in hip-hop and there\u2019s not a style of hip-hop that I can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s cool that you have a level of appreciation for all types of hip-hop.<\/strong><\/p>\n
I love and respect the culture. When you love and respect it, you\u2019ll always be able to do it. That\u2019s why I know with me being 44 years of age, there\u2019s no limit because I\u2019m older. If that was the case, I would be like, \u2018Aw, man, that rap stuff was cool when I was younger. I\u2019ve outgrown that.\u2019 You can not outgrow culture! You can\u2019t outgrow a culture, period! The fact that I am a part of the culture, I\u2019m going to keep banging out until I don\u2019t want to do it anymore but I still fiend for an ill-ass sample and an ill-ass beat to make.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re adding voices to a scratch, like Method Man, does that ever make you realize that the artist might sound dope doing a song with you?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Oh, absolutely, which is why we did \u201cRap Phenomenon\u201d on Biggie\u2019s Born Again album with him and Red. We\u2019ve been trying to get in the lab together but our schedules kept clashing. The last time I saw Redman, he said, \u201cAw, man, you ain\u2019t got no love for me, man.\u201d I said, \u201cRed, I\u2019ve just been busy, dawg, I\u2019ve been on tour and I haven\u2019t been around and I don\u2019t carry drum machines on the road and records to sample. I\u2019m focusing on doing my gigs and covering all the ground I can cover while I\u2019m over there. It\u2019s a grind being in Europe and flying on a plane every day for 22-23 days straight and then getting there and doing interviews and doing all the stuff.\u201d He knows.<\/p>\n
But I so bad want to do original songs that aren\u2019t for a tribute album or for anything. Eventually hopefully me and Red will get it in and hopefully on the next record me and Meth will get it in. I\u2019m going to keep on making sure that I keep my mind on making sure that happens one day.<\/p>\n
But yeah, sometimes a line from a record will make me realize they sound good over that beat and imagine if we do a whole song. One day we will.<\/p>\n
What are the most popular requests you get from fans for who they want you to work with?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Definitely Busta Rhymes. And I\u2019ve been sending him beats fresh out of the oven and he\u2019s been turning every one of them down but he was like, \u2018Yo, I need more intensity. I need more of this.\u2019 And it\u2019s a challenge to me. Me and Busta are really great friends from way back and I told him, \u2018All right, man.\u2019 Every song that he\u2019s turned down has already ended up with another artist. It\u2019s been put to use. I\u2019m actually going to work on another one this week to see if I can get it cracking again because I really want to make his album.<\/p>\n
And also, a lot of people want me to work with Ghostface and I told Ghost after the Rock the Bells tour and he told me, \u201cYo, man, you know \u201cMass Appeal\u201d is what inspired \u201cCriminology.\u201d\u201d I was like, \u2018For real?\u2019 because \u201cCriminology\u201d is a banger for Raekwon\u2019s first Purple Tape. \u201cCriminology\u201d is an ill record and for him to say that \u201cMass Appeal inspired that\u2026I\u2019m a big Ghostface fan and I can already imagine what he\u2019s going to sound like over a Premier beat. So Ghostface, Busta Rhymes\u2026Who else is always mentioned? Off the head, it\u2019s those two as far as people asking me if I would ever work with them.<\/p>\n
Is it ever hard keeping up with the artists who reach out to work with you? Do you ever get any hurt feelings?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Busta keeps saying, \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re taking me seriously.\u201d How can you even say some shit like that? I can\u2019t just drop everything and do it just like that. There\u2019s other things involved. There\u2019s business involved. If I got a paid gig that somebody\u2019s paid me to do, I gotta put those priorities first. If I gotta give you a track for free until we handle business off \u2018spect, it\u2019s business. I can\u2019t put that in front of what\u2019s gotta be taken care of first because there\u2019s business and if the shoe was on the other foot, I would respect the same thing.<\/p>\n
Game reaches out to me and says, \u201cYo, I got a small little window. Can you still squeeze me in a joint?\u201d I said, \u201cWell, I got some joints that are not being used now and they\u2019re still in skeleton form.\u201d I sent it to him, he loved it and he sent me the vocals back on the same day and I just made the Game album. And he paid me! I told him how much I wanted and there was no hesitation. He said, \u201cDone!\u201d Now he just sent me a text message asking me if I had time for one more and I\u2019m like, \u2018Shit, if it\u2019s gonna pay as quick as the last one, then yeah, I\u2019ll squeeze one more\u2019 because again, it\u2019s business. It\u2019s the end of the year and I have other priorities I want to do and take care of my staff and my family and sometimes that\u2019s what the issue is.<\/p>\n
A lot of these artists now, with the way budgets have been cut and the way a lot of the majors won\u2019t cut a check until the song is done first, but my time and my energy is being put into creating a banger and we used to get paid upfront. Half upfront, half when the song is done. That doesn\u2019t apply anymore. That just doesn\u2019t apply anymore. Being that that\u2019s the case, the paying customers get first shot.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to take anything away from Busta. That’s my homie and I love him to death and I\u2019m still going to work on beats this week for him, but I\u2019ve done 10 already so it\u2019s not like I haven\u2019t made the effort. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m avoiding him or I\u2019m not taking his calls. Every time he calls, I immediately tell him what the status is and I\u2019m not going to sugarcoat the news. He\u2019s a man that I respect and I\u2019m very deep when it comes to my beats.<\/p>\n
