Props to Loykes for the heads up!
Related: DJ Premier Interview with Music Times x Global Spin Awards
Big Shug’s New Album “Triple OGzus” Out March 17th
Original Gang Starr Foundation memeber Big Shug is coming with a new album next month since “I.M. 4-EVA” released three years ago. With three DJ Premier productions!! Snippets below.
After trailblazing around the globe numerous times with Gang Starr as a core member of the Gang Starr Foundation, Big Shug, who has appeared on Gang Starr’s classics such as 1994’s Hard To Earn “F.A.L.A.,” 1998’s Moment Of Truth “The Militia” and 2003’s Gold-certified The Ownerz “Capture” (Militia Pt.3), follows up his last street savvy endeavor, I.M. 4-EVA (2012), with his new project, Triple OGZus, which will be released on 3/17/15.
While MoSS, Reel Drama and Kidd Called Quest contribute production, staying true to the Gang Starr Foundation formula, Big Shug recreates his indelible bond with DJ Premier on the albums two singles and videos, “Off Rip,” which also features Termanology and Singapore Kane, and “I Bleed For This”. Preemo produces three tracks in total on Triple Ogzus and as Shug states, the bond the two have fostered over the years only continues to grow “Premier is my brother, and with all the technology, and changing faces, we are still the same. We are on the same page when we make songs, we still bug out. We represent the Gang Starr legacy. And we are serious about that!”
Big Shug explains “Triple OGzus represents me as a street veteran, underground icon and original gangster who is always wise to the game. I love the fans and will always represent authentic hip-hop music with my soul.”
Tracklist:
1. I Am Somebody (Prod. by DJ Premier)
2. I Bleed For This (Prod. by DJ Premier)
3. The Reason (Prod. by Gem Crates)
4. Days Go By (Prod. by Big Shug)
5. Never Change (Prod. by Reel Drama)
6. Not A Fan (Feat. Reks & Termanology) (Prod. by Kidd Called Quest)
7. Triple OGzus (Prod. by Kidd Called Quest)
8. Make That Body Do (Prod. by Reel Drama)
9. Off Rip (Feat. Termanology & Singapore Kane) (Prod. by DJ Premier)
10. 2 Good (Feat. Trumayne) (Prod. by Kidd Called Quest)
11. All In (Prod. by Kidd Called Quest)
12. Showtime (Feat. M-Dot & DJ Djaz) (Prod. by DJ Brans)
13. Make Moves, Get Money (Prod. by MoSS)
14. Get It (Feat. Singapore Kane) (Prod. by Reel Drama)
15. Relationships (Prod. by Reel Drama)
16. Chase Then Ball (Prod. by Kidd Called Quest)
17. Soldiers It’s War Out Here (Prod. by Kidd Called Quest)
18. In The Rain (Prod. by Charles Roane)
Out March 17th via Brick Records! Boston!
DJ Premier: 5 Songs I Wish I Had Produced
1. M.C. Shan – “The Bridge” (Prod. by Marley Marl, 1986)
“I’m from Texas, originally, and I went to Prairie View A&M University. It was my freshman year in college, and Run DMC came to perform at my school with Dana Dane and Clark Kent. They would put on music in between acts, and ‘The Bridge’ came on. I was like, ‘What the f-ck is that?’ It was just, ‘The Bridge,’ ‘The Bridge,’ ‘The Bridge’ and then the drum roll with the duh, duh, duh, duh.
“The way it sounded with the echo, it was just so hard. I thought it was saying, ‘The Breaks.’ I was like, ‘That shit is hard,’ because I had already liked ‘The Breaks’ by Kurtis Blow back in 1980, so to hear someone saying ‘The Breaks’ and it was ill way he was saying it. Then, to find out it was ‘The Bridge, from there on, I was a Marley Marl fiend — nobody is more of a Marley fiend than me. To this day, it’s so f-cking ghetto. That record’s so dope.”
2. Audio Two – “Top Billin’” (Prod. by Audio Two and Daddy-O, 1987)
“Who would take [The Honey Drippers’] ‘Impeach The President’ and just chop it like that? I remember King Of Chill showed me the little trigger machine they used. It was like the size of my BlackBerry. They used it to get it like that, the dun, dun, dun dun dun, because back then we weren’t on MPCs and all that stuff yet. The way Milk sounded on it and they just kept stopping, you can hear the next line echoing before he said it. I was like, ‘What the f-ck?’ It blew me the f-ck away, man.”
