DJ Premier Blog » News

Producer 5th Seal Takes Things To Pepsi Max On Nick Javis “Rhyme Reels”

The 2010 NFL season was just as interesting after the games were over thanks to Nick Javis and his “Rhyme Reels.” The weekly rapped recaps of every football game became so popular that ESPN eventually took notice. While Nick’s lyrical dexterity and football knowledge (he played ball at Rutgers) deserve a lot of praise, that infectious beat was the handy work of Brooklyn’s Fifth Seal.

“Soon as I saw the finished product I knew it was out of here,” the producer told Nodfactor.com. ” Nick Javis did it the right way. He loves hip-hop and he loves football. He did something nobody did before.”

Seal met Javis through DJ Premier’s manager Phat Gary and Ras Kass. He gave Nick a beat CD after a brief meeting at a bar down stairs from Headcourterz and the very next day Javis had the first “Rhyme Reel Done.” Just a few weeks later ESPN came knocking and now the song is a feature in Pepsi Max commercials featuring Talib Kweli and Lupe Fiasco.

“Because it’s a corporation it’s been the biggest check I’ve ever seen,” says 5th Seal who interned at D&D when he was in high school. “It’s just opened up a door from the underground. Now I can spread my wings. I love hip-hop. So now I can take my style of hip-hop to a more mainstream level without changing the sound of it.”

The producer and DJ produced “He Say She Say” from Razzy’s A.D.I.D.A.S as well as cuts for Immortal Technique and KRS-ONE under the name Danger, but he has since changed his name because most people know about the producer who works with Timbaland.

“At the end of the Bible there is a book called Revelations. The 5th seal talked about the people that died for what they believe in and I thought that was dope,” he explains. “That’s where I got the name from. Being true to yourself. I have a lot of new music coming this year so I wanted to start fresh.”

source

DJ Premier Blog Radio 2nd Best Channel of 2010 on Mixcloud.com

On-demand radio platform Mixcloud launch their “Best of 2010” today, in association with Serato and Juno Download.

They have charted the most tracklisted artists and tracks across some 100,000 radio shows, DJ mixes and playlists, uploaded by over 35,000 “Cloudcasters” throughout 2010, as well as the most popular radio shows/mixes and uploaders on the site over the past 12 months.

These pages are a unique snapshot of the past 12 months of music. Unlike charts made up of sales data, or editorially driven best-of lists, Mixcloud’s charts reflects the collective “wisdom of the experts”. The service’s tracklisting feature allows it to analyse data across all the tracklists submitted by the expert curators on the site, getting a sense of their collective curation and musical trends.

The results are fascinating. James Blake leads the way with “CMYK” claiming the top track of 2010. It was played by the likes of Drowned in Sound, Dan Le Sac, Foreign Beggars, Chris Coco and SBTRKT. With James Blake hotly tipped for 2011, this is indicative that the DJs and curators on Mixcloud are one step ahead of the trends.

The top artists chart pits the old with the new, demonstrating that the timeless classics aren’t disappearing from the record boxes anytime soon. This unique chart is topped by Skream and sees the likes of Michael Jackson and Daft Punk side by side with Flying Lotus and Ramadanman.

The “Cloudcast” and “Cloudcaster” charts showcase how far the London based Mixcloud has come since it’s launch in September 2009, boasting the likes of DJ Premier, Zero 7, Hot Chip, Mary Anne Hobbs, Bestival and Fabric as regular contributors.

The trophy for top mix/radio show of 2010 deservedly goes to DJ Premier for his heart-warming tribute mix to former Gang Starr band-mate, Keith ‘Guru’ Elam. The top Cloudcaster award was narrowly won by the wonderful Ibiza Sonica radio station. The active station uploaded some 150 shows to Mixcloud throughout 2010 – including regulars from balearic legend Jose Padilla and station bosses Andy Wilson & Igor Marijuan plus guest sets from Carl Cox and more.

Check out the Mixcloud Best of 2010 now!

DJ Premier Blog Radio Rankings:

Best Music Cloudcaster of 2010 – 2nd Place

Best Music Cloudcast of 2010 – 1st Place with “Keith “Guru” Elam Tribute Mix”, 3rd Place with “Malcolm McLaren Tribute Mix”

Click here to visit DJ Premier Blog Radio

Just great, thanks to DJ Premier for his shows since 1994(?) :D!

DJ Premier Reacts on His Top 25 Albums of 2010 List + The Lost Honorable Mention List

DJ Premier, Professor Clarence Jones & Phat Gary

New year letter from the legendary DJ Premier:

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE WORLD AND HAVE THE BEST 2011 !!!