I want them to be really unique so I don\u2019t just go in there, hit a button and it\u2019s done. I really think, \u201cDamn, that sounds like something I did on this record. Ah, scrap it. I\u2019ll erase it. That sounds or reminds me too much of that bassline. Scrap it.\u201d That\u2019s what I do. My assistant Gem will tell you the same thing. He\u2019s witnessed me make joints for artists and he\u2019ll say, \u201cI never would have used that record\u201d because he makes beats but he\u2019s seen me use records just off the ground with the cuts and scratches and I don\u2019t mean cuts and scratches from DJs. I\u2019m talking about somebody stepping on it and scraping it all across the street. He won\u2019t even play it and I find a little niche right in the middle where it doesn\u2019t have any dirt or scrape marks on it and make a beat out of it. I really look to be that unique with my style.<\/p>\n
Some of these artists may not get it, but I can\u2019t sit there and constantly have to explain myself because I know I\u2019m doing a positive thing and doing God\u2019s work as a human being. If they don\u2019t get it at the end of the day, that\u2019s really their problem. But me and Busta are going to make it happen. It\u2019s gonna happen.<\/p>\n
How have you noticed your production techniques changing over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I just make sure that I stay in the lane that works for me. I know as a DJ, I love playing my songs when they\u2019re brand new. I don\u2019t really like to hear my music when I do records after they\u2019ve been out there for awhile. I don\u2019t like listening to my own music. I like to play other people\u2019s music. But when it\u2019s a brand new joint that I just did I\u2019m fiending to play it because I know you can\u2019t front on it because the beats are there and the rhymes are there and you\u2019re going to heart the tradition that you expect.<\/p>\n
When I get off the phone for this interview, I got so many beats I gotta do. I gotta do one for Esoteric that\u2019s overdue. He paid me my money right way, no questions asked. I told him how much it would cost him for cash and he gave me the money. I gotta get his beat done. He said he wants something angry and mean. It\u2019s going to have the Premier style because I can\u2019t avoid getting rid of that because I already laid that down and I know people want more of that.<\/p>\n
When I say I update my formula, I just work on making sure that the sample is new and different from what I\u2019ve done in the past or it\u2019s chopped a certain way where even if I take a record that you would recognize from back in the days, it\u2019s going to be chopped in a way where you\u2019re going to say, \u201cOh, shit, did you hear what he did to so-and-so?\u201d I\u2019ve used \u201cNautilus\u201d before for \u201cMy Mind Spray\u201d for Jeru. I used a different version than everybody else used and everybody\u2019s used \u201cNautilus\u201d in one way or form or another but my approach was always like a real quick rewind to everything I\u2019ve already done.<\/p>\n
Even with all the records I\u2019ve done, I can\u2019t hardly remember because I\u2019ve done so many, but I still have all of that in consideration with everything I\u2019ve done in the past, every Jeru album, every Group Home album, every Gang Starr album, every Rakim record, every Jay record, every Nas record, every Biggie record, every Paula Perry record, every Mos Def record, every Big L record\u2026All of that\u2019s in my mind when I create the beats and it just has to have a certain neck bounce to it where you know you can\u2019t not bounce to it.<\/p>\n
And I grade it based on stepping outside of myself where I ask myself, \u201cWould I like this if somebody played this for me?\u201d And that\u2019s how I judge it. I literally act like I\u2019m somebody else. If you ever see me talking to myself, don\u2019t think I\u2019m crazy. I\u2019m just stepping outside of who I am and pretending to be the other person that loves a Premier record that\u2019s being introduced to another joint Premier did. Would he like this? Would she like this? Would they say, \u201cOh, man, it\u2019s another bouncing banger\u201d? And if it feels that way to me then, then it gets released from the studio. If not, it still stays in the studio forever until that feeling is caught by me and my fake other person! (laughs)<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re looking for a sample to chop, do you hear how it\u2019s going to be arranged before you load the sounds into your MPC or does it come to you as you work on it?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s both but mainly, depending on the artist and their voice and their flow and the stuff that they\u2019ve done that I liked in the past, I kind of hear it and I start searching for sounds that are close to what I hear. Sometimes it turns out to be a whole different sample style that I wasn\u2019t looking for or when I\u2019m looking for the sample for the song I\u2019m working on, I might find a sample that\u2019s dope but it\u2019s not dope for the record I\u2019m working on. I\u2019ll mark it and put it on a disk and come back to it, which I never did in the past but I\u2019m doing it now because the memory\u2019s not as sharp as it used to be! (laughs) I can\u2019t retain as much memory as I used to! So now I just take the sample, put it on a disk, note it that I have to come back to it and when I come back to it and I make a banger out of that.<\/p>\n
But I always hear it and I usually look for the sample. Sometimes I don\u2019t even do that. Sometimes I just put on records and thumb around and just hunt for sounds that sound like it might work for my drums because I usually do the drums first. I used to do the sample first and then put drums around it and I still do that every now and then, but usually I do the drums first and make a pattern that\u2019s fairly simple with just the one and the two and then I surround it once the sample locks in to the kick and the snare and then I start to add the extra kicks or the extra bounce or take one kick away and turn the quantize off and just start doing it manually until it sounds like it\u2019s bouncing enough to loop around and once it feels that way, then I lay it down and I\u2019m ready to cut vocals.<\/p>\n
