DJ Premier Can Save Your Solo Album
As I was sweeping through the internet’s archive of DJ Premier’s music I realised that this guy has helped build some of the careers that we have come to worship. He has pretty much made Gang Starr worth listening to, he’s appeared on numerous classic albums aside from his own, and has made incredible beats in the making, revolutionizing the way people make beats or at least try to. Think about it, between Illmatic, Ready to Die, Reasonable Doubt, the Jeru the Damaja albums, Black on Both Sides, Return of the Boom Bap, The Big Picture, Firing Squad, Warriorz, Rock City…
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ten Crack Commandments
Common - The 6th Sense
Buckshot Lafonque - Breakfast @ Denny’s
Mos Def - Mathematics
Gang Starr - Moment Of Truth - JFK 2 LAX
Nas - Illmatic - N.Y. State of Mind
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt - D’Evils
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt - Friend or Foe
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt - Bring It On
Jeru the Damaja - The Sun Rises in the East - Come Clean
Das Efx - Straight Up Sewaside - Kaught In Da Ak (DJ Premier RMX)
Gang Starr - No More Mr. Nice Guy - Manifest
KRS-One - Return of the Boom Bap - Outta Here
Gang Starr feat. Inspectah Deck - Moment Of Truth - Above The Clouds
Common feat. DJ Premier - Finding Forever - The Game
Limp Bizket feat. Method Man - Significant Other - N 2 Gether Now
AZ - The Format - The Format
Nas feat. KRS-One, Rakim & Kanye West - Classic (DJ Premier RMX)
Skyzoo feat. Torae - Corner Store Classic - Get It Done
These are just a couple of tracks I could conjure up without any real music on this computer, if you have any better or can think of your favorites, send them over. That Moment of Truth, Ten Crack Commandments, Peace of Mine or The 6th Sense would be pretty gully right now. For the record, N.Y. State of Mind II > the first one. Anyone know why Premier isn’t working with Jeru, KRS, Guru anymore? Or how the TCC beat fell into Biggie’s hands? Meet me in the comments section…
Previously: Boom!

August 1, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Firrrst. Yo man..great post. This reminds me sometime last year when Dj Premiere was at Avenue nightclub in D.C.
He was on the tables..people were just there standing and just listen as he played all his classics. Dont picture him on the tables spinning other music and people doing there thing, we was all there just listening to hundreds of hits he done. It was crazy. Everybody there was into that shit. Real Hip Hoppers (of course half of the place was white)
Ya know I had to throw in Jay’s Friend or Foe part 1 and 2, So Ghetto
Unbelievable, Living Proof, Nas is Like, those are my favs I can think right now.
August 1, 2007 at 5:01 pm
^ i just remembered your RD post. i jacked Friend or Foe and Bring It On… you know, for the sake of Hip Hop…
Friend or Foe yo state yo biz
August 1, 2007 at 5:13 pm
good post nation…..Premier got a nice catalog of hits he’s been involved in.
August 1, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Great post nation! I’ll send you a few Premier goodies when I get a sec this evening.
August 1, 2007 at 8:15 pm
nation, check your e-mail
August 8, 2007 at 7:53 pm
4 tracks added
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ten Crack Commandments
Common - The 6th Sense
Buckshot Lafonque - Breakfast @ Denny’s
Mos Def - Mathematics
September 27, 2007 at 12:13 am
i saw premier@s.o.b. in nyc last year and he brought the house down. it was refreshing to witness a real hip-hop show. he continues to make hot joints now while other producers during his time fell way off. how often does he make sub-par emcees (group home, blaq poet, etc.) sound half-decent on top of his tracks?
some of my favs are:
biggie - unbelieveable: my opinion, biggie spit his hardest on this track
living proof album - group home sucks but the beats were so banging
royce 5′9 - boom: this track gave royce bragging rights
skyzoo ft. torae - click: this joint is on constant repeat
ras kass - golden child: ras gave his best but the beat outshines him
March 13, 2008 at 3:52 pm
[...] regiment to tips on how to (go to) sleep better (previously, the advantages waking up early), to Premier’s good and less good beats (get it? look at the picture now). Their BPM discussions & Da Art of Storytellin’ [...]
March 13, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I’m not sure if someone mentioned it already but the entire LP, “Living Proof” is classicly produced… Clearly one of Preems most overlooked full sets, it is a marvelous example why he is considered by many the “best ever!” The records he provided for Mal & Dap were incredible… Cohesive and rich in texture excluding Hard to Earn and Moment of Truth I think it his best full set to date… A sonic gem!
March 15, 2008 at 6:41 pm
B.I.G and Puff were at Hot 97 and heard the TCC beat Premo made for a Hot 97 jingle. They were like “who done that shit” and the rest is history.