Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 3, 1994)

Following his success with Gang Starr and production work for Lord Finesse, Heavy D, and KRS-One; DJ Premier produced some classic cuts in 1994.

After Gang Starr's collaboration with Branford Marsalis for the 'Mo' Betta Blues' soundtrack, Primo and Marsalis collaborated on the debut album 'Buckshot LeFonque' by Marsalis' Buckshot LeFonque side project. The track 'Breakfast @ Denny's' samples James Brown's 'Get on the Good Foot' from his 1972 album of the same title. In 1994, Premier produced one of the outstanding tracks for Notorious B.I.G.'s debut 'Ready to Die'. The track 'Unbelievable' samples Patrice Rushen's 'Remind Me' and R. Kelly's 'Your Body's Callin''.

Finally, in 1994, Primo laced Group Home with a beat for the single 'Supa Star'. The song has a series of samples, including James Brown's 'Funky President (People It's Bad)', the Fifth Dimension's 'He's a Runner', Cameo's 'Downtown', and Isaac Hayes' fantastic 'One Woman' from 1968's essential 'Hot Buttered Soul'.

Check back for more Premier tracks and samples.

The Lowdown:
Buckshot LeFonque 'Breakfast @ Denny's'
from 'Buckshot LeFonque' (1994) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Get on the Good Foot'
from 'Get on the Good Foot' (1972) (MP3/CD not available)
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Unbelievable'
from 'Ready to Die' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Unbelievable'
Patrice Rushen 'Remind Me'
from 'Straight from the Heart' (1981) (MP3/CD)
R. Kelly 'Your Body's Callin''
from '12 play' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Group Home 'Supa Star'
from 'Supa Star' (1994) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
James Brown 'Funky President (People It's Bad)'
from 'Reality' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Fifth Dimension 'He's a Runner'
from 'Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Cameo 'Downtown'
from 'She's Strange' (1984) (MP3 not available/CD)
Isaac Hayes 'One Woman'
from 'Hot Buttered Soul' (1968) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 1, 1989-1990)
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 2, 1991-1993)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Ready to Die' (Part 1)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Ready to Die' (Part 2)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Ready to Die' (Part 3)

Rewind: Notorious B.I.G. 'Ready to Die' (Part 3)

This is part three and the final installment of our look at 'Ready to Die'.

To me, one of the best non-single tracks on 'Ready to Die' is the Easy Mo Bee produced 'Friend of Mine'. It contains samples from Sly and the Family Stone expatriate Larry Graham's Graham Central Station ('The Jam') and Kool and the Gang ('Spirit of the Boogie'). 'Unbelievable' lives up to its name; the unbelievable beat from DJ Premier stitches together samples from Patrice Rushen's 'Remind Me' and R. Kelly's top 20 single 'Your Body's Callin''. The uneasy album closer 'Suicidal Thoughts' features a sample of Mile Davis' 'Lonely Fire' from 'Big Fun'. The beat itself was produced by the Funky Technician himself Lord Finesse.

A Bonus track on the remastered extended version of 'Ready to Die' is the B-side track 'Just Playing (Dreams)' which, despite never being on an album, has been referenced again and again in other hip-hop tracks. The Rashad Smith produced beat contains a sample of James Brown's 'Blues and Pants' from the 1971 album 'Hot Pants'.

'Ready to Die' is one of hip-hop's masterpieces and would be the only album released by B.I.G. during his lifetime. The Notorious B.I.G.'s second and final album, 'Life After Death', was released only 15 days after his murder in Los Angeles. 'Life After Death' will be covered in depth in a future post on this blog.

The Lowdown:
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Friend of Mine', 'Unbelievable', 'Suicidal Thoughts', and 'Just Playing (Dreams)'
from 'Ready to Die' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Friend of Mine', 'Unbelievable', 'Suicidal Thoughts', and 'Just Playing (Dreams)'
Graham Central Station 'The Jam'
from 'Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Kool and the Gang 'Spirit of the Boogie'
from 'Spirit of the Boogie' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Patrice Rushen 'Remind Me'
from 'Straight from the Heart'(1981) (MP3/CD)
R. Kelly 'Your Body's Callin''
from '12 Play' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Miles Davis 'Lonely Fire'
from 'Big Fun' (1969) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Blues and Pants'
from 'Hot Pants' (1971) (MP3/CD not available)

Producer Profile: 9th Wonder (Part 1, 2003)

During the late 90's, armed with Fruity Loops production software, 9th Wonder began working with friends Phonte and Big Pooh under the name Little Brother. 2003 would see the release of Little Brother's debut album, 'The Listening', though it's underground success would be overshadowed by 9th Wonder's mainstream breakthrough.

Much like Danger Mouse, 9th Wonder's big break was making an unauthorized remix album for Nas' 'God's Son' album in 2002. This led to A&R interest and landed his production for 'Threat' on 'Black Album'. 'Threat' cribs Jay's sometimes collaborator R. Kelly's 2000 track 'A Woman's Threat'. Real talk. Another high profile beat also landed on De La Soul's 2003 album 'The Grind Date'. Sampling a block party classic, Pleasure's 'Reality', 9th Wonder laced De La with 'Church'. Little Brother experiences limited success, leading to a major label deal for their next album. 'The Listening''s lead single 'Whatever You Say' landed Little Brother with underground cred and proper beats.

Check back to this blog for more of 9th Wonder's exploits. In part 2 of his Producer Profile, we'll see 9th as he produces a full album for Murs and drops a major single with Destiny's Child in 2004. on Jay-Z's hugely successful

The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'Threat'
from 'The Black Album' (2003) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Threat'
R. Kelly 'A Woman's Threat'
from 'TP-2.com' (2000) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'A Woman's Threat'
De La Soul 'Church'
from 'The Grind Date' (2003) (MP3/CD)
Pleasure 'Reality'
from 'Dust Yourself Off' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Little Brother 'Whatever You Say'
from 'The Listening' (2003) (MP3/CD)
BONUS CUT:
The instrumental for 'Whatever You Say'.