How do you keep your drums banging without getting repetitive?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It just depends. There are certain times when I\u2019ll even use three, four, five different sounds. I guarantee you people say I use the same hi-hat but it\u2019s like, \u2018All right, I\u2019m taking the hi-hat out now and I\u2019m going to show you that I can do whatever. But there is something traditional about snares and drums that are now mine. It\u2019s like when I do the clean edits of my records from Q-Bert\u2019s Original Sound Tools vinyl that he put out with all the little space sounds from the video games. I use those sounds so much that now people know when they hear those sounds that Premier did that because I made them mine and I made them signatures. It\u2019s the same thing with certain drums. I can use them again and again and again and make them my signature.<\/p>\n
And then I think of the artist and I’m like, \u2018I\u2019d use a softer snare for this one\u2019 or, \u2018I\u2019d rather have a lighter kick.\u2019 Like Busta, I gotta make my drums snappy. Like Busta said, \u201cDon\u2019t make a Busta Rhymes track, make a Premier track.\u201d All right. And of course, he does what everybody else does. \u201cAw, make something like \u201cKick in the Door.\u201d Make something like \u201c10 Crack Commandments.\u201d Take the drums from \u201c10 Crack Commandments\u201d and make a beat with that.\u201d And I don\u2019t want to do that because I did that already. Just let me make a Premier beat and you show me you can do when you come to that table. There are certain things I won\u2019t budge on but yeah, in regards to the tracks, that\u2019s still how I create with the drums.<\/p>\n
And now there\u2019s a whole bunch of new drum sounds that I\u2019ve gotten from this kid in Canada who sent me Drum Lab and that has all kinds of kicks, snares, breaks and loops and I\u2019m starting to tamper with those and get even more newer sounds and do a newer style. 2011\u2019s going to be so many new styles but it\u2019s still going to be hardcore raw like the way I\u2019ve been bringing it. And you\u2019re always going to still hear scratching. You\u2019re always going to hear banging beats and you\u2019re always going to hear original samples and if it\u2019s a sample that you already heard from a record that was a hit, it\u2019s going to be chopped up so lovely that you\u2019re going to even like the way I chopped the sample and it\u2019s going to show my versatility in manipulating samples as an artform.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you make a complete beat. If you don\u2019t love it, do you not play it for anyone?<\/strong><\/p>\n
If it\u2019s a banger to that degree, you\u2019re going to hear it because I want it to get out. I fiend to get the hot shit out there. If I\u2019m not satisfied with it, then it\u2019s not getting out. It\u2019s not leaving the studio. I got a lot of joints that are not leaving the studio.<\/p>\n
How does it feel being on almost every rapper\u2019s bucket list of producers to work with?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It really makes me feel good that I\u2019m still sought-after after all of these years because there\u2019s a whole new generation and wave of producers and MCs and artists that are taking our spot and I\u2019m not in the forefront of being looked at and because of that, not everybody is going to call for me unless it\u2019s the veterans like a Ghost or a Method Man or the people from my era like a Grandmaster Caz or a Whodini or somebody like that.<\/p>\n
Because of that, I have to realize that that could happen and when the phone is ringing, even the younger guys are calling me. Diggy, Run\u2019s son, wants me to host his mixtape and I don\u2019t know if I should do that because that\u2019s Diggy but then I looked at what he\u2019s doing and he\u2019s just doing classic rhyming over Pete Rock\u2019s remix to Public Enemy\u2019s \u201cShut \u2018Em Down\u201d and he\u2019s rhyming over Slick Rick. He\u2019s rhyming over Big Daddy Kane\u2019s \u201cAin\u2019t No Half Stepping\u201d and the \u201cYou Know My Steez\u201d instrumental. These are ones that he picked. I\u2019m like, \u2018Hold up!\u2019 I just saw the tracklisting and I said I would host it because he\u2019s rhyming over songs from my era and he wasn\u2019t even in existence yet and this is what he picked. That\u2019s really unique that he\u2019s even going there and I think that\u2019s great that he\u2019s even taking it to that level. That makes me want to host it because he\u2019s showing me that he respects what we laid down when he was an embryo. Now I\u2019m down to host the whole thing because all of the tracks were stuff that I grew up on.<\/p>\n
Do you feel like the elements of Hip-Hop are too separated today?<\/strong><\/p>\n
They\u2019re all separated on a bigger scale and a mainstream scale because the mainstream doesn\u2019t really care about the culture like we do. In our world, the underground world, it\u2019s all there, the graffiti, the beat-boxing, which is really called the fifth element of hip-hop, the breaking with the B-Boys and the B-Girls and the DJs and the turntables. Turntables are still selling like crazy and vinyl is still being released. I still make vinyl. I\u2019m making some limited edition 45s this year just to be a little different. There are B-sides that are only on the 45.<\/p>\n
