DJ Premier Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records

Complex gets down with the legendary producer to talk about some of his greatest collaborations with artists like Jay-Z, Nas, and (of course) Guru.

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Without a doubt, DJ Premier is top-five dead-or-alive, one of the greatest hip-hop producers ever, and your favorite producer’s producer won’t tell you any different. The Houston, Texas native’s sound, which consists of chopped samples looped over crisply punched drums, and accented with a signature scratch chorus, hasn’t changed much, but still fits as the perfect hip-hop soundtrack for New York’s Timberland-boots-certified street aesthetic.

Even after 22 years in the game, reports about his production credits possibly surfacing on the upcoming albums of everyone from Drake to Immortal Technique keep fans on their toes. His continuous relevance asserts that East Coast boom-bap sound is still beloved by many, and upcoming projects like the collaboration album with Pete Rock will only maintain the flame.

With that said, to the jizzing joy of those who masturbate to MPC noises, we recently went to the legendary HeadQCourterz (formerly known as D&D Studios) in Manhattan, to hear the master craftsman share anecdotes behind some of his all-time classics as one-half of the legendary Gang Starr and also as a producer for all-time greats like Jay-Z, Nas, and Notorious B.I.G. Records certainly accumulate dust, but the resume of a legend never gets old.

As told to Jaeki Cho (@jaekicho).

Gang Starr “Manifest (Remix)” (1989)

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Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth “Baby, You Nasty (New Version)” (1990)

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DJ Premier: “There were two versions. There was a 12-inch version. For the newer version, I felt like, being the first song on the album, it just needed to be updated. And I’m like that. If I feel like something needs to be updated, I’ll break my neck to outdo the original. So I did that and I love that version better. Guru was actually who A&R’d and got Lord Finesse signed because he used to listen to the demos at Wild Pitch. And he was the one who actually said, ‘Yo, this Lord Finesse guy is dope.’ And Stuart Fine signed him to Wild Pitch. That’s how we became labelmates. And that’s the first record that I ever produced. It was for Lord Finesse.”

Gang Starr “Jazz Thing” (1990)

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Gang Starr “Just To Get A Rep” (1991)

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Gang Starr “Credit Is Due” (1991)

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DJ Premier: “We always liked to do B-sides. Public Enemy did it, Prince did it all the time, and a lot of New Wave punk bands I liked did a lot of B-sides that weren’t on the album. I just wanted to make something real funky, and I used to love that fucking James Brown sample. That record just sounded ghetto. I’m really into just making that ghetto shit because I like driving to that stuff. I’m like, ‘Yo, if I’m getting the opportunity to learn how to work this equipment, I’m going to make it just the way I like to hear it.’ And since I’m a DJ, I got to have DJ elements in there. I would always have turntable elements in my records even if it was just one scratch.”

Gang Starr f/ Nice & Smooth “DWYCK” (1992)

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Gang Starr “Mass Appeal” (1994)

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Gang Starr “Tonz O Gunz” (1994)

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DJ Premier: “It’s just about the whole gun situation. Everybody’s holding, including us. We were holding too. When I hold a gun, I know how to be sensible about it. I’m not holding it to wild out or just to shoot somebody because I’m mad at him. There’s responsibility in buying that gun, and part of it is dealing with it like a man, and not dealing with it like an idiot, and getting behind iron bars for unnecessary reasons. I think the law sucks on how guns are here, especially in New York versus Texas where we can carry one. I understand in one way, but you got to look at it both ways. I don’t have problems with people owning guns, though. Just don’t wild out with it. It’s all gravy. Everybody could have a gun. As far as the record, I just wanted to make it sound like chaos because that’s what is going on when there are tons of guns in the mix. And those samples definitely fit my vision of what it should sound like.”

