DJ Premier

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DJ Premier

Background information
Birth name Christopher Martin
Also known as DJ Premier, Premo/Primo
Born March 21, 1966; Houston, Texas, USA
Genre(s) Hip Hop
Occupation(s) Producer
Instrument(s) Keyboard
Sampler
Drum machine
Strings
Turntable
Years active 1989–present
Label(s) Wild Pitch Records (1987–1990)
Virgin Records (1991–2003)
Year Round (2002-)
Works Of Mart (2006-)

Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), better known as DJ Premier (Premo/Primo as his fans, fellow musicians and critics call him sometimes), is a prominent American hip hop producer and DJ, and the instrumental half of the duo Gang Starr, together with MC Guru on the lyrical side. Contrary to popular belief, DJ Premier is not a founding member of Gang Starr. Following an invitation by Guru, he joined the 1987-founded group in 1989. Originally from Houston, he has lived in Brooklyn, New York virtually his entire professional career.

Contents

[edit] Background

He was introduced to DJing while attending school at Prairie View A&M in Prairie View, Texas. DJ Premier's original stage name was Waxmaster C, the "C" taken from his first name, Chris, although he had already changed it to DJ Premier at the time he joined Gang Starr. He chose the name "Premier" because he wanted to be the first to do what he did.

[edit] Collaborations

Besides co-producing most of the Gang Starr catalog with Guru, DJ Premier has created countless tracks for many groups and solo artists since the early 90's. These include notable tracks for artists such as Jay-Z ("D'Evils", "So Ghetto", "Bring It On"), Common ("The 6th Sense"), Big L ("The Enemy", "Platinum Plus"), The Notorious B.I.G. ("Unbelievable", "Ten Crack Commandments"), Nas ("N.Y. State of Mind", "N.Y. State of Mind Part II", "Nas Is Like", "Represent", "Come Get Me"), Pitch Black ("It's All Real"), M.O.P. ("Downtown Swinga", "Anticipation", "Breakin Tha Rules", "New Jack City"), Jeru the Damaja ("Come Clean", "Me or the Papes"), KRS-One ("MC's Act Like They Don't Know", "Outta Here"), Mos Def ("Mathematics"), Non Phixion ("Rock Stars") and Royce Da 5'9" ("Boom", "Hip-Hop").

However, some of Premier's most lauded non-Gang Starr productions have been his collaborations with lesser known artists. With MC Jeru the Damaja, Premier crafted one of the East Coast's landmark albums in The Sun Rises in the East, released in 1994. Also Wrath of the Math released in 1996. Another record packed with Premier productions, Group Home's Livin' Proof, although overlooked at the time of its 1995 release, has since come to find similar acclaim. Both Jeru and Group Home were tutored in MCing by Premier's Gang Starr partner, Guru.

Though almost exclusively a hip-hop producer, DJ Premier collaborated extensively with jazz musician Branford Marsalis's experimental group, Buckshot Lefonque, for their debut album. He also recently found himself in the pop world, producing five tracks for Christina Aguilera's album Back to Basics, which included the first single off the album; Ain't No Other Man in 2006. Other non hip-hop artists that appear in Premier's production credits include big names such as Limp Bizkit, D'Angelo and Craig David.

Premier has remixed numerous songs for artists around the world, both inside and outside of the hip-hop realm. He has worked with artists from Russia, Japan, England, Canada, and has even produced a track for former porn star Heather Hunter.

[edit] Production style

Premier's signature style is, essentially, a two-bar break to make up the rhythms of his tracks, and a scratched chorus. His early Gang Starr work relies heavily on melodic samples, but starting with Jeru's The Sun Rises in the East in 1994, he began to use ominous atonal samples as well. (These may have been inspired by the atonal piano samples that figured heavily in Wu-Tang Clan's groundbreaking debut, 1993's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers); Premier uses a sample from 36 Chambers track "Tearz," Wu producer RZA's ominous laughter, to comprise the chorus from Jeru's "Ain't the Devil Happy.")

One notable exception to Premier's style is his more varied beat from Nas' classic track, "Represent"; the chorus is much more musically distinct from the verses than is typical for him. Also, though most of Premier's tracks contain the crackles and pops from the records he samples, he has employed more polished beats in his more mainstream productions.