When I start my website, it\u2019s really going to be on and popping because it\u2019s going to have the DJ Premier store. I\u2019ve always wanted to sell my own t-shirts. I do sell my own merch when I\u2019m on tour but now I\u2019ll have the official DJ Premier store on my website and that\u2019s going to make money because I\u2019ll be able to sell all of my shirts and they\u2019ll be the authentic DJ Premier shirts and not the fake ones, even though people have made the fake ones that looked good. I don\u2019t have to worry about that either because now that it\u2019s coming directly from me, you\u2019ll get quality and you\u2019ll be able to get your size. It\u2019s going to go from 6X to extra small so even the big guys can wear my stuff. And that\u2019s going to be another nice money income that will bring more awareness and we\u2019ll always be able to keep you updated on what we\u2019re doing in the future so that people will know that if it\u2019s coming from me, it will be official. They won\u2019t ever have to worry about being let down because the quality of my work will be presented to all of my supporters and fans because they fiend to get more stuff from me. I\u2019m going to provide one of the best services ever and as consumers, you can trust that you\u2019ll get your money\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n
Do you still check for new scratching and juggling techniques today?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s still on my mind as far as watching the new cats and watching the juggling and watching all of that. There\u2019s a lot of styles that I can\u2019t do because they\u2019re just way more advanced than what I can do and I\u2019m not as fast anymore, but every DJ that I talk to, I\u2019ll say, \u201cI wish I could do that style\u201d and they tell me, \u201cMan, you don\u2019t have to. We copied your style to become advanced in beat juggling and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I look at all the new kids that are coming up and they tell me that I inspired them with juggling and even creating beats with just two records and changing the tempo of something like the X-Ecutioners have done in the past and with the Scratch Piklz and Rhettmatic and Revolution and all of them, it\u2019s like I still attempt it when I hear a dope scratch, but I still make sure I\u2019m really unique in finessing my scratches because I still think I make the best hooks when it comes to DJs doing that.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of cats that beat juggle and battle and they can\u2019t lay scratches tight when it comes to making records, but in a battle they\u2019re ill. My tradition has already been laid, but I still study all of those guys. I still go to the beat battles and I watch every one because a lot of them are still doing what did back in the \u201880s and \u201890s and they\u2019re younger and they still respect the tradition and that\u2019s the reason why I make sure I keep my eye on them. What if NYGz go out on tour and I can\u2019t go? I can find them a DJ because there\u2019s still a lot of them that want to get work.<\/p>\n
What DJs stand out to you as innovators today?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I have to take it back to the older guys like Scratch and any of the Scratch Piklz. Rhettmatic is producing beats. He did different stuff for Ras Kass. He did \u201cGoldyn Chyld 2.\u201d You got J-Rocc and all these guys that are still innovative. I like DJ Ruckus who\u2019s Freddie Foxxx\u2019s DJ who\u2019s down with DJ Chaps, Talib Kweli\u2019s DJ. All of them are battle DJs. DJ Finesse, who now does all the mainstream clubs but he does it like the way DJs are supposed to do it. Even though he has to play a lot of the music that he doesn\u2019t like, he still applies his battle style when he plays his gigs. It\u2019s the same thing with Riz. DJ Riz does the same thing.<\/p>\n
A lot of these younger guys, they\u2019re not really making records. They\u2019re just still beat juggling and doing battles but they\u2019re not really record makers. Rob Swift still makes albums that are just so unique and different. I keep my eye on all of those guys. I remember when A-Trak was a little youngster and he was all skinny and then he became Kanye\u2019s DJ and now he has the big record \u201cBarbara Streisand\u201d that\u2019s popping. So he\u2019s moved on from being a battle DJ and to this day, if he had to battle, I know he could still tear somebody to pieces.<\/p>\n
How much do you think being a DJ helps when you start to make beats?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It helps a lot because I was a DJ first. I didn\u2019t know how to make beats at first. I knew how to DJ and I knew how to blend and mix and how to keep timing on the records. So when it came to joining Gang Starr, Guru said, \u201cYo, in order for you to make 50% of the money, you gotta produce everything.\u201d I said, \u201cOkay.\u201d Got on top my SP 1200. At the time it was the SP 12. I had to practice and practice and practice. As a DJ I knew what I liked and I was influenced by so many great artists like Public Enemy and everybody. I just started applying those same methods to the drum machine being that sampling was already a new form that had taken shape from the actual snares and sounds that come built in the machine. And then from there I started to get better and better at it because I would practice every day and get nicer and nicer.<\/p>\n
When we did \u201cNo More Mr. Nice Guy\u201d I don\u2019t take credit for that solely because that was me, Guru and the engineer all pressing the buttons together. I just brought the samples. And we were all hitting kicks, snares and hi-hats together. \u201cHit that one!\u201d We were standing there together with our fingers on every button. We didn\u2019t have automation back then so we would have to stop it and do it over if we made a mistake. There was three of us with our hands on the button to mute the music and bring it back in. We messed up eight or nine times and we had to start over because we didn\u2019t have automation. If we had automation, we could fix it on the spot but we didn\u2019t have that advantage at the time so we had to join hands and do it together. I come from that era when everything was straight to tape.<\/p>\n
Does the technology today make it easier?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Oh, super-easy! We didn\u2019t have Pro Tools! Everything went to tape and then if you messed up on a punch, you had to relay the whole vocals. Now if I accidentally record over somebody\u2019s vocals, all I have to do is hit \u201cUndo.\u201d If I mess up three times, hit \u201cUndo\u201d three times and it puts you back to where you were. If we had that, we probably would have had so many more records done back then but we were on 2\u201d tapes and it only holds three songs per reel so if you\u2019re planning on doing 17-18 songs, that\u2019s a lot of money. Them reels were $120 a pop. No discounts, no nothing. And then if we did skits, we had to have enough tapes to do skits.<\/p>\n
