Premier was born on 21 March 1966 as Chris Edward Martin. Though he spent the majority of his childhood in Prairie View, Texas, US (not far from his birthplace, Houston) he moved to Brooklyn as a teenager. Premier moved back to Texas to attend Prairie View A&M in Houston and during his stint in college acted as the campus’ DJ as well as an infrequent contributor to the Marching Storm band.
Premier moved back to Brooklyn to start his music career and quickly established a unique and instantly recognizable style for himself. His beats implement heavy sampling of jazz, funk, and soul songs but are not in the slightest limited to these genres. For some of his more experimental tracks he has been noted for creating atonal accents through the inclusion of electro-acoustical samples (think Pierre Schaefer). He is also widely praised for his interesting tactic of splicing together short vocal cuts from varying artists to create glitch choruses.
Premier’s innovative and highly original technique earned him spots on countless important hip-hop recordings. He has worked with a giant and diverse list of musicians including KRS-One, Mos Def, Kanye West, Common, D’Angelo, Game, Jay-Z, Rakim, Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B.I.G., and Xzibit. Outside of the hip-hop genre he has produced work for nu metal acts like Busta Rhymes and Limp Bizkit as well as pop divas such as Christina Aguilera. Despite the persistent hesitation Premier received from his peers in regards to producing Aguilera’s album “Back to the Basics”, it was received with enthusiasm from new and old fans alike. This release further proved the eclectic range of Premier and illustrated his proficiency of handling technically sophisticated recordings.
Contrary to common belief Premier is not a member of Gang Starr; however, the group is greatly indebted to him for much of their signature sound. From 1989 to 2003 DJ Premier has acted as a production consultant for Gang Starr, appearing on all six of their studio albums as well as their 2006 greatest hits compilation release.
I had the absolute honor and privilege of catching DJ Premier live last when he spun records at Icon La in Los Angeles, California. For those unfamiliar, DJ Premier (or Premo for short) makes up the producing half of legendary hip-hop duo Gangstarr, and has also produced many of the timeless classics of the genre with a multitude of the biggest names in hip-hop history.
The venue was a lounge, so it was great to just relax and get some drinks with friends while listening to a legend work the tables. The crowd, fortunately, was really into it and the atmosphere was fantastic.
Beyond just being amazed at who was spinning for us, it was great taking a break from the modern radio pop tracks that usually get played at nightclubs for once and getting to listen to all of the classic 90s hip-hop classics that he put on and cut up as only a turntable maestro can.
Seriously, the man’s been in the business since the birth of the genre – there is nobody better than him. DJ Premier’s got a new collaboration album with Nas coming out later this year, so everybody should make sure to give that album a listen and catch these guys on tour.
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