[edit] Samples

DJ Premier's style of production epitomizes the New York sound of his earlier peers. He is known for sampling jazz, funk, and soul artists, as well as sampling an artist's past work when creating a new track for that same artist. In addition, his encyclopedic memory of rap lyrics allows him to distinctively "speak with his hands" by scratching in lyrics from several different songs to construct new phrases.[1] Premier's non-Gang Starr collaborations are well-known for his oft-imitated combinations of short vocal samples, often from multiple artists, to create a chorus. For example, in the chorus of Mos Def's "Mathematics", Premier cuts in quick succession:

"The Mighty Mos Def..." (from Mos Def's "Body Rock"),
"It's simple mathematics" (from Fat Joe's "John Blaze"),
"Check it out" (Lady of Rage from Snoop Dogg's "For All My Niggaz & Bitches"),
"I revolve around science..." (from Ghostface Killah's verse on Raekwon's "Criminology"),
"What are we talking about here..." (unknown origin),
"Do your math.." (from Erykah Badu's "On & On"), and
"One, two, three, four" (from James Brown's "Funky Drummer")

On certain artists' work the vocal samples will all be vocal samples of the artist from the artist's past work; "Nas Is Like" and Nas' "2nd Childhood" are two well-known examples of this.

Premier also sampled and chopped up recordings of seminal electro-acoustic music from the 1960's on Jeru the Damaja's "Physical Stamina." By no means does Premier rely solely on hip-hop and soul samples.

According to Premier himself, in 1989 Large Professor (formerly of Main Source) taught him how to filter samples to create his own basslines.

[edit] Melodies

Premier usually creates a one or two-bar melody that repeats itself throughout the song, usually using a combination of orchestral and ambient samples. This template of simple repetition leaves plenty of room for the MC to spread out.

He has also shown innovation by playing unusual elements into rap songs (such as the bicycle bells in Group Home's "Supa Star" or the ambient nature sounds on Nas' "Nas Is Like"), and his wide range of instruments (the piano loop on Jay-Z's "D'Evils" and the strings on Rakim's "New York (Ya Out There?") and production techniques (he plays the melody backwards during the second half of Jay-Z's "A Million And One Questions (Rhyme No More)".

When DJ Premier sampled an obscure funk electronic song from the 80's to construct Gang Starr's 1991 hit "Just To Get A Rep" (Jean-Jaques Perrey's "E.V.A."), he achieved a water-like effect. This beat alone made him an object of fascination to many would-be producers and DJs. The 1993 single "Come Clean" has become legendary for a melody resembling that of children banging on water pipes.

[edit] Drums

DJ Premier's drums have been known to complement his melodies. For example, during Nas' "N.Y. State of Mind", two bars have a simple round of kicks and snares; in the following two, a complementing second set of drums plays out. This is repeated throughout. Ultimately, the simplistic patterning used to structure his drum beats helps to define the inimitable sound characterizing the typical DJ Premier track. Rarely, if ever, do patterns veer from their programmed two to four bar loops. Drum rolls, cymbal crashes, and hand claps are usually absent.

DJ Premier's drums are amongst the most distinctive in the genre, known for being especially punchy, crisp, and well-defined. This is a characteristic that has manifested itself more prominently in the latter half of his career, although this is only a generalization.

[edit] Evolution of sound

Over the years Premier's work has become considerably less jazzy and his more recent productions are notably less grimy, perhaps to meet more mainstream expectations. His work with Gang Starr, however, continues to exhibit hints of jazziness and maintains a dirtier sound although no new material has been released since The Ownerz. In his earlier tracks, Premier would sometimes switch up the melody in the chorus and would add more layers, though his work has become increasingly more basic and you will often hear the same two bars repeated throughout an entire song. In the early 90's, DJ Premier would cut in a single vocal sample for a chorus, whereas more recently he has developed a technique in which he strings a number of snippets together.

[edit] Multiple beats

Although not entirely unique to Premier, he is well known for producing songs that consist of more than one beat. When this is the case there is usually a short introduction instrumental to bring in the track. He has also used outro beats but these are less common. O.C.'s ("My World"), M.O.P.'s ("Face Off") and Jeru the Damaja's ("Scientifical Madness") are good examples of this. Several tracks on Group Home's debut album also make use of this.

Possibly the first and one of the most noteworthy instances of DJ Premier making use of this technique is on Gang Starr's third album, Daily Operation, with the song "I'm the Man". Guru, Group Home's Lil' Dap, and Jeru the Damaja take turns on the mic whilst DJ Premier provides three separate instrumentals, appropriating the styles of each individual emcee. This same formula was then recreated two years later on Hard to Earn with "Speak Ya Clout".

[edit] Clean versions

Another trademark of DJ Premier is evident in the clean versions of his productions. Premier is known to edit the obscenties out himself, replacing them with sound effects. This makes the clean versions of the songs much more listenable and fills the void of the absent words.

[edit] Influences

In an interview with XXL Magazine, DJ Premier was asked how his sound evolved, to which he replied, "Marley Marl is my number one inspiration. Jam Master Jay, Mixmaster Ice and UTFO. Grandmaster B and Whodini. DJ Cheese, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa. Jazzy Jay, even Cut Creator. Seeing them do what they do. It’s black music, it’s black culture, it comes from the ghetto. How can you not relate to ghetto people when that’s the rawest form of blackness? Even though it’s not a good place in regards to the economy and how bad people have it in the neighborhood, the realism’s there, and that’s what we were born out of. So I pay respect by doing the same type of music in return."

