DJ Premier Blog

A$AP Ferg & DJ Premier Made a “Raw New York” Song Together

Last night in Brooklyn, Genius held its second in-depth interview event Genius Level with legendary hip-hop producer DJ Premier. During the wide-ranging discussion hosted by Genius’ own Rob Markman, Premier addressed a question from Genius community member Skhills about his favorite unreleased record.

Although Premier explained that he doesn’t keep much unreleased music in the vault, he’s excited about an upcoming song he recently recorded with Harlem rapper A$AP Ferg:

I just did a joint with A$AP Ferg. It’s dope, it’s straight raw New York. It’s Preem Ferg, it’s not ‘New Level.’ I love ‘New Level’ and all that stuff, but it’s a Preem joint and he went in. The Ferg joint is head nod Preem, and it sounds like we connected, not Ferg over here and Premier over here, it’s merged together. It’s real simple but dope scratches.

Premier is referencing Ferg’s 2015 Future collaboration “New Level,” which served as the lead single for his sophomore album Always Strive And Prosper. “New Level” peaked at No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was eventually certified Gold.

The Gang Starr veteran went on to explain how he and Ferg immediately had chemistry in the studio:
We went in to see if we could even vibe and we clicked right away. We did it in a day and we’re like, ‘Let’s throw it out right now just to get the streets warm to show that you do styles like this as well.’ A lot of his stuff has more of a sound that’s popular with the youth right now. He even said, ‘I wanna do it like you did it ’90s style,’ and he came to the table.

Ferg is gearing up to release his new mixtape Still Striving on August 18; while a full tracklist hasn’t been released yet, his DJ Premier collaboration could very well end up on that project. The unreleased track will mark Ferg’s first time working with Premier.

Props to Genius.com

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gimantalon, August 22nd 2017 | Posted in Interview

DJ Premier & The Badder Band – NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Three-time Grammy winner DJ Premier, one of the definitive architects of New York hip-hop, brought a new type of life to NPR’s Tiny Desk: our first concert helmed by a DJ.

A packed house of head-nodding journalists grooved through their lunch hour to a nine-song medley of iconic Premier productions while decompressing from the unrelenting grind of the news cycle. The set list rested on the undeniable footprint of Preemo’s classics, but this was more than just another DJ mix. His touring outfit, The Badder Band, overlaid Premier’s blends with an undulating electric bass courtesy of Brady Watt, a steady accent on the one from drummer Lenny “The Ox” Reece and boisterous horns from Mark Williams and Jonathan Powell.

But it was Premier who remained front-and-center, commanding the crowd like a true party rocker. With throwbacks ranging from Gangstarr’s “Step into the Arena” to an amped rendition of Jeru The Damaja’s “Da Bitches,” embellished by The Badder’s jazzy horns, Preemo concluded the set with a “Moment of Truth,” featuring the exalted rhymes of his posthumous Gangstarr partner, Guru.

Tiny Desk concerts are short by design, so naturally the format could barely scratch the surface of Premier’s vault of street anthems, done for the likes of the Notorious B.I.G., JAY-Z, Nas, Kanye West, Big L, M.O.P., Mos Def, Group Home, Jeru the Damaja, AZ, Snoop Dogg, and many more. Even after a career spanning almost three decades, the man born Christopher Martin has managed to stay authentic to his analog grit and sample-chopping integrity, as if he were still an underdog.

Tracklist:

KRS-One – “KRS-One Attacks”
KRS-One – “MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know”
Das Efx – “Real Hip-Hop”
Nas – “Nas Is Like”
Jeru The Damaja – “Da Bichez”
Gang Starr – “Step In The Arena”
Gang Starr feat. M.O.P. – “1/2 & 1/2”
Royce Da 5’9 – “Boom”
Gang Starr – “Moment Of Truth”

Musicians:

DJ Premier (producer); Brady Watt (bass); Mark Williams (trombone); Lenny “The Ox” Reece (drums); Jonathan Powell (trumpet).

Producers: Abby O’Neill, Bob Boilen, Niki Walker, Morgan Noelle Smith; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Kara Frame, Colin Marshall; Photo: Liam James Doyle/NPR.