Jeru the Damaja “Come Clean” (1994)

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Nas “N.Y. State of Mind” (1994)

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DJ Premier: “That was just amazing because it happened in this room. Actually, anything from ‘92 and on, we did it here. It was just amazing watching him work because I was already a fan of him when he did ‘Back to the Grill,’ ‘Halftime,’ ‘It Ain't Hard to Tell,’ and ‘Live at the Barbeque.’ So when I heard him on those records I was like, ‘Yo, I got to do something that’s on the same level.’ So I came in here, and flipped the ill, gutter, Joe Chambers sample (‘Mind Rain’). I can tell you because it’s cleared. [Laughs.] Nas watched me build the beat from scratch. And he wrote the verse in the studio. If you listen to ‘N.Y. State of Mind’ you’ll hear him going, ‘I don’t know how to start this shit,’ because he literally just wrote it. Before he started the verse, I was signaling him going, ‘One, two, three,’ and he just goes in like, ‘Rappers I monkey flip’em, in the funky rhythm." He did that in one take. After he did that first verse, he goes, ‘How was that? Did that sound all right?’ And we were just like, ‘Oh, my God! The streets are going to go crazy when they hear this!’

“It was one take, but he would format it before. He’ll sit at the front, cover his mouth when the beat’s playing, and would mumble it. So we can’t hear what he’s saying. He was real quiet, but he would bring his whole army. Rest in peace to Drawz, by the way. He just died not too long ago. I remember [Nas] bringing Slate, Wallet Head, basically, all the people he was shouting out. They would be like, ‘Can we go in [the booth] too?’ They just wanted to feel it, you know? It was just funny to watch them all in the booth doing ‘Represent,’ and yelling in the background.”

Big Daddy Kane f/ Big Scoop, Jay-Z, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Sauce Money, & Shyheim “Show & Prove” (1994)

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Notorious B.I.G. “Unbelievable” (1994)

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DJ Premier: “I almost didn’t make the record. Big called me at the last minute, and said, ‘Get me a track,’ and I told him, ‘I don’t have time to make one.’ I had other deadlines to meet at the time. He was on his way to blow up, and I loved him, and I wanted to help, but I really just didn’t have the time. I used to see Big in the area all the time. Just to hang. Mister Cee put me on to Big, and we would go down to the store where we used to buy 40s. We’ll see Big, and he’ll be like, ‘Yo, what do I got to do to get put on?’ And I said, ‘Well, you messing with Puff.’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, but he’s taking too long.’ And I would be like, ‘Nah, stay with him. He’s going to help you get rich.’ He was just impatient like all artists, but it’s a process.

“So he just kept pushing me like, ‘Yo, Prim, please, please, I ain’t got no more money in my budget. All I got is $5,000.’ And I’m like, ‘Dude, I cost way more than that, but I love you, and I’m going to go ahead and look out for you. Just get up here tonight.’ And I did that beat. He was here. Standing right over there [points at the corner next to the turntable] while I was sampling the beat, and goes, ‘I just want to watch [imitates Biggie’s breathing].’ [Laughs.] I don’t like people watching me making my beats, but with Big I was just comfortable. He was actually the one who said, ‘Yo, scratch R. Kelly’s ‘Your Body's Callin'.’ You know where he goes, ‘Unbelievable~’’ And I was like, ‘Yo, that sounds like it’ll work.’ Then he just went in there and spit it. No paper, no nothing. He actually just sits there for hours. And you’d think he’s not doing anything, or even concentrating, and then when it’s getting damn near three or four in the morning, you ask him, ‘Dude, are we going to do this tonight? Or are we coming back tomorrow?’ He’ll be like, ‘Nah, I’m ready.’ And he just gets up, and goes in there. Bangs it. Done.”