I was around when 8 track tapes were here and cassettes were here. I remember when CDs came out and it was like, \u2018Oh shit, they have rap CDs with Run-DMC.\u2019 That was a big deal because I worked retail at that time back in the \u201880s and it was rare to see a rap CD. It was rare to see a rap album. It was just 12\u201ds and that was it. If you didn\u2019t have a turntable, you did not have no cassette singles. There was none of that. You had the 12\u201d vinyl or you had to hear it on the mixshow. And most people that didn\u2019t have vinyl or were DJs, they had the mix and the mix was going to be tight anyway because you had Marley on Friday and Saturday on BLS and you got Red Alert on Saturday but you got Chuck Chillout on Friday. I would have two tape decks running and you\u2019re going to get nothing but new shit. New Ultramagnetic. New Kings of Pressure. New Public Enemy. New MC Shan. New Roxanne Shante. New Sparky D. New Flash and the Furious Five. It was nonstop fresh hits every weekend.<\/p>\n
And I still do everything by that method. Everything. My radio show, beatmaking, everything is by the method of the great mixes that came back then. That\u2019s when DJs were always cutting. You would just pray that they would cut your record on the air. I remember when Marley said he was going to play \u201cWords I Manifest\u201d and debut it and he started the show with it and he was starting it over and scratching the beginning and he would be bringing it back. I was listening to the way he was cutting it up and I knew I would go far from there and I am still going far from there.<\/p>\n
Was that the moment when you knew you could make a career in hip-hop?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Oh, without a doubt! Without a doubt! With-out-a-doubt. The day that Stu Barnes said that Marley Marl was going to play the record and debut it and start the show with it, we were like, \u2018For real?\u2019 We stood by the radio like little kids waiting to heart the outcome of who won the election or something. And all of a sudden you just heard \u201cdo-da-do-do-da-do-da-do\u201d and it was the album version, not the video version that we did the remix of. WE didn\u2019t have a remix yet. It did so well. Stu told us we should do a remix and make it a little more spiced up and make it a little faster and not so slow and we did that and that became our first hit. And we never declined from there. Every album sold more than the last album and every album from Moment of Truth to Full Clip went gold in less than a month.<\/p>\n
How do you judge success today?<\/strong><\/p>\n
For one, having the radio show. That\u2019s millions of people that subscribe to hear uncensored radio and on top of that, they can call me live on the air and our call volume is crazy. We usually take a break every half hour and during that half hour, we go to the phone lines and we\u2019ll go to someone like Rich from Nebraska and he\u2019ll say how excited he is to talk to us and how he listens to us every Friday. It\u2019s crazy calls. I try to bang at least 20 songs a week and I just get it in. I\u2019m not playing around. I\u2019m really there to give it to you raw and uncut like the way Marley and them did it but also when my site opens up in a couple of weeks, I\u2019ll be able to put more out there because I\u2019m already a name that people will follow.<\/p>\n
And then I just go on Twitter. It\u2019s called \u201cRealDJPremier.\u201d Now that I jointed Twitter, I can also Tweet that I have this coming out on this day and I got this going down and I got this going down and people will follow that and they\u2019ll get that firsthand. I\u2019m talking advantage of technology and how music can be spread out. And I\u2019m doing all this viral content like the videos with Nick Javas and NYGz and people know they have to be on the lookout for that. People know that when they buy something and they pop it in, they get that quality and they expect that.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s been your favorite radio freestyle that\u2019s happened over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Definitely all the ciphers that I do for BET every year for the Hip-Hop Awards. We use the traditional breaks and everybody has to write a dope 16 and do their rhymes. Everybody usually messes up but we cut it and edit it to where you would never know that. And on my radio show, we would have live freestyles. I remember eMC was up there and everybody was there, Masta Ace, Punchline, Words and Strick. Everybody got busy. I\u2019ve had Edo G. with Special Teamz and Slaine killed it. I even had MC Eiht and Young Malay from the West Coast up there and they freestyled. Who else? Illa Ghee was up there with Eternia. Eternia can spit. It was a lot of people who were just ready to destroy the mic. KRS-One, who always loves to rhyme. There\u2019s just so many different avenues of that. But as far as freestyles that are traditional aside from my radio show are the BET ciphers every year. That\u2019s always a big deal.<\/p>\n
What was your favorite cipher this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Definitely Wiz Khalifa with Yelawolf and Bones Brigante. I like them. Of course my artist Nick Javas did one with Laws and with this new girl named Reema Major who\u2019s 15 years-old. It was on BET.com but it wasn\u2019t on the actual show. It didn\u2019t air on television but it aired at the show while we were there in between the breaks. Who else was good? Vado was good. He did one with Fonzworth Bentley and all them. Vado I thought was good. Royce Da 5\u20199\u201d and Kuniva were great. You don\u2019t expect anything less from them anyway. Who else did their thing? Kanye and the whole G.O.O.D. Music crew was good with Cyhi the Prince and Big Sean.<\/p>\n