3. Eric B. & Rakim – “Eric B. Is President” (Prod. by Eric B. & Rakim, remixed by Marley Marl,1986)
“It’s ill because I used to love ‘Funky President’ by James Brown — I’m a James Brown fanatic. To hear those sounds in the beginning and every time he went into another line, you’d hear that little quick drum roll, I was like, ‘Yo, that shit is ill.’ That’s when we started doing the wop. To this day, you know when that comes on everybody does the wop.”
4. Jay-Z – “U Don’t Know” (Prod. by Just Blaze, 2001).
“I wish I had made this, and I told [Just Blaze] this the other day. First of all, I have the original sample, so Just Blaze just destroyed that. He showed his scientific side with that record and Jay just slaughtered it lyrically, even just the ‘Turn my music high’ part. I just can’t stop playing that part before you get to the lyrics — the lyrics are dangerously ill. Jay always goes in, but that’s definitely one of the most incredible records ever made in hip-hop.”
5. M.O.P. – “How About Some Hardcore” (Prod. by Darryl Dee, co-produced by Laz-E-Laz, 1993).
“I saw the video on Video Music Box and they were just grimy. And that sample, it’s dope when you just play the original anyway. But it’s emotional when you hear it and those horns go, ‘dananana.’ They just shitted on that. We used to see The Source magazine back when they were really a hip-hop magazine, and Select Records would always advertise and [the ‘How About Some Hardcore’ single] had that cover with the knife it in. I was like, ‘What kind of shit is that?’ ‘How About Some Hardcore’ and there’s a fucking knife on the cover? I thought it was kinda silly. Then the video has the same knife in the wall. I saw it and how they looked and they’re from Brooklyn and they just looked like they could hurt something, which they do. I’ve been in brawls with them. It’s a well-done record. Well done.”
And on every LiveFromHQ show he plays more tracks he wished he produced!
DJ Premier To Debut His Own Live Band In Japan
DJ Premier is unveiling his new live band in Osaka and Tokyo for six shows (Jan 28, 30 & 31). The shows are with Billboard Live. Premo and his band (a five piece accompaniment featuring drummer, bass player, horns, keys, trombone) will be putting there instrumental flourishes to Premier’s catalog of classics; from Gang Starr to Jay-Z, Biggie & Nas and everything in between.
“I put a live band together because I’ve always dreamed of being in one ever since I was a kid,” said Preem. “I have a funky group of players assembled to play my classics and perform new things” http://spellshelp.com
The members of DJ Premier’s live band are:
DJ Premier- (Turntables)
Brady Watt- (Bass)
Lenny “The Ox” Reece- (Drums)
Takuya Kuroda- (Horns and Keys)
Corey King- (Trombone and Keys)
The legendary DJ/Producer added, “I can play a little drums, bass and guitar but not like these guys, so I will stay on the wheels. In a short four-days of meeting and rehearsing we clicked as if we knew each other for years. This is a new adventure into expanding my brand. I will always DJ, produce and be an artist because that’s what artist’s do. We open new lanes, but never close the lanes that we already opened. Keeping the roots of your foundation in tact is what gives you longevity. Basically what I’m saying is: Let’s Ride!!”
D&D Tribute Shirt by eshirts84
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DJ Premier Announces His First Solo Album, Last Session @ 320
Less than one week into his new studio home in Astoria, Queens, big news is coming from DJ Premier. The longtime Gang Starr producer/DJ has announced his first solo album, Last Session @ 320. Planned for 2015, the title is presumably an homage to the 37th Street address of his just-closed HeadQCourterz Studios (f/k/a D&D Studios), where Premier was first an artist in residence and then an owner, dating back to 1992.
“The building was sold in order to change it from commercial business to residential and our leases would not be renewed, so basically that means ‘everybody out!’ It is tough to accept after so many years making that much history there, but life is good and I will continue to make hot music. Passion never leaves your soul and I have a lot of it so I’m ready to continue on.” said Premier in a press statement. He is apparently already referring to his new home, in Kaufman Studios, as “HeadQCourterz” as well.
