Christopher E. Martin (born March 21, 1966), better known as DJ Premier (or… Read Full Bio ↴Christopher E. Martin (born March 21, 1966), better known as DJ Premier (or Primo by his fans, fellow musicians, and critics), is a prominent American hip hop producer and DJ, and the instrumental half of the duos Gang Starr and PRhyme.
Contrary to popular belief, he did not found nor even co-found Gang Starr.
He was introduced to DJing while attending school at Prairie View A&M in Houston, Texas. DJ Premier's original stage name was Waxmaster C, the "C" taken from his first name, Chris, although he had already changed it to DJ Premier at the time he joined Gang Starr.
Considered by many fans to be one of the greatest hip hop producers, DJ Premier has produced countless tracks, for many groups and solo artists since the early 1990s. These include notable tracks for artists such as Jay-Z ("D'Evils", "So Ghetto"), Big L ("The Enemy"), The Notorious B.I.G. ("Unbelievable", "Kick In The Door", "Ten Crack Commandments"), Nas ("N.Y. State of Mind", "Nas Is Like"), Pitch Black ("It's All Real"), M.O.P. ("Downtown Swinga"), Jeru the Damaja ("Come Clean", "My Mind Spray"), KRS-One ("MC's Act Like They Don't Know"), Mos Def ("Mathematics"), Non Phixion ("Rockstars"), and Royce da 5'9" ("Boom").(Full list: djpremiertrackology.8kilo.com)
Collaborations
Outside of Gang Starr, some of Premier's most lauded work is his collaborations with Jeru the Damaja and Group Home. With the former, Premier crafted one of the East Coast's landmark albums in the form of The Sun Rises in the East, released in 1994. Their follow up to this, 1996's Wrath of the Math, was regarded as a solid effort but not on par with its predecessor, although it did contain Jeru's biggest hit to date, "Ya Playin' Yaself". Group Home's Livin' Proof (1995), although greatly overlooked at the time of its release, has eventually come to be critically acclaimed.
In 1994, DJ Premier collaborated extensively with jazz musician Branford Marsalis's experimental group, Buckshot Lefonque, for their debut album. During the making of music video director, Hype Williams' 1998 film, Belly, DJ Premier collaborated with neo soul leader D'Angelo for a song called "Devil's Pie", which was originally intended only for the film's accompanying soundtrack. However D'Angelo soon changed his mind and decided to include the song on his sophomore album Voodoo (2000) In 2006 he co-produced Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics album.
Samples
DJ Premier's style of production epitomises the New York sound from his earlier peers. He is known for sampling jazz, funk, and soul artists, as well as sampling an artist's past work, when he is creating a new track for that same artist. In addition, his photographic memory of rap lyrics allows him to distinctively "speak with his hands" by scratching in lyrics from several different songs to construct new phrases [1]. Premier's non-Gang Starr collaborations are well-known for his often-imitated signature of combining short vocal samples, often from multiple artists, to create a chorus. For example, for the chorus of Mos Def's "Mathematics", Premier cuts, in quick succession:
"The Mighty Mos Def..." (from Mos Def's "Body Rock"),
"It's simple mathematics" (from Fat Joe's "John Blaze"),
"I revolve around science..." (from Ghostface Killah's verse on Raekwon's "Criminology"),
"What are we talking about here..." (unknown origin),
"Do your math.." (from Erykah Badu's "On & On"), and
"One, two, three, four" (from James Brown's "Funky Drummer")
On certain artists' work the vocal samples will all be vocal samples of the artist from the artists' past work; "Nas Is Like" and "2nd Childhood" with Nas are two well-known examples of this.
On Jeru the Damaja's "Physical Stamina," however, Premier sampled and chopped up recordings of seminal electro-acoustic music from the 1960s.
Melodies
Premier usually creates a two-bar melody that repeats itself throughout the song. The aim of this is to showcase the MC's skills by bringing focus away from the beat, while creating the song's mood and a solid backdrop. Premier often changes speeds, filters and chops his breaks and adds scope to the melody with chimes and strings.
