In Part 1 Premo gave insight on his wish list of collaborations, critiquing the critics and an unreleased Jay-Z record. For the second half of TWV’s exclusive sit down with DJ Premier, we get the goods on the producer working with Eminem, Gza, Jay-Z‘s Black Album being an entire Premo production and continuing Gang Starr‘s legacy.

TWV: How do you feel about Hip Hop now as opposed to it, say, fifteen years ago?

DJ Premier: I miss all the styles that made me great and made me want to do it. There are a lot of old school artists that are constantly complaining and are mad. But what are you doing to make hot shit? We need y’all to make hot shit too, and the stuff y’all make is corny. I can’t do everybody’s record at one time, even though I want to…I’d love to do a record with Cold Crush or the Fantastic 5 to this day, and make it still classic with the break style. I would know how to orchestrate it because I understand and respect what they did. I know their rhymes and what type of breaks they use, just as a fan and a consumer and someone who respects those guys. Those projects demand your undivided attention. All projects do, but to do an album with say, Slick Rick or Cold Crush? You gotta set everything aside.

I’ll give you a funny story. Jay-Z reached out to me when he was going to do The Black Album — this was years before he put it out because he postponed it, ended up working on other stuff, and then he came out with the album and decided to retire. Way prior to that he called me and said he was going to do an album and that he wanted me to do the whole thing. But he said, “I know how busy you are, Premo, but I want you to not have anything to do with anybody for the whole time we make this album. I need like a two week window, and we just do it.” And I understood where he was coming from, because he knows it had to be that deep of a situation to get it to be right and to call it The Black Album. Prince already made The Black Album. If you’re going to make one, it better be top notch. There’s a lot that goes along with that. So to approach me about that? That’s the same way I look at the Cold Crush, Fantastic, Kool Moe D, all that. LL and I have tried two or three times to work on stuff. He’s somebody you gotta sit down with and really focus on because he deserves that type of attention. And I’m proud to give him that type of attention. I wouldn’t want to do a quick little rush job. And then you have ones like Termanology that can do a one night thing because they’re the new hungry artists that are ready to just write on the spot and get it over with. You know Jay always just writes on the spot off his head, and then he leaves the work up to me. A project like that is just that delicate. I treat my stuff based on the level of what it’s going to take to really make a masterpiece. I’m proud of all my work, but there are certain artists that just deserve a whole different special attention.

TWV: Speaking of people you’ve been working with, there are a couple rumored collaborations I’ve heard about. For instance Eminem…

DJ Premier: Me and Eminem spoke about a year ago when he did the ciphers with BET and we finally got to kick it face to face. We had a good conversation. There’s a uniqueness about certain artists, so with him? I have to put certain things aside to work with him, and I gotta be realistic with what my schedule already allows me to have going on. I knew if I was going to work on Eminem tracks, I can’t be working on anything else. Strictly Eminem. That’s how much I want to give him the illest, what-the-fuck-is-that type shit, where everybody is like “yo, did you hear the Eminem and Premier shit?!” I know it will be great. But he’s still alive, I’m still alive, and hopefully I will keep breathing, and in that time frame we’ll get around to that.

TWV: You keep saying that you need to give your undivided attention to things, and that’s understandable since you have your hand in a lot of projects right now…Teflon, Freddie Foxxx?

DJ Premier: Well with Freddie Foxxx, he’s always taken my beats that people won’t use or turn down. Our collaboration is a collection of all the stuff we’ve worked on that have never seen the light of day. Some have been on his albums before, then we have seven new songs that will be on there. It’s a compilation, a collection of stuff that I’ve made specifically for him and things that he took that had been turned down by others.

Tef had a deal with Def Jam a few years back, then when the regime changed from Lyor [Cohen] to Kevin [Liles] to Jay, Jay gave me a new situation. I never did take the situation but Jay allowed me to take my music and do something else with it elsewhere, and I thank him so much for that. I ended up keeping it under wraps until I figured out what to do with it. Tef is a personal trainer now. If you ever need to get in shape he’s the man. He’s training Wendy Williams, getting her in shape now. He will knock you out, but he’s so into health and people getting their bodies and minds right. I’m so proud of him. That album sounds so much like what’s needed now, and I updated it. I got Joell Ortiz and a lot of new artists on it now. I produced majority of the album. He’s really into the personal training now, so I was like “I’ll put this out myself and really make it crack.” MOP is on it. They gave me a real good banger. Papoose, Saigon…Papoose gave us one of the dopest verses I’ve ever heard. He laced it on a song with him, Saigon, and Tef.