[edit] Relationships with artists

The details concerning DJ Premier’s ‘falling out’ with certain artists are hazy and vague, having seen little publicity. Jeru the Damaja, KRS-One, and Group Home are artists who have worked with Premier extensively early in their careers, but have since parted ways. This has also been the case with other rappers such as Nas and Jay-Z; however, in the latter cases, it is likely that major label interference was the main reason that DJ Premier’s involvement was ruled out from more recent projects.

DJ Premier was fully responsible for the production of Jeru the Damaja’s debut and sophomore efforts. Jeru has released two albums since then, with Premier having nothing to do with either of them. The supposed reason that the two are no longer affiliates is that there was apparently a financial dispute between them and Jeru felt that Premier was cheating him out of his fair share. KRS-One is yet another artist who has since split ways with the mega-producer and according to Preem, the estrangement also has monetary strings attached. As his career progressed and his reputation grew, Premier’s beats increased in price, making it less economical for rappers to have him on their album. When KRS-One was recording his first solo works, DJ Premier would charge $5,000 a track. As time went on, this then became $30,000 and this inflation is the supposed reason why the two have not collaborated since KRS’ second album. As far as Group Home is concerned, Premier commented, "They don't respect what fed them" in a 2003 interview, going on to say that the only reason he produced a track on their second album was because Guru said he would rhyme on it.

[edit] Label ownership and future projects

DJ Premier currently owns two record labels. "Year Round Records" was founded in 2002 and has so far released several DJ Premier mixtapes as well as 12" vinyl singles for NYG'z and Blaq Poet. "Works Of Mart", which is also the name of his publishing company since the early 90's, was founded in mid 2006 and released 12" vinyl singles for Tef (aka Teflon) and FABID (H. Stax and Mike Rone) and a mixtape. In 2004, he took ownership the now-defunct legendary D&D Studios. After much-needed renovations, it has since reopened as HeadQcourterz Studios, named for his fallen friend.

Since the early 00s, DJ Premier has mentioned several times his plan to release a solo album entitled A Man Of Few Words, which has yet to be released. Other long confirmed, delayed, but still unreleased upcoming projects are a collaboration album with Nas, Blaq Poet's album "The Best That Never Did It", Teflon's album "Contraband" and the NYG'z album "Pros and Cons". Premier is also slated to executive produce an upcoming Big L posthumous release entitled Real Legends Never Die.

As of early 2006, like many other artists, he keeps in touch with his fans through his blog on myspace.com, on which he has announced upcoming productions for Amerie, Canibus, Kool G Rap and many other yet to be released artists' songs.

Gang Starr's current status and future are unknown.

More on this topic is to be found in the main article for Gang Starr.

[edit] Discography

For a full DJ Premier discography, see external links.
Gang Starr albums are listed in the group's main article.

[edit] Full Albums

[edit] Selected Production Credits

[edit] Trivia

  • He uses an MPC60II.
  • "Reputation is the cornerstone of power" is tattooed on Premier's right forearm. A line from the book, The 48 Laws of Power was the original inspiration for the tattoo.
  • No album fully-produced by DJ Premier has ever scored lower than a 9 of 10 for Music Vibes on Rapreviews.com.
  • Premier is so well renowned that he is often credited as a feature for songs he has produced.
  • Shares the same birth name with the lead singer of the British rock band, Coldplay.
  • The Source named DJ Premier one of the 5 greatest producers in hip-hop history.
  • Is featured in the documentary film, Scratch.
  • Premier has a custom Miskeen long sleeve that says: "DJ Premier".
  • Premier has a radio show on sirius satellite radio on Friday nights. The show is called Live from the HeadQuarterz.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=10&csid1=869

[edit] External links


 v • d • e Gang Starr
Members: Guru | DJ Premier
Albums: No More Mr. Nice Guy | Step in the Arena | Daily Operation | Hard to Earn | Moment of Truth | The Ownerz
Compilations: Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr | Mass Appeal: Best of Gang Starr
Singles: "Believe Dat!" | "The Lesson" | "Movin' On" | "Positivity" | "Words I Manifest (Remix)" | "Jazz Thing" | "Just to Get a Rep" | "Lovesick" | "Step in the Arena" | "Take It Personal" | "Ex Girl to Next Girl" | "Gonna Get Over (Taking Loot)" | "Code of the Streets" | "Dwyck" | "Mass Appeal" | "Suckas Need Bodyguards" | "You Know My Steez" | "The Militia" | "1/2 & 1/2" | "Full Clip" | "All 4 Tha Ca$h" | "Discipline" | "Skills" | "Nice Girl Wrong Place" | "The Ownerz"
See also: Gang Starr Foundation
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