SPECIAL R.I.P. TO MARY “YA YA” BAUMEL AND TO PAPU…..GONNA MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH…..
R.I.P. TO TEENA MARIE aka “LADY T” GLAD TO HAVE MET YOU AND RICK JAMES WHEN WE HUNG OUT WITH YOU AND JAMES BROWN (R.I.P.) AT THE B.E.T. AWARDS BACK IN 2003 WHICH BY FAR WAS THE BEST SHOW EVER THAT YEAR…

R.I.P. TO JOHN LESLIE…ONE OF THE ICONIC ADULT FILM STARS OF THE 80′S AND DIRECTORS OF THE 90′S AND 2000 ERA…..YOU KEPT STYLE IN YOUR WORK AND IT WAS A BLESSING TO KNOW YOU……..

ALSO SHOUT TO CLARENCE B. JONES (DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.) ATTORNEY WHO WE HUNG OUT WITH AND HE JUST RELEASED HIS BOOK “BEHIND THE DREAM” WHICH IS IN STORES NOW AND HE HELPED WRITE THE FAMOUS SPEECH……WE WILL BE DOING GIVEAWAYS OF THE BOOK ON THE SHOW SO STAY TUNED…….SHOUTS TO ARI KASSMAN AND YOUR FATHER…..

ALSO SHOUT TO CRAZY LEGS WHERE I WILL BE APPEARING ON HIS SHOW WITH DJ VIC BLACK OF THE GANG STARR FOUNDATION ON HIS SHOW “LUNCH BREAKS” MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2011 FROM 1:45-4PM COOKING MY PEPPER EGGS AND GHETTO GRITS…..(YES I SAID COOKING AND SPINNING ON THE WHEELS)…
TUNE IN AT CRAZYLEGSWORKSHOP.COM

CONGRATS TO NICK JAVAS WHO WILL BE APPEARING ON THE NFL PLAYOFFS WITH HIS NFL RHYMEREEL WITH PEPSI MAX AND SHOUTS TO TALIB KWELI AND BIG BOI of OUTKAST WHO ARE ALSO DOING SEGMENTS FOR THE PLAYOFFS…….SUPERBOWL IS NEAR !!!

R.I.P. GURU…..GANG STARR FOREVER…..FOR ALL REAL FACTS….GO TO Gurutributes.com

OK ! NOW, ABOUT MY TOP 25 (HIP HOP LP’S ACCORDING TO DJ PREMIER)

I TRIED MY BEST TO DO TOP 20 AND I COULD NOT DO IT….THERE WERE SO MANY INDEPENDENT RELEASES THAT SPANKED THE MAJOR LABELS WHEN IT CAME TO HOW I JUDGE HIP HOP MUSIC…..FOR ALL OF YOU SHALLOW MINDED FOLK, I JUDGE HIP HOP BASED ON ORIGINALITY, STYLE, IF I CAN LISTEN TO THE WHOLE LP FROM INTRO TO OUTRO, ARE THE BEATS GOOD, ARE THE LYRICS WORTH LISTENING TO, DOES IT REPRESENT THE GHETTO IN ANY TYPE OF WAY FOR THE RAW AND HARDCORE AUDIENCE (WHICH INCLUDES ME) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY DOES IT MEET MY EXPECTATIONS FOR WHAT I KNOW THAT AN ARTIST SHOULD DELIVER SINCE I DO SPEND MY MONEY AND I AM A FAN, SO I SET A HIGH BAR ON THE ARTISTS TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING ME HAPPY WITH WHAT THEY DELIVER….I PUT MYSELF IN THAT SAME BOX WHICH IS WHY I STILL REMAIN CONSISTENT IN MY 40′S…..JAY-Z IS STILL RUNNIN’ THIS RAP SHIT BECAUSE HE KNOWS HOW THE GAME GOES…..Y’ALL BETTER KEEP UP…..HATE ME NOW FOR BEING HONEST………ONE……..p

BIG SHOUT TO MR. WALT WHOM I DISCUSSED ABOUT THIS BEFORE I EVEN STARTED MY LIST…ANOTHER TRUE HONEST OPINIONATED MAN…….ONE LOVE AND R.I.P. TO JENNIFER DEWGARDE

The lost honorable mentioning list (not in order):