He has also shown innovation by playing rarely-used elements into a rap song (such as the xylophones on Biggie's "Kick in the Door" or the ambient nature sounds on Nas' "Nas is Like"), and his wide range of instruments (the piano loop on Jay-Z's "D'Evils" versus the strings on Rakim's "New York (Ya Out There?") and production techniques (he played the melody backwards during the second half of Jay-Z's "A Million and One Questions (Rhyme No More)").
Drums
Premier's drums have been known for complimenting his melodies. For example, during Nas' "NY State of Mind", two bars have a simple round of kicks and snares; in the following two, a complementing second set of drums plays out. This is repeated throughout.
Label ownership and future projects
DJ Premier currently owns two record labels. "Year Round Records" was founded in 2002 and has so far released several DJ Premier mixtapes as well as two 12" vinyl singles for NYG'z and Blaq Poet. "Works Of Mart", which is also the name of his publishing company, was founded in mid 2006 and released 12" vinyl singles for artists Tef (aka Teflon) and F.A.B.I.D. (H. Stax and Mike Rone).
Since 2001, DJ Premier mentioned several times the plan to release a solo album entitled "A Man Of Few Words", which has yet to be released. Other confirmed upcoming projects are a full-length colaboration with Nas, Blaq Poet's long delayed album "The Best That Never Did It", Tef's (aka Teflon) long announced album "Contraband" and last but not least protegés NYG'z long delayed debut album "Pros and Cons".
Contrary to popular belief, he did not found nor even co-found Gang Starr.
He was introduced to DJing while attending school at Prairie View A&M in Houston, Texas. DJ Premier's original stage name was Waxmaster C, the "C" taken from his first name, Chris, although he had already changed it to DJ Premier at the time he joined Gang Starr.
Considered by many fans to be one of the greatest hip hop producers, DJ Premier has produced countless tracks, for many groups and solo artists since the early 1990s. These include notable tracks for artists such as Jay-Z ("D'Evils", "So Ghetto"), Big L ("The Enemy"), The Notorious B.I.G. ("Unbelievable", "Kick In The Door", "Ten Crack Commandments"), Nas ("N.Y. State of Mind", "Nas Is Like"), Pitch Black ("It's All Real"), M.O.P. ("Downtown Swinga"), Jeru the Damaja ("Come Clean", "My Mind Spray"), KRS-One ("MC's Act Like They Don't Know"), Mos Def ("Mathematics"), Non Phixion ("Rockstars"), and Royce da 5'9" ("Boom").(Full list: djpremiertrackology.8kilo.com)
Collaborations
Outside of Gang Starr, some of Premier's most lauded work is his collaborations with Jeru the Damaja and Group Home. With the former, Premier crafted one of the East Coast's landmark albums in the form of The Sun Rises in the East, released in 1994. Their follow up to this, 1996's Wrath of the Math, was regarded as a solid effort but not on par with its predecessor, although it did contain Jeru's biggest hit to date, "Ya Playin' Yaself". Group Home's Livin' Proof (1995), although greatly overlooked at the time of its release, has eventually come to be critically acclaimed.
In 1994, DJ Premier collaborated extensively with jazz musician Branford Marsalis's experimental group, Buckshot Lefonque, for their debut album. During the making of music video director, Hype Williams' 1998 film, Belly, DJ Premier collaborated with neo soul leader D'Angelo for a song called "Devil's Pie", which was originally intended only for the film's accompanying soundtrack. However D'Angelo soon changed his mind and decided to include the song on his sophomore album Voodoo (2000) In 2006 he co-produced Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics album.
Samples
DJ Premier's style of production epitomises the New York sound from his earlier peers. He is known for sampling jazz, funk, and soul artists, as well as sampling an artist's past work, when he is creating a new track for that same artist. In addition, his photographic memory of rap lyrics allows him to distinctively "speak with his hands" by scratching in lyrics from several different songs to construct new phrases [1]. Premier's non-Gang Starr collaborations are well-known for his often-imitated signature of combining short vocal samples, often from multiple artists, to create a chorus. For example, for the chorus of Mos Def's "Mathematics", Premier cuts, in quick succession:
"The Mighty Mos Def..." (from Mos Def's "Body Rock"),
"It's simple mathematics" (from Fat Joe's "John Blaze"),
"I revolve around science..." (from Ghostface Killah's verse on Raekwon's "Criminology"),
"What are we talking about here..." (unknown origin),
"Do your math.." (from Erykah Badu's "On & On"), and
"One, two, three, four" (from James Brown's "Funky Drummer")
On certain artists' work the vocal samples will all be vocal samples of the artist from the artists' past work; "Nas Is Like" and "2nd Childhood" with Nas are two well-known examples of this.