Chubb Rock, Jeru the Damaja, & O.C. “Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers” (1995)

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KRS-One “MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know” (1995)

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Jay-Z “D’Evils” (1996)

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DJ Premier: “That’s totally personal and dear to him. He called me and told me how important this record was and he did the rhyme over the phone. He always rhymes to me over the phone. He’ll be like, ‘Yo, I got this record. Let me do the rhyme for you.’ He’ll just do it over the phone, acapella. And you just sit there and listen. I’ll say, ‘Okay, I got it, I got it.’ He just gives me the idea so I can know what it’s about. I come in here, blank canvas. And he told me all the scratches he wanted me to cut. I don’t think he spins, but just the fact that he was able to come up with that hook, I guess Jay-Z has a little bit of DJ in him too. I just had to convert it to the Premier style. He said, ‘I want minor keys, almost sad.’ He just came here, laid it out, and never wrote it down.”

Nas “I Gave You Power” (1996)

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DJ Premier: “I was on tour with Gang Starr, and I was just getting back. And I was going right back out to go to Japan. So I didn’t have any time to make any other beats for It Was Written. But Nas said, ‘I want to make a record as if I was a gun.’ We started messing around, trying to figure out what he’s going to do, and we finally figured out a way, because he said, ‘Maybe I should do a skit where I drop the gun, and somebody else finds it.’ And that’s how it all built, and I said, ‘You know what? Instead of making this a hard mean shit, let me make it sound sad.’ Because he said I’m going to be the gun talking about being tired of all the stuff I’m doing to people. That’s why I put that emotion behind it.”

Jay-Z “Intro: A Million and One Questions/Rhyme No More” (1997)

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DJ Premier: “Jay once again called me, and said, ‘I want to do this track called ‘A Million and One Questions.’’ So he did his rhyme over the phone, and he said, ‘Then I want it to break down in the middle and go into ‘Rhyme No More.’’ He brought Too Short up here that day. They were doing ‘A Week Ago.’ Too Short was in the other room, Corner Studio D, dealing with that track, while I was in this room making the beat. I always make my own style of what I think works for the artist, but if they idealize it and tell me I work on their vision. There were some tempo issues, but I just made it sound like they go together, and they did. And I added that Aaliyah sample. I loved ‘One in a Million.’ I loved the video, the way she was moving her body, and I was really into the way she looked in that video, and the song was dope, Timbaland was a new guy to us, and he was just so ahead with this new sound. But, yeah, as soon as [Jay] said, ‘A Million and One,’ I thought, ‘One in a million.’ So I just sampled it, and pitched it up to the right key, and threw it in on the pad. Jay laid the first part, and walked back out to work with Too Short, and said, ‘Call me when you’re ready.’ I made the second part, and he said, ‘Yo, that’s it. Let me go right in the booth.’ He laid it, and I attached it. Back then to edit it we had to splice the tape, and put it together. Kids these days don’t know how to cut notebook paper with a pair of scissors. [Laughs.] You mess up on a punch, and you have to re-cut it. On Protools, you just press undo. But Jay-Z trusts me. He’ll just lay his vocals, and says, ‘Do the Premier thing.’”

Notorious B.I.G. “Kick In The Door” (1997)

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DJ Premier: “After the first album, he said, ‘If I blow up and go platinum, I’m going to give you the money you want.’ I charged him $5,000 for ‘Unbelievable,’ then he paid me $30,000 per song on the second one. I can’t be mad at that. That’s a big jump from five grand. ‘Kick In The Door’ almost didn’t make it because I dropped it off to Puff in a 20-minute cassette. Back then when we were dropping beats off, we weren’t burning CDs or flash drives and shit. So I made a beat of that, and gave it to Puff. Then Puff’s office called me later that day saying, ‘Hey, your platinum Biggie plaque came in.’ I went to pick it up that same day. I’m about to leave, then Puff walks out the office and goes, ‘Yo, man. What’s going on? I need you to work on some new stuff for Big.’ I said, ‘I gave him a track today. Remember? I came here and dropped it off.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, but I don’t like that one. That ain’t hot. I need you to come with that Tunnel shit. What you did with ‘Unbelievable.’ Because you ain’t hitting it with this one.’ I said, ‘This shit is hard, yo. Has Big heard it?’ He goes, ‘Big ain’t heard it. I’m going to give it to him, and let him hear it, but you can already count on that