Drake said he got a lot of his style with how he says the punchline first and then he says the name, just like the way Joell Ortiz said, \u201cI got the corner on lock, Darrelle Revis.\u201d Drake said that Big Sean is where he got that style from and Big Sean is signed to Kanye. So now I\u2019m waiting to see if Big Sean comes with it and me and him have to get in the studio and bang something out because I know he\u2019s another person who prides themselves on lyrics and I\u2019m into lyrics. It\u2019s simple. It\u2019s just gotta be good lyrics.<\/p>\n
There were rumors that you were going to work with Kanye on his new album. Did anything happen with that?<\/strong><\/p>\n
No. We did a track. He never cut vocals to it but I did scratch on a song called \u201cMama\u2019s Boy.\u201d It was literally last week. It was a last minute thing, he\u2019s doing a bonus album. But Jay-Z and Kanye are doing an album together so we spoke about it. He kept begging me for two more tracks but my schedule was too tight to really go in and do them before he got done so I told him, \u201cYo, I\u2019ll make tracks for that project and we\u2019ll hit it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whatever happened to you working with Eminem?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It was really a point of jumping the gun on locking down everything with Eminem at the time to where it never materialized to where I jumped the gun on the interview. I wasn\u2019t supposed to let it out the bag yet that I was working with him and for me to protect the people I was involved with to do the song with Eminem, I didn\u2019t really want to put their name on blast so I just pretty much said, \u201cHey, I spoke a little too soon\u201d and I apologized to Eminem when we did the ciphers last year and he said, \u201cYou don\u2019t gotta apologize. I still want those beats from you!\u201d I remember he just started jumping up and down like a little kid. \u201cSend. The. Beats. Send. The. Beats.\u201d Jumping up and down to that type of a rhythm. Once we got to talking and knowing each other and being cool, then he showed his silly side and I told him, \u201cI\u2019m going to send you something\u201d for the next project he does. I\u2019m going to definitely send him some tracks.<\/p>\n
What do you think about Pioneer not making the Technic 1200s anymore?<\/strong><\/p>\n
From what I heard they\u2019re still going to make the other models. As long as it\u2019s a 12 I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a 1220 or a 1230. There\u2019s no denying the way we love them. It\u2019s all good. We\u2019ll still have access to them.<\/p>\n
Have you kept HeadQCourterz pretty similar to the old D&D Studio?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s the same room, it\u2019s just the name\u2019s changed. I still have the same exact room. I won\u2019t even change the tile on the floor. It\u2019s very dirty and rugged. You can feel that dirt and grime under your feet when you walk in there. I wanna leave it like that. I didn\u2019t change anything. All I did was give it a little facelift and put new diffusers in the ceiling and the back wall. Everything else is still the same. And I re-carpeted the vocal booth. But other than that, it\u2019s the exact same.<\/p>\n
I renovated the other two rooms. The A Room is now a full-size room capable for a band and Showbiz from D.I.T.C. built a room in my old lounge and turned it into a pre-production studio. So he\u2019s in there almost every day working on his projects and I\u2019m in there working on mine and Charles the Mixologist is in the A Room doing bigger projects with bands and things on a wider scale like that. So we\u2019re a big machine right there in that house. So all is well with the creativity, the sound and all that stuff. I bought the same speakers from D&D. I bought them from them. I said, \u201cYo, I\u2019ll buy all of those\u201d and put them right back in the same holds being that we never changed the hold. We put it right back and now we\u2019re up and running again. D&D, it\u2019ll always be D&D, but it\u2019s also HeadQCourterz as well. It\u2019ll always be D&D.<\/p>\n
What does it take for an MC to get a beat for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Come with that bread! Come with that bread and talk to Phat Gary. And if I like you as an MC, we\u2019re going to get it in.<\/p>\n
Fat Joe has mentioned doing an album entirely produced by you. Is that a possibility?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never been approached about doing a whole Fat Joe album, but if it was the right timing and he wanted to do something like that, I would do it. I\u2019m still looking forward for trying to do a Nas and Premier album, to be honest. But if Joe wanted to do it and we could get the scheduling right, then hell yeah, I would do it. Joe\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
You mentioned Wiz Khalifa, Yelawolf and Big Sean as up-and-coming artists that you like. Who else has caught your ear?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Yelawolf. Some people don\u2019t like the fact that I mention Wiz Khalifa as a guy that I like because they feel that he\u2019s not as lyrical. But I like that he\u2019s a free spirit. I\u2019ve met him and I like what he\u2019s doing. He\u2019s a free spirit and you have to respect it on that level. I\u2019m not mad at him. I like J. Cole and I like Drake. They write rhymes. They\u2019re not writing little mediocre stuff. They\u2019re writing rhymes. They\u2019re not even 24 years-old. They\u2019re young and they\u2019re putting the lyrics back into enjoying somebody rapping. All of those guys.<\/p>\n
Yelawolf has a style all of his own. He\u2019s kind of spooky and weird and stuff from left field but he\u2019s doing what he\u2019s doing and coming with his own style. And when I asked him who inspired him, he said Ice Cube. Oh yeah, Ice Cube killed the cipher. He was dope. And I didn\u2019t tell him that Ice Cube was coming. I knew he was coming. Everybody don\u2019t know but the rappers do different shifts. When he said, \u201cIce Cube\u2019s my favorite artist who I was influenced by\u201d and Ice Cube\u2019s limo is sitting right in front of me and I said, \u201cYo, check this out, Yelawolf,\u201d and Ice Cube opened the door and he said, \u201cOh. My. God.\u201d Like, he was bugging like this was unreal. But I\u2019m glad that Ice Cube was his influence. He didn\u2019t name somebody I didn\u2019t respect. He named Ice Cube. Ice Cube is one of the illest lyricists. He\u2019s definitely in my top 10. Ice Cube is a problem. He\u2019s a lyricist extraordinaire.<\/p>\n