TWV: What about Pete Rock and KRS?

DJ Premier: KRS is on tour in Europe so when he gets back we’ll pick up where we left off. We did two songs already, so that album is going to be easy to do because I’m already used to how he works. That’s going to be the quickest album I do. He’s just so automatic. Pete vs. Premier we started already. We’re not supposed to tell each other who we’re working with, we’re supposed to just do it and surprise each other. He left one of the sessions in my studio and I got to hear it and I was like “oh my God, ok, that’s how you coming?” It’s a battle. But the artists I got so far? Oh man, I can’t even say the names. Only one I’ve already given up is the Gza. We gonna go in. We haven’t done the song yet, but Gza is such a lyricist. We’re only doing six songs each, so I got four, and have to come up with two more. I don’t know who to get. Everyone is throwing stuff at me. Whoever it is, it’s going to turn out to be bangin’ regardless.

TWV: Is Get Used to Us still looking at a December 7^th release?

DJ Premier: Absolutely. I’m very excited about the album. I’m definitely going to make sure it delivers. There’s nothing lightweight on it, it’s just nonstop bang, bang, bang.

TWV: As a child, did you always see yourself doing music?

DJ Premier: Nah, not until junior high school. I was just a regular guy doing all the same old shit kids do growing up. I played baseball and football when I was young. We did the Cowboys and Indians, Batman and Robin, Red Light/Green Light…all that stuff. Where I lived we used to have this open field where these ponds people would drown in used to be. A friend of mine died trying to play a game in one of those ponds. He lied and said he could swim and he couldn’t, and we didn’t know that. He jumped in there and we had already gone home. Someone had told us he was out there, so we went out to dive in and help him. When I was in the 8^th grade I took a class with my sister on how to save lives; I have certifications in lifeguarding. We went down there to go get him, but those type of ponds have a whirlpool that can suck you under, and you can drown from the current. We kept trying up until the wee hours of the night, and he ended up getting caught on some things underwater, so they had to call in the divers with the tanks to go look for him. I’ll never forget when they were like “I think I found something.” They dove one more time, and when they raised him up it was like when Jesus was born and they held the baby up before putting him up in the manger and all that. That’s exactly how they pulled him out of this pond. Mad mud and muck and stuff. I still remember how he looked. That was my first time seeing a dead body, at eleven years old. Bugged out. It just put a whole different perspective on valuing life, too.

TWV: Do you consider yourself successful? Are you satisfied, and what goals do you still have for yourself?

DJ Premier: To climb a new mountain. I’m more than halfway there but I’d like to be like Kevin Dillon on Entourage yelling “Victory!” I will be doing that soon. And I might make a song called “Victory” the day that I get there. Maybe getting into film and movies down the line. And continuing the Gang Starr legacy, too. I plan on doing a few Gang Starr projects that I’ll be in charge of along with [Guru’s] son and family, and we’ll do it right and make sure that we put all of our history out there. Guru always wanted a DVD. That was one of his biggest complaints in the last couple years of our career. When we came out with our last two albums he said, “Man, everybody got DVD’s, but we don’t.” So that’s when we started getting videographers to travel with us and collect footage. I had already been doing that for a while, really since day one. I have tapes from ’89 of us, of our Daily Operation tour — there’s just so much footage. We’ll probably do volumes of Gang Starr DVD’s, because we have that much stuff. It will be coming soon.

TWV: Is there still unreleased Gang Starr music?

DJ Premier: Not really. We did a few things that we didn’t finish that I have a few vocals on, but I have been getting calls from outside people saying they have vocals and they don’t even want money but would be proud to let me have it and to let me do what I need to do. So I’m working on communicating with that. They haven’t sent it to me yet, but if they do arrive and they’re official vocals that I can mess with? Then of course I’m going to make ‘em hot, that’s a no brainer. I do have one or two vocals that we didn’t finish that he had laid down, and I’ll see what I can do with them. There will be stuff down the line.