The upcoming album will feature guest MCs, although none have been confirmed at this time. Beyond six albums with the late MC Guru in Gang Starr, DJ Premier has been a co-headlining collaborator on albums with Bumpy Knuckles, and the just-released PRhyme with Royce Da 5’9″. Additionally, Premier has produced full albums by Group Home and Jeru The Damaja. Previously, DJ Premier, as a solo artist, has only released beat compilations and DJ-hosted the 1997 compilation, Haze Presents: NY Reality Check 101.
Additionally, Preemo’s label, Year Round Records, has 2015 plans on albums by longtime label artists NYGz, Texas MC Khaleel, former Chubb Rock and Dr. Dre protege The Lady Of Rage, and iconic Compton Rap pioneer MC Eiht.
PRhyme American Tour Dates Out
Feb. 18 Baltimore, MD Soundstage
Feb. 19 Washington, DC Howard Theatre
Feb. 20 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
Feb. 21 Boston, MA Middle East
Feb. 22 New York, NY Highline Ballroom
Feb. 24 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Feb. 25 Toronto, Canada Tattoo Queen West
Feb. 26 Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig
Feb. 27 Chicago, Il Reggies
Feb. 28 Madison, WI High Saloon
Mar. 01 Minneapolis, MN Fineline
Mar. 03 Denver, CO Blue Bird
Mar. 04 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
Mar. 06 Seattle, WA Croc
Mar. 07 Vancouver, Canada Fortune Sound Club
Mar. 08 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre
Mar. 10 Sacramento, CA Harlows
Mar. 11 Oakland, CA New Parish
Mar. 12 Orange County, CA Constellation Room
Mar. 13 Los Angeles, CA Dragon Fly
Mar. 14 Tucson, AZ The Rock
Mar. 17 Dallas, TX Trees
Mar. 18 Houston, TX WLS
Mar. 19 Austin, TX SXSW
Mar. 20 Austin, TX SXSW
Mar. 21 Austin, TX SXSW
DJ Premier/PRhyme Recorded With MF DOOM
Dear god, I don’t know how many times I already told DJ Premier I want him and MF DOOM on a track!! And it looks like it happened. Ok, first of all, sorry about the headline title because this interview is so much more than just the fact that he is working with the DOOM. It’s actually a very dope interview about him leaving HeadQcouterz Studios to Kaufman Studios. Check this interview with New York Observer:
-What’s the overall feeling for you right now?
The main part of it is that a big chunk of my career was done here. To find out that that’s ending under the circumstances of a new landlord and lease agreement makes it a little harder. The worst part is that I signed two years on my lease, but there’s a demolition clause, which allows them to terminate the lease if they decide to tear down the building. I’ve gone through several owners and every time it came to a new one, they would always say, “How ya doin’? We’re the new owners, keep paying the rent.” In the past, we had owners who would offer to help out if we needed to renovate the space and we would say, “Hey, if you ever have problems, we’ve been here and we’ve been through it all.”
-What was the neighborhood like when you first set up shop at D&D?
A lot of people were scared to come here back then. Rappers were scared to come here. You had heroin, crack and no streetlights on this block. There’s a deli down the block on Ninth Avenue that to this day we still call crack deli. But it’s an entirely different world here now.
-What was it like inside the studio in the early and mid ’90s?
Back then, Black Moon and the rest of Boot Camp Clik had a big chapter in the A Room at D&D. That was a standard picture here. Jay Z too. He would book my room, the A Room and the D Room, which was a newly built studio space in the back that they later tore down. He would have them all blocked so that he could knock out three or four songs at a time. I remember when Jay and Biggie recorded “Brooklyn’s Finest” for Reasonable Doubt in here. I didn’t do that beat, but they needed a place to rock.
-Who would you hang out with outside of the studio back then?
Guru and I had a house in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, for a while and we used to have wild parties there when we weren’t in the studio. It was like a fraternity house. Every time you’d go in there was noise, music, girls, drinks and food everywhere. RZA and GZA from Wu-Tang used to come by, Easy Mo Bee used to come by, Special Ed used to come by. The list goes on. I remember Cypress Hill came by the house the day they were shooting the video for “How I Could Just Kill a Man,” cause they needed a place to lamp for a minute. They came over and we smoked our asses off until they left to go meet Ice Cube for the video. A lot of Friday nights, Guru and I would go kick it with Biggie, since he was just three blocks down from us. Earlier this year, you told Hip-Hop Wired that while you were doing a track for the movie White Men Can’t Jump, you and Guru got into a fistfight here and then started recording right after.