On Jeru the Damaja's "Physical Stamina," however, Premier sampled and chopped up recordings of seminal electro-acoustic music from the 1960s.
Melodies
Premier usually creates a two-bar melody that repeats itself throughout the song. The aim of this is to showcase the MC's skills by bringing focus away from the beat, while creating the song's mood and a solid backdrop. Premier often changes speeds, filters and chops his breaks and adds scope to the melody with chimes and strings.
He has also shown innovation by playing rarely-used elements into a rap song (such as the xylophones on Biggie's "Kick in the Door" or the ambient nature sounds on Nas' "Nas is Like"), and his wide range of instruments (the piano loop on Jay-Z's "D'Evils" versus the strings on Rakim's "New York (Ya Out There?") and production techniques (he played the melody backwards during the second half of Jay-Z's "A Million and One Questions (Rhyme No More)").
Drums
Premier's drums have been known for complimenting his melodies. For example, during Nas' "NY State of Mind", two bars have a simple round of kicks and snares; in the following two, a complementing second set of drums plays out. This is repeated throughout.
Label ownership and future projects
DJ Premier currently owns two record labels. "Year Round Records" was founded in 2002 and has so far released several DJ Premier mixtapes as well as two 12" vinyl singles for NYG'z and Blaq Poet. "Works Of Mart", which is also the name of his publishing company, was founded in mid 2006 and released 12" vinyl singles for artists Tef (aka Teflon) and F.A.B.I.D. (H. Stax and Mike Rone).
Since 2001, DJ Premier mentioned several times the plan to release a solo album entitled "A Man Of Few Words", which has yet to be released. Other confirmed upcoming projects are a full-length colaboration with Nas, Blaq Poet's long delayed album "The Best That Never Did It", Tef's (aka Teflon) long announced album "Contraband" and last but not least protegés NYG'z long delayed debut album "Pros and Cons".
Let's Get High
DJ Premier Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Let's Get High' by these artists:
2nd II None feat. DJ Quik Yes Tony Toni Tone And DJ Quick You didn't think…
A.C. Newman See first of all I know these so-called playas wouldn't tell…
Benjamin Diamond I feel like I'm undersea I'm losing my breath This is a…
DJ Smurf&P.M.H.I. Let's get it, nigga (let's get it), let's get it If…
DMX f. Drag [Drag-On (DMX)] Flame on Dog Nigga (What!) Flame on (Uh) Dog…
Dr Dre All these niggas and all these hoes in here, somebody…
Dr Dre ft Hittman (all together) All these niggaz and all these hoes in here …
Dr Dre/Hitman/Kurupt/Ms. Roq All these niggas and all these hoes in here, somebody…
Dr. Dre feat. Hittman & Knoc-turn'al (all together) All these niggaz and all these hoes in here …
Dre (all together) All these niggaz and all these hoes in here …
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Let's Get High! High on love Bounce with the bigots in the…
Evil bastards from hell I'm bored and you're bored too But I know exactly what…
F.T.S. 让我们Get High 用双手把天撑开 Oh..Get High 要所有人都明白 泪水都不应该 因为我有你的爱 baby…
Freqish Keep it moving House music Move your body Lets get high All …
Fretless Run baby run It is just a matter of time Couse the…
G Mack To my motherfuckin' man 50 Grand, the alcoholic man Inject a…
Gangsta Boo Let me get that off ya, boy (Hell no) Let me…
Hittman Ms. Roq Kurupt Dr. Dre All these niggas and all these hoes in here, somebody…
Ice Mizzelle ft. G.O. Choppers with drums Nigga thats how it comes Assualt rifle…