TWV: What do you listen to in your spare time?

DJ Premier: Rock. New Age. AC/DC, U2, The Cure, Psychedelic Furs. I like Iron Maiden, Pantera, classic Van Halen, Zeppelin. I listen to that a lot, more than Hip Hop, because Hip Hop is automatic. It’s like speaking Spanish. Like I can speak English one day and Spanish on another day. Hip Hop is my Spanish. Not everyone understands the language, but I do.

TWV: Where do you turn for inspiration?

DJ Premier: Anything. My parents, who are my biggest inspiration. And my oldest sister. I used to follow everything she did. She was very popular in school, very hip, she was always telling us what the new slang and dances were. To this day we’re really close. Honestly, I really have always been into watching people do interviews, on TV and in magazines, to see how they answer questions. I know Christina Aguilera called me the “tabloid whore.” I study it all. KRS said it on “BDP-Ism”, “I like to study, I like money, I like eating wheat bread with honey.” I love watching interviews. I don’t care if it’s an actor, a producer, I just love to see what makes other people tick.

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Considered by many to be one of the greatest producers Hip Hop has seen, DJ Premier’s name is one that speaks for itself. With over two decades in the game, which is longer than some Hip Hop heads have even been alive, his mind is essentially an encyclopedia of the culture, with firsthand accounts of untold stories involving Rap’s biggest names. With his upcoming LP Get Used to Us nearing its December 7^th release date, Premo dropped knowledge to TheWellVersed about his unreleased tracks, childhood, how he will continue the Gang Starr legacy, the demise of Fat Beats, and more. Check out part one of this two part feature.

TWV: Are there any songs you’ve produced that haven’t seen the light of day yet?

DJ Premier: There was a record I did with Sinead O’ Connor –a remix to “Famine,” about the potato famine. But right before it came out she went through her breakdown and controversy and she shut down completely. We were label mates at the time so that’s the reason why I got the gig. She was also a Gang Starr fan, and a fan of my production. It never came out and I really, really wanted it to. It was a really good record. There was also a record with MOP. We did one for their last album. We should have talked about maybe revamping it and doing it, but that record was so raw. It never came out and I don’t know if it ever will, but hopefully one day it will see the light of day.

There’s a Jay-Z one where he was getting a little slick at a lot of people. I won’t even say their names. He said a lot of slick shit about a lot of people from the era he was coming through when he was just coming out with Reasonable Doubt. He was airing them out and doing it properly. If he had done it, he would have been respected for it. He did it so dope, and so cleverly, and he was so witty with it. But he erased it, so it’s going to be a memory I take to the grave. But it’s all gravy because Jay and I are good friends so I would never violate him like that.

TWV: Is there someone that you haven’t worked with yet but would like to in the future?

DJ Premier: I’ve always wanted to work with Ghostface of the Wu Tang Clan. I was a big fan ever since I heard him on “Bring da Ruckus.” Something about the way he just introduced that verse… Just the way he said his name. He and I actually spoke at the Rock the Bells tour this year and he said that he wants to work together very soon. I really was surprised that he said that “Mass Appeal” inspired him to write “Criminology.” That’s one of my favorite records with him and Raekwon, and for him to say “Mass Appeal” inspired that? That’s still one of the greatest Hip Hop records to ever be made by Gang Starr. I really want to work with Mary J. Blige. We’ve linked up to try to get some things poppin’, and they haven’t come to light yet, but I’m going to keep working on stuff. She played a few cuts off her new album and what she’s played me has sounded great so far. She’s amazing. Busta (Rhymes) and I are working on something, finally. I want to work with Q-Tip, too — with A Tribe Called Quest, period. I’d love to work with Chuck D of Public Enemy.

TWV: Can you recall a project in particular that you had difficulty working on?