-Was it serious?
He had a couple of bandages and bruises after that. I still have his teeth marks right there [points to his fist]. That’s where he bit me and they never went away. Now I’m proud to have those teeth marks. I’m not a tough guy, but I’ll throw down just like the rest of them if I have to.
-That takes some legitimate chemistry to be able to do that and then record. Were fistfights a common thing between you and Guru?
We’d fight all the time and then immediately afterwards be like, “I love you.” I have no complex about saying that. We’d hug like long-lost brothers and then his line was always, “Yo, let’s go out tonight.” He loved to drink and chase women. That was his thing apart from making money and recording music. Through all the fights though, we’d always motivate each other and it fueled the music. Look at how many albums we made. And we had been fighting since No More Mr. Nice Guy.
-Who was the instigator in most cases?
Guru. I’m not a shit starter, that was all him. He drank a lot and I got used to it. We had lived together from 1989 to 1993, so it almost became routine. He’s still my brother though, forever and always. We lived the rock and roll lifestyle, head to toe, but our success kept growing. Over those years, our sales didn’t go down and our records didn’t get worse.
-On a completely different note from Gang Starr, you co-produced Christina Aguilera’s fifth album, Back To Basics, which came out in 2006. Did she come here to record some of those songs?
She started here. Then the rest of it was done at Record Plant and from there we went to Chalice, which Kanye West put us on to. We booked a room at Chalice and ended up falling in love with that room. Christina was worried at first that the sound would change, but that never fazed me. We were using the same equipment and as a DJ, I already know how to texture things.
-Nas once told you that if you ever leave this place, you have to take the studio with you piece by piece. Is that the plan?
Nas was just here on Monday and he said the same thing again. For starters, I’m taking the original door to this room that people used to knock on all the time when I first moved from the A Room to the B Room in the ’90s. That area there, [points to the wooden wall covered with Gang Starr lyrics], I’m going to cut that out and make it into a table. Those are the lyrics from the last songs that Guru and I did. When D&D went out of business in 2003 and I reopened it almost a year later, those were still on the wall. Doug and Dave, who are D and D, said they want to save some pieces of this place too. Once the demolition starts, it’ll still be open for us to come onto the floor, so we’re going to come video that.
-You and Nas are working on a collaborative album that’s been rumored to come out for a while. When do you think it finally will?
Whenever he’s ready. We were supposed to do it years ago, but it didn’t happen. I know he has another album under his contract with Def Jam, so he has to knock that out. As soon as he calls me about that, I’m ready.
-Earlier this month, you put out an album with Detroit’s Royce Da 5’9” under the group name PRhyme. What are your plans for that project and future PRhyme releases?
The album’s doing really good. We’re shooting a video for every song on it and Royce and I are hitting the road in February. We’re also getting ready to release the deluxe version with three to five new cuts on it. I can’t name all of the artists on it, but we’ve got MF Doom on one. We’re putting that out on 45-inch box set and digital.
-You’re moving your studio space to Queens come January. Should fans expect any changes in your sound or changes in your music endeavors after the move?
I’ll still be working on hip-hop projects and also expanding on that. They do a lot of television and film at Kaufman. They do Orange Is The New Black, they did Goodfellas and all of The Cosby Show episodes, so I’ll be able to get into film scoring and that whole world, which I want to do. I’ve done some scoring in the past, but I want to get into it on a bigger level—a Danny Elfman level.
-What are you listening to right now?
J. Cole, D’Angelo’s new album, Ghostface’s new album, Prince’s new album, Foo Fighters’ Sonic Highways, AC/DC’s Rock Or Bust. That’s about it right now.
-What are your three favorite years in hip-hop?
’98, ’86 and ’84, which is the year I graduated high school.
-How many interviews have you done over the past 20-something years?
Man, I can’t even count. As many records as I’ve put out. Thousands of records, thousands of interviews. It goes with the territory.
Behind The Scenes of the D&D Documentary (Pics)
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Sadly, this is DJ Premier’s last day at his home recording studio. To honor the legendary studio they are making a documentary and an album about it, so here are some pics of the people who are involved. Props to the original owners David Lotwin and Doug Grama for the pictures.
Related: R.I.P. D&D/HEADQCOURTERZ STUDIOS (1984 – 2014)
DJ PREMIER MOVING TO KAUFMAN ASTORIA STUDIOS IN QUEENS