Kanye West ”My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”
Sadat X ”Wild Cowboys II”
Q-Unique ”Between Heaven & Hell”
Pack FM ”I Fucking Hate Rappers”
Homeboy Sandman ”The Good Sun”
Reflection Eternal ”Revolutions Per Minute”
Eminem ”Recovery”
Rakaa ”Crown Of Thorns”
DJ Muggs -vs- Ill Bill ”Kill Devil Hills”
7L & Esoteric ”1212″
Reef The Lost Cause ”Fight Music”
Vinnie Paz ”Season Of The Assassin”
Black Milk ”Album Of The Year”
Black Sheep ”Black Pool Of Genius”
Capone-N-Noreaga ”The War Report 2″
MF Grimm ”You Only Live Twice”
9th Wonder & David Banner ”Death Of A Pop Star”
Minds One ”Self Reliance”
Marco Polo ”The Stupendous Adventures Of Marco Polo”
Dysfunkshunal Familee ”Family Reunion”
Lloyd Banks ”The Hunger For More 2″
Big Boi ”Sir Lucious Leftfoot: Son Of Chico Dusty”

Previous: DJ Premier’s Top 25 Albums of 2010

DJ Premier’s Top 25 Albums of 2010

Like every year DJ Premier presents to you his top 20 albums of a year on LiveFromHQ, also in 2009 he did that. But instead of top 20 it’s now top 25. Check out Premos top 25 of 2010:

Rank:

25. Ice Cube – I Am The West
24. Bun B – Trill OG
23. Celph Titled & Buckwild – Nineteen Ninety Now
22. KRS-One & True Master – Meta-Historical
21. Nottz – You Need This Music

20. Little Brother – LeftBack
19. Roc Marciano – Marcberg
18. Murs & 9th Wonder – Fornever
17. Eternia & MoSS – At Last
16. The Roots – How I Got Over
15. The Left – Gas Mask
14. Rah Digga – Classic
13. Gangrene – Gutter Water
12. Skyzoo & !llmind – Live from the Tape Deck
11. Drake – Thank Me Later

10. Fat Joe – The Darkside Vol. 1
09. Marco Polo & Ruste Juxx – The eXXecution
08. Rick Ross – Teflon Don
07. Freeway & Jake One – The Stimulus Package
06. Statik Selektah & Termanology – 1982
05. Scarface – Dopeman Music
04. Meth, Ghost & Rae – Wu Massacre
03. Strong Arm Steady – In Search of Stoney Jackson
02. DJ Premier Presents Year Round Records – Get Used To Us
01. Ghostface Killah – Apollo Kids

Voila. Sorry Kanye West, Nas, Eminem & Talib Kweli.

Last year note from DJ Premier himself:

I judge my list based on dope beats, dope rhymes, scratchin’ and cutting, creativity, uniqueness, originality, and overall packaging of the product’s integrity. I don’t care if you sold a million copies, that does not make it dope. I went through more than 60 LP’s released in ’09 on major and indie labels over and over to get it as close as i possible could to being satisfied with the list so here it is along with the list.

“Be Glad or Be Mad” -DJ Premier

DJ Premier’s Top 20 of 2009

Best DJ Premier Beat of 2010 is…

Yesss, I’m so full of joy. The best DJ Premier beat of 2010 is decided thanks to 3,118 Premo fans to be exact. That’s 3x more votes in compare with last year… damn this blog is growing. Can’t thank the people who vote enough. And with no further yip yap, the best DJ Premier Beat of 2010 is with no surprise:

Europe stand up!! With 20% of all the votes aka 633 votes this is the absolute winner!! Haha, and I’ve got great news for everybody… This track is going to be pressed on wax in 2011!!

Results:

What do y’all think? I’m actually surprised about the Young Maylay track, my favorite beat after Soulkast… But the people decided. Looking forward to hear the best beat of 2011 haha.

Previous winners:
2009 winner: Rap Addiction by Blaq Poet (17%)
2008 winner: Say Goodnight by Reks (30%)

Once again, thank you to everyone who voted and congratulations to Soulkast. End of the DJ Premier Blog Awards.