DJ Premier: “Project Boy” by Joell Ortiz. That’s a record that took a minute to get right. I still don’t think I got it 100% right. I been mixing my own records down lately just to get sharper and be a good engineer, even though I already have some of the greatest engineers. When they touch up my music I still come in and do the final finishing touches. I’m now learning how to do it all on my own, period, so that when I’m in that type of situation I can fully engineer and record a section, the whole nine yards. Joell’s record was one of my favorite records that I’ve ever produced because it was so different and left field. I like left field stuff. I don’t like to do the basic stuff that everybody else does all the time. I still couldn’t get it right where I wanted it. It’s knockin’, but it still isn’t where I’m a million percent happy. I really care about the listeners getting the playback the way it should sound from the way I envisioned it. I put that much pride and love into that, so yeah, “Project Boy.”

The only album that was difficult to get correct was the last Gang Starr album, The Ownerz, because a lot of people were dying at the time in our lives. D&D was closing, so we were like, “damn, where the fuck are we going to record?” Where were we gonna go? To take that away was like getting kicked out of the house you’ve lived in all of your life and now you’re homeless. Thanks to Avatar studios, and thanks to Rakim actually who put us up on Avatar, we were able to finish the record there. Then, of course, Headquarterz died, and Jam Master Jay died, and we had other personal deaths – my engineer’s daughter died. It was just back-to-back deaths, wakes, and funerals. We had to pack all our stuff and get our reels out of D&D. We still had to get the album done because we had a deadline to meet. That time period was the first time I had to request to dress my friend in their casket, and I did it only because his mother asked me to. All that was going on, and we still pulled that album off and got it out there, and I’m proud of that. We were going through label problems. The staff that worked our previous albums had just been cut and they started a new staff who didn’t understand what we were doing, and we felt bad about that as well. It was like, we been in this house for years, how are you gonna tell us where the bathroom is when we can tell you what the trick is to flushing the toilets? Nah, that’s not how it’s gonna work. It was just problems, and we still prevailed and got that album done. And I feel it was a great album.

I remember reading reviews that said Snoop’s verse was lackluster. I was like did you hear what he said? That’s some dope ass lyrics right there. When I saw that review of him being lackluster…I wish I could find the person that wrote that and I would literally smack them. I wouldn’t do it now, but back then I would have smacked them, just like that. All of that had me in anger mode at the time. Still, I’m so proud of that album. Guru was on fire like he always was. We got the proper results from our work. It’s just the critics don’t know how to judge a Hip Hop record. It’s like what do you listen to and look for to get the results that make a great album? Because we’re obviously not on the same page, and that’s fine, but how do you get a job as a journalist? I’d like to have a one-on-one quiz about Hip Hop face-to-face. I bet you they won’t be able to take it as far as I can take it.

TWV: To take it back to Joell Ortiz for a second, I noticed when the Free Agent track list was released that “Project Boy” wasn’t on it. Was that due to your lingering dissatisfaction with the final sound?

DJ Premier: Nah, it was the label. The guy at the label, didn’t want to clear the Flavor Flav sample. But you ain’t gotta clear that. The fact that they think that’s is a problem and they don’t want to clear it? I think that’s some weak fuckin’ shit. That’ll just be a song we had.

TWV: You were the last of the last to rock at the Fat Beats store in NYC when it closed. Explain your connection to the legendary storefront and what it meant to you.

DJ Premier: It meant a lot because first of all, I’m a DJ, so that’s one of my sources to shop at. It’s my Bloomingdales or Barneys. They were like the Saks Fifth Avenue of Hip Hop. Their forte was vinyl. I better be a part of that even if they didn’t even know me personally. I’ve done more for vinyl than almost anybody in the industry because I respect the culture as a whole, from graffiti to everything else. So being asked to do that on the last day is more than an honor. I remember deejays you would never see in public much would be like “yo, come up to the store, buy ‘Shook Ones.’” “Shook Ones” is probably one of the biggest 12-inches that moved out of that store on the regular. You could cut it up so much that you’d wear [the vinyl] out. You’d have to stock up on about five or six more copies. That and “Incarcerated Scarfaces” by Raekwon, with Ghost, were the biggest movers in the store, I guarantee it. There was nowhere else you could really find them. I remember going to Fat Beats in Amsterdam, L.A., all of them. It’s a monument. Especially the store in New York.

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