Ice Mizzle feat. G.Q. Yeah, yeah, yeah 準備はいいか 汗をかくぜ 飛び跳ねるぜ すっぽんぽんだ さあマスクを外せ もう我慢し…
Ice Mizzle Ft. G.Q. Choppers with drums Nigga thats how it comes Assualt rifle…
Juicy J Man I'm geeked up, play that shit Man I'm geeked up,…
k-swift Uh Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Lemme light my wood real qu…
Kurupt Hittman Dr. Dre Ms. Roq All these niggas and all these hoes in here, somebody…
Lenny Kravitz Let's go out On an ocean ride Leave all your cares And the…
Letters to Cleo Let's do something good tonight Why don't we just stay home…
Lords of Acid Let's Get High and have some fun This is Catastrophic Turn …
Merula & Hza Let's get high, neću kraj Nemoj pitat "Zašto?", nemoj pitat:…
Mr. Criminal ゴミのようなダンボール そこで眠る老婆 錆びた夢の残骸 明日は我が身 だけど素通りする素通りする 素通りしたりする 駄…
Ms. Roq All these niggas and all these hoes in here, somebody…
Nice & Tight Band I'm a live nigga standing out like a rash A…
NickT Records/2pac [Heavy D] Yea this is uh Super funk you know…
ROMderful ROMderful: Procrastination got me feeling so stressed Worklo…
Rosco Gordon Honey let's get high- we're gonna have a real good…
Sharpe Edward & The Magnetic Zeros Let's Get High! High on love Bounce with the bigots in the…
Snofeel feat. Joy I've been really tryin', baby Tryin' to hold back this feeli…
The Court & Spark Let's get high, let's get high, let's get high Just you…
The Court and Spark She arrived on a Greyhound bus And she was young and…
The Hookers I've been really tryin', baby Tryin' to hold back this feeli…
Trick Trick Let's get higher than a motherfucker Right now I’d like to g…
Two-Suspects Let's get party started! Anybody body Everybody body Rock yo…
Wack Zack Ha ha Ooh Bitch, I'm off the juice Put my feelings in a…
Warren G Do you, wanna Smoke with me tonight I just wanna smoke Let’s…
We have lyrics for these tracks by DJ Premier:
100 to 1 In city shoes, Of clueless blues, Pays the views, And no-man…
2 LOVIN U I pled my case with the Gods, woman Just place your…
Beat Breaks Ayy, yo, Nas, you know what I wanna do? Let's take…
Book of Rhymes I don't smile, I don't frown, get two up or…
Change At the end of 1974, when daddy dukes went raw The…
Dear Hip Hop This shit's special DJ Khaled! And if I cry two tears for…
dj premier 19-motherfuckin' 1985, I arrived 33 years, damn, I'm gratef…
Get Down ("Get nothin' but a beat down!") Refrain 4x Punks jump…
Head Over Wheels I guess I troop, honey, what the scoop? You're kinda…
Headlines Okay (okay) Yeah You know what's up, nigga (My team) living …
Hip Hop This shit's special DJ Khaled! And if I cry two tears for…
Hold The City Down "I got to hold down the city" "Got to let you…
I Damn, here we go again Common passed on this beat I made…
Lettin' Off Steam Joey Bad and Big Preem and we lettin' off steam And…
Mortgage Free What up Preem? That nigga Statik told me start sayin' 2…
Our Streets Ferg, Ferg Check it, check it, check it Pull up, pull up,…
Premier 19-motherfuckin' 1985, I arrived 33 years, damn, I'm gratef…
Remy Rap With the def female Let's rap Remy Ma No lie, it's only…
Runway That ol' real shit, that ol' real shit, that ol'…
Sing Like Bilal [Joell Ortiz] (Sample Of Lil' Fame) Uh! Uh! Y-Y, Y-Y-Y-YAOOO…
Terrible 2's Run your, run your Run your, run your damn jewels Run your,…
The Life It's always about money, It's always about money because... …
The Premier 19-motherfuckin' 1985, I arrived 33 years, damn, I'm gratef…
The root of all You know this ain't a game to us My future's lookin'…
WUT U SAID Yo what's good two time? What up g'z how were you? Ain't…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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