Busta Rhymes – The Heist (Feat. Ghostface Killah, Raekwon & Roc Marciano) (Unreleased DJ Premier Remix) (Radio Rip); HAPPY 2011 EVERYONE!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE… I HOPE EVERYONE IS READY FOR 2011!! Here’s a new present for y’all. I found this remix back on my harddisc some time ago. It’s a remix that never came out by DJ Premier for the classic Busta track “The Heist” with Ghostface, Raekwon and Roc Marciano. Enjoy:


[DOWNLOAD]

Hopefully we see Ghostface, Raekwon or Busta Rhymes on a brand new DJ Premier beat in 2011… Lets see what we can expect in 2011:

– Beats That Collected Dust Vol. 2 (18th January 2011)
– NYGz “Hustlers Union: Local NYGz” (Deadline: May 2011)
– Nick Javas “Destination Unknown” (Deadline: May 2011)
– Khaleel “Already!” (Deadline: May 2011)
– The Game has a song called “Born In The Trap” on R.E.D. album
– Teflon “Contraband” with Premo songs
– DJ Premier vs Pete Rock
– MC Eiht “Which Way Iz West” with Premo songs
– Q Da Kid has a song with Premo
– Money B from Digital Underground has a song with Premo
– Sunkiss has a new song with Premo
– Some Gang Starr unreleased songs or tribute songs (with Jeru?)
– Prop Dylan from Sweden has a song with Premo
and on and on. Get ready!!! 2011 baby!!

One love from me gim straight from Europe and I can’t thank y’all enough for the support, and maybe we’ll survive till 2012. Nothing is sure in this world, appreciate any minute you have and please try to spend some minutes to think about the minor. Lets go!!

EDIT: This is not an official remix, but a blend with a never released DJ Premier beat (and never released/rare acapella). This is a beat made for Kanye West’s album “Dark Twisted Fantasy”, but left over by Kanye because he changed the style of his album. Also Bun B had the beat after “Let ‘Em Know” was produced, but he never worked on it. Source: DJ Premier himself.

Beats That Collected Dust Vol. 2 Release Date + Cover


(Artwork by Tcho/Antidote)

DJ Premier Message:

So…….I should have released this one a while ago, but I thought that these tracks would find a home somewhere with vocals of some kind attached to it…..Oh well, no big deal….I always will make more and more and more beats…I LOVE THIS GAME ! Volume 2 has a few old potential Gang Starr tracks that we never used back in 1993 for our “Hard To Earn” LP, but they were not better than the ones that made the cut….since they sound dated next to my style of production in the 2000 era, now YOU have it….And don’t 4get the BONUS cut at the end of the LP which I will continue to add only to these releases……Much Love to all of the supporters of Vol. 1 and especially all of the MC’s that sent versions spittin’ lyrics over them for demos, mixtape CD’s, and freestyling on radio mixshows…..I actually forgot to add some ill beats that I had intended for Vol. 2, so that means Vol. 3 will be next…….Year Round Records will ALWAYS keep the Vinyl Alive and QUALITY will NEVER be compromised….. NOD YA HEADS 2 THIS !!!

Tracklist:

1. John T. (Produced By: DJ Premier)
2. Ch-Ching (Produced By: DJ Premier)
3. Dots (Produced By: DJ Premier)
4. Doomp Doomp Doomp (Produced By: DJ Premier)
5. Stylesss (Produced By: DJ Premier)
6. Epic-ishh (Produced By: DJ Premier)
7. Beautiful (Produced By: DJ Premier)
8. Change (Produced By: DJ Premier)
9. Live Pro (Produced By: DJ Premier)
10. I Don’t Know (Produced By: DJ Premier)
11. Late Night (Produced By: DJ Premier)
12. N.Y.S.O.M. #20 (Produced By: DJ Premier)

Out 19th of January.

source

G. Dep Featured on NYGz Next Album “Hustlers Union: Local NYGz”

This is a part of the rough sketch for NYGz next album hanging in Premos lab. It also could be a solo track… The fact is that Premo recorded a track with G. Dep. With the recent happenings around G Dep I think it’s informative to post this. Shiggy Sha aka Shabeeno (of NYGz) & DJ Premier already worked with G. Dep in 1998 on the Gang Starr track “The Mall”.

DJ Premiers Reaction on the recent arrest of G. Dep:

@MissRandiB its tuff bcuz he’s a really good man…I feel for the family of the victim and Dep’s Family…Dep is a man & that’s his decisionless than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Moment of Truth Track “She Knowz What She Wantz” is Produced by Guru, Not DJ Premier

You knew that? I didn’t… How about you? I know I didn’t knew that one, am I the only one or what? I only heard the rumours about “Code Of The Streets” was produced by Guru… Here’s the prove:

Muhfucka damn, rip guru!

EDIT: Aha, by the look of the comments also “Make Em Pay” is produced by Guru. Strange mistake for me as credit freak. All I read on Gang Starr albums was “Produced by DJ Premier, Co-Produced by Guru”. Whatever. On to Christmas!

“Get Used To Us” Will Have A Vinyl, CD + DVD Release in January

And also Beats That Collected Dust Vol. 2 in January… Dope!