Nas & DJ Premier’s long awaited collab album is finally happening this year. On Friday (April 19), the 30th anniversary of Nas’ album Illmatic, the Queensbridge rapper joined forces with Premo for a new single, “Define My Name.”
The pair also shared a press release revealing that their joint album will arrive this year.
Nas & Premo are longtime collarators, even working together on the former’s debut album, Illmatic.
Nas first brought up the idea of the joint album during a Scratch interview in 2006. “We talked about doing an album together and some of the listeners want to rush the shit,” Nas said at the time. “I wanna rush it, too — but I just want to pull pieces from all kinds of different people for this next puzzle because a lot of people think shit got easy, that I quit.”
DJ Premier is one most the legendary figures in hip hop and he credits some of his achievements to the influence he got from none other than Travis Scott’s father, Jaques Webster Sr. During a recent discussion onIdea Generation, Preemo revealed that while growing up, he used to visit Webster where he received some music classes.
“We call him Jack,” Premier said. “Jack’s mom was my English teacher … he has a brother named Travis and he has a sister named Sonora — they’re literally across the street.”
He explained that he was fond of going to Webster’s place since they were the only ones in the neighborhood with a VCR. However, the Texas native was soon interested in Webster and his brother Travis’ musical skills. “I’d go over there and Jack’s playing the drums, like killin’ it,” he recalled.
Travis Scott’s father taught DJ Premier how to play drums.
Soulo calls working with Premo “a dream come true”
Ab-Soul finally had the opportunity to work with DJ Premier on his upcoming album, Herbert, which arrives on Friday (December 16). In an interview with Vulture published this week, Soulo explained how he connected with the iconic producer and what it was like to be locked in with him.
The California rapper admitted that Preemo put a lot of pressure on him and even had him re-record “Gotta Rap” several times. “I knew I needed him this time around. He definitely put me to work. I had to do it about five or six times until he found the right frequency,” Soul explained.
He went on to expound that the issue had nothing to do with his songwriting. “No, not rewriting. He liked the verse, but I had to match the frequency of the record, because I guess that was one of his favorite beats. So he wanted to make sure I came correct. That was the first time anybody ever made me re-record. So that was humbling. But it’s Preemo.”
He continued that he always dreamt of working extensively with Premier, before revealing that they first linked up while working on a Royce Da ‘9” collab at Mac Miller’s home. “‘Gotta Rap’ was a dream come true. Before I even had my official stage name, when I was just Snap G, I knew I always wanted a Preemo beat,” he said. “Preemo keeps his ear to the streets. I can honestly say I do get the respect of being the last of the lyricists, that cloth. I’ve met him in passing before, but we connected when he did PRhyme.
“I was at my brother Mac Miller’s crib. We was working on some other stuff, and Royce sent me the record. I was like, ‘Yo, Mac is over here, too.’ He’s like, ‘What? Oh yeah, y’all go crazy.’ And we did that off of the love, so Preemo hit me immediately like, ‘Yo, you went fucking crazy. You know I got you. I owe you one.’ I said, ‘Okay, yeah. I’m going to hold you to that.’”
DJ Premier and Travis Scott have a unique type of connection
Legendary producer DJ Premier once revealed that Travis Scott’s dad put him onto the music game, and it looks like he later had to return the favor. While recently speaking to Pitchfork, the Gang Starr member revealed that he played a part in Travis signing to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music.
“He was trying to get me to sign him at a time when the music he was making just wasn’t in my lane. He came to my parents’ house and sat with me, back when Nokia flip phones were a thing,” Premier explained.
Premier continued that the then-younger Travis was stubborn, something that advertised his strong determination and potential.
“He was sneaking pictures and his aunt is telling him to stop taking pictures,” he recounted. “I was like, ‘You know what? Kanye might be into what you’re doing right now.’ I called to co-sign him, like ‘Yo, he’s got something.’ Next thing you know, he’s signing with Ye.”
When was DJ Premier born? DJ Premier was born on March 21
Christopher Edward Martin was born on March 21, 1966, in Houston, TX. He is known professionally as DJ Premier, aka Preemo. He is a record producer and DJ and was half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr—alongside the Boston-bred emcee Guru. The two connected in New York and they became major architects of the East Coast sound, post-boom-bap.
He’s produced for Nas, Common, Craig David, Biggie, and others. He also forms half of the hip hop duo PRhyme, together with Royce da 5’9″. He is considered one of the best hip-hop producers of all time with his signature sound.
Coming off the heels of multiple teasers from DJ Premier, legendary rap group Gang Starr have officially released their newest single, “Family and Loyalty” featuring Dreamville’s J. Cole.
The song is the groups first release in over sixteen years, and follows the passing of member MC Guru in 2010. This is also the first lead single from the forthcoming final Gangstarr album, set to drop soon.
