Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 4, 1995-1996)

Welcome to our fourth look at DJ Premier's production career, this look will cover the years 1995 and 1996 of Primo's beats.

In 1995, KRS-One collaborated with DJ Premier again for his album simply titled 'KRS ONE'. The track 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' utilizes a sample from Clifford Brown's 'Yesterdays' from his 1955 album 'Clifford Brown with Strings' and Kurtis Blow's old school classic 'The Breaks'. Primo's beat for KRS-One's 'Wannabemceez' samples Isaac Hayes' 1974 'Tough Guys' soundtrack cut 'Buns O' Plenty'.

In 1996, Primo produced the single 'Me or the Papes' for Jeru the Damaja's album 'Wrath of the Math' by cutting up the Ahmad Jamal Trio's 1970 'The Awakening''s album cut 'I Love Music' as well as sampling the sound effects from Pink Floyd's 'Money' from 'Dark Side of the Moon'. The same year, Premier sampled Ahmad Jamal again for Nas's 'I Gave You Power', this time sampling Ahmad Jamal's 'Theme Bahamas' from the 1974 album 'Jamaica'. Finally, Primo and M.O.P. also collaborated in 1996 on 'New Jack City'. The song samples the Modern Jazz Quartet's 'Spanish Steps' from the album 'The Comedy'.

The Lowdown:
KRS-One 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' and 'Wannabemceez'
from 'KRS ONE' (1995) (MP3/CD)
Clifford Brown 'Yesterdays'
from 'Clifford Brown with Strings' (1955) (MP3/CD)
Kurtis Blow 'The Breaks'
from 'Kurtis Blow' (1980) (MP3 not available/CD)
Isaac Hayes 'Buns O' Plenty'
from 'Tough Guys' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Jeru the Damaja 'Me or the Papes'
from 'Wrath of the Math' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Ahmad Jamal Trio 'I Love Music'
from 'The Awakening' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Pink Floyd 'Money'
from 'Dark Side of the Moon' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Nas 'I Gave You Power'
from 'It Was Written' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'I Gave You Power'
Ahmad Jamal 'Theme Bahamas'
from 'Jamaica' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
M.O.P. 'New Jack City'
from 'Firing Squad' (1996) (MP3 not available/CD)
Modern Jazz Quartet 'Spanish Steps'
from 'The Comedy' (1962) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 1, 1989-1990)
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 2, 1991-1993)
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 3, 1994)

Producer Profile: DJ Premier (part 2, 1991-1993)

Following his work on the debut Gang Starr album and the Wild Pitch label, DJ Premier continued to produce some excellent beats through the early years of the 90s. This post will cover some of his highlights from 1991-1993.

Gang Starr will undoubtedly be covered in more detail in the future, but one of Primo's classic productions from 1991 cannot go unmentioned. 'Lovesick' from Gang Starr's album 'Step in the Arena' features fantastic use of the Delfonics' soul anthem 'Trying to Make a Fool of Me' in addition to the Young Holt Unlimited's 'Ain't There Something Money Cant Buy'. In 1992, Primo produced 'Here Comes the Heavster' from Heavy D and the Boyz' album 'Blue Funk'. The track digs deep in the jazz crates for Charles Mingus' 1956 cut 'A Foggy Day' from 'Pithecanthropus Erectus'. Premier produced 6 tracks from 1993's 'Return of the Boom Bap' by KRS-One. On 'Outta Here', Premier samples drums from James Brown's excellent 'Funky President (People It's Bad)'.

Be on the look out for part 3 of our look at DJ Premier, whose productions in 1994 include to of hip-hop's most widely revered albums: 'Illmatic' and 'Ready to Die'.

The Lowdown:
Gang Starr 'Lovesick'
from 'Step in the Arena' (1991) (MP3/CD)
The Delfonics 'Trying to Make a Fool of Me'
from 'The Delfonics' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Young Holt Unlimited 'Ain't There Something Money Cant Buy'
from 'Soulful Strut' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Heavy D and the Boyz 'Here Comes the Heavster'
from 'Blue Funk' (1992) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Charles Mingus 'A Foggy Day'
from 'Pithecanthropus Erectus' (1956) (MP3/CD)
KRS-One 'Outta Here'
from 'Return of the Boom Bap' (1993) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Funky President (People It's Bad)'
from 'Reality' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)