Why do you think you and Joell Ortiz have such great chemistry just on the few songs that you\u2019ve done?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Just because I recognize the difference. Again, I\u2019m deep-rooted in this. When you know the history of hip-hop from day one all the way up to now and all the DJs that came before you, you don\u2019t have a hard time connecting with any artist. If anybody\u2019s going to have a hard time connecting, it\u2019s going to be on their part, not mine. I\u2019m very easy to deal with. I just don\u2019t like to put out wack shit.<\/p>\n
How were you able to get the masters back on the Teflon album from Def Jam?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Kevin Liles, I gotta big him up. Jay-Z, I gotta big him up. And Lyor Cohen. Even when I needed more money out of the budget when I ran the budget out, they cut me another check with no complaining and no questions. They gave me more money and then the regime changed and Jay-Z took over and Jay was going to put it out and I backed out of the deal that he offered me. When I look back at it now I wish I did take the deal but I didn\u2019t. And when he left, it just wasn\u2019t the same once Jay left. But they let me take all my work with me and I appreciate that, that they didn\u2019t hold it and hold it over my head as ransom, so to speak. They let me go and move on.<\/p>\n
Now I\u2019ve updated it and now Joell Ortiz is on the album with Tef. It\u2019s really slamming. It\u2019s going to be another good album and I\u2019ve tightened up the beats and made some of them newer. It\u2019s a really good album and it sounds fresh and a lot of people who are M.O.P fans that love Tef from M.O.P\u2019s family and M.O.P\u2019s on it and they did a banger called \u201cThe Thorough Side.\u201d It\u2019s crazy! It\u2019s one I produced. I produced 90% of the album. Also Agallah produced it, a guy named GQ Beats and another guy named Addict Sounds. So we got some cool people. It\u2019s going to be a really good project. Showbiz is on the boards as well. But I did all of them except for five songs. The rest of it, I did the whole thing.<\/p>\n
How\u2019s your album Return of the Boom Bip with KRS-One coming?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Well, we\u2019re only two songs deep right now but I pulled a song that we did that day when we were hanging out in the studio. Ice T happened to be on another floor mastering some work. He heard I just went up on the elevator and he asked what floor it was and they told me Ice T was at the door. KRS was like, \u2018Word?\u2019 Ice T comes in and we all start kicking it. Ice heard the beat. It was a beat for Rakim that we never finished using for when he was on Aftermath with Dre. He was like, \u2018That beat sounds like the way y\u2019all did that 5% stuff back in the day.\u2019 And KRS was like, \u2018Yo, that\u2019s a good idea. I\u2019m going to write a rhyme right now about that.\u2019 KRS wrote the rhyme. Ice T was like, \u2018Yo, you need to get one of the gods on there, like Big Daddy Kane or somebody or Grand Puba.\u2019<\/p>\n
We were like, \u2018Grand Puba\u2019s real good at that. Let\u2019s get Puba.\u2019 Call Puba, Puba met me at a bar in Harlem. I picked him up. He didn\u2019t want to leave without his drink. It was the wintertime and it was cold. He takes his drink and slips it in his sleeve sideways and walks with his arm looking like it\u2019s broken so that he doesn\u2019t spill the drink just so that he can get in the car and finish his drink and get to the studio and lay the vocals!<\/p>\n
He made it down and made sure that everything was right with the facts because he didn\u2019t want any of the older gods saying, \u201cYou\u2019re right on that, you\u2019re wrong on that.\u201d There were a couple things in a couple of KRS\u2019 rhymes that he said KRS messed up and there were a couple things that he didn\u2019t want the older gods to say, \u201cOh, man, he didn\u2019t mention this and he didn\u2019t mention that. That\u2019s not right and exact.\u201d They take that stuff very seriously. So Puba fixed it and then KRS had to go on tour for two months.<\/p>\n
So when we come back, he had already told me he had three albums that were coming out, the one with True Master, he had a Kenny Parker and KRS album and he had an album that he did with Freddie Foxxx and then he had the album that he was putting out with Buckshot. He said it was going to have to come out after that. I know the True Master album came out because I\u2019ve been playing it on my show. And now Kenny Parker\u2019s is about to drop before the end of the year.<\/p>\n
So at the top of the year, we\u2019ll get back on mine once he finishes up his tour and I can do the songs. The first two we did was \u201c5%\u201d and we did another one where we took a beatbox sample and turned it into a Premier style or version and then Q-Tip came by to do the intro to the album. He just happened to see Q-Tip on the street and he told him, \u201cYo, we\u2019re doing an album Return of the Boom Bip and we need you to do an intro.\u201d He said, \u201cAll right, I\u2019ll come down there. I\u2019ll even do a song.\u201d<\/p>\n
But we haven\u2019t done the song yet. But we did the intro where he walks in with an old, classic cassette tape recorder, the kind where you had to hit \u201cRecord\u201d and put it next to your speakers and tell everybody in the room to be quiet so you could record into that little cordless mic. He brought one of those and we reenacted the traffic noise and \u201cPremier, whaddup?\u201d \u201cTip, whaddup? Yeah, man, we\u2019re trying to come up with a title for the album. Return of the Boom Bap Part 2.\u201d He was like, \u2018Nah, don\u2019t call it that. Why don\u2019t we call it Return of the Boom Bip?\u2019 And we go, \u201cOh, yeah, the boom, the bip, the boom, the bip\u201d all together. And then I was like, \u2018Yeah, I like that. As a matter of fact, I got a beat for that. Let\u2019s drop it right now!\u201d And I took the sample from Tribe Called Quest, \u201cWe\u2019re doing the boom, the bip, the boom bip.\u201d Now once KRS comes back, Q-Tip is going to rhyme on that beat and it\u2019s going to be the intro to the album. We\u2019re already coming up with creative ideas.<\/p>\n
hat KRS wants to do when he gets back from his tour for January, he wants to do it like we did Return of the Boom Bap. We did that album in two weeks. We were banging out song after song after song after song. Even when we did \u201cHigher Level,\u201d I was mad at KRS. I wanted to go home. I was tired. I was done. He was like, \u2018Let\u2019s do one more.\u2019 He\u2019s talking on \u201cHigher Level\u201d and I said, \u201cDude, I don\u2019t feel like making no more beats,\u201d and he said, \u201cMake whatever you feel.\u201d That\u2019s why I made it sound all mellow with the Blacula soundtrack, which we cleared, which is the only reason I\u2019m giving the sample. And we got it on there and actually I like how it\u2019s mellow. I like what he said and I like the way it closes out the album.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re also doing an album DJ Premier versus Pete Rock, where you\u2019re both taking six MCs and making songs. Can you let us know who you\u2019re looking at for your six?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Nah. It\u2019s a secret. Me and Pete aren\u2019t supposed to tell each other. I got four of them already. I just have to get two more. I\u2019ll tell you one. I got the GZA. We\u2019re going to do a fucking monster. We\u2019re going real underground on this one. I\u2019m not going to go for Jay-Z and Kanye. When I do my other album, I want to go for the high caliber guys like that and Drake or whoever, but for this one I want it to be really underground people like a GZA or the Beatnuts. Somebody like that, I definitely got them. Just don\u2019t tell Pete!<\/p>\n
When you look at all your albums that are coming out soon, can you promise us some more classic interludes?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Where I talk shit? If it\u2019s necessary, I\u2019m going to talk some more shit. You never know. Nobody\u2019s pissed me off lately so so far, so good.<\/p>\n
What was it like meeting Nelson Mandela?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Oh, my God, man, I still can\u2019t believe that happened. And the beauty of it is [it happened] through the beauty of hip-hop. His grandson is a big Premier fan. He named everything I did. He named Paula Perry and \u201cThe First Nigga (Remix)\u201d for Kool G. Rap. This is Nelson Mandela\u2019s grandson and he knows all of this. To get the call from our promoter who says, \u201cThere\u2019s this guy who says he\u2019s Nelson Mandela\u2019s grandson. He wants to meet you in person and he said he\u2019ll take you to meet his grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even the promoters from Africa were like, \u2018Man, this has gotta be bullshit. This can\u2019t be real. You\u2019re not gonna do it. Mos Def tried to do it and he was denied to meet Mandela. Bahamadia tried to do it and she was denied.\u2019 So now it was the grandson asking me if I wanted to meet his grandfather and when he told us where to meet him the following day, the promoter was like, \u2018Yo, that address where he\u2019s telling us to meet is definitely an official street where there\u2019s a lot of money.\u2019 He\u2019s like, \u2018Trust me, that\u2019s a really, really big part of town.\u2019<\/p>\n
And we went over there and they had the big armed guards with the helmets and they had the metal detectors like at the airports when you run your bag through and it X-rays it. When we got there, we had our belts and our phones on our hips and we know it\u2019s going to trigger off the alarm and right away, Mandela\u2019s grandson Ndaba said something in his African language and all of them put their guns down and just let us right in while the thing is going \u201cbeep, beep, beep.\u201d He said we\u2019re good and they didn\u2019t even override him like, \u2018We gotta search them.\u2019 We could be some killers trying to get up and close on his man and he said, \u2018No, these guys are official.\u2019 His word made it happen. There was no questions about it or nothing.<\/p>\n
They immediately let us in and we thought he was going to be introduced, like, \u2018We now present Nelson Mandela!\u2019 This man\u2019s sitting on the couch with his shoes off with gold-toed socks just reading the newspaper. And he\u2019s like, \u2018Granddad, my friends are here.\u2019 And he was like, \u2018Come on in!\u2019 We were like, \u2018Wow!\u2019 And he was like, \u2018You have to speak loud. He can hardly hear. His hearing is really bad\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018I AM SO HAPPY TO BE HERE!\u2019 You know what I\u2019m saying? I just didn\u2019t know what to say. He\u2019s Nelson Mandela!<\/p>\n
And at the end of the whole visit, he was like, \u2018I now release you\u2019 almost like we were his servants and we\u2019ve been released to leave. And on the way out he let us take a picture as a group because all of the promoters were with us. And then he said, \u201cAnd who\u2019s the star?\u201d They all pointed to me and he said, \u201cYou get to take a picture by yourself.\u201d I was like, \u2018Oh, my God!\u2019 I, you know, stood behind him, took my picture and it was a dream come true. He signed my books for me and for my family and even for my girlfriend and everybody. He signed the books and we videotaped him signing it and everything. You don\u2019t get that kind of chance. He\u2019s 92 years-old. I\u2019ve been so blessed, man. This is from hip-hop and me representing it right. I get good things like this happening to me.<\/p>\n
By Brian Kayser<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s not every day you get to interview a true hip-hop legend, someone who has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pG6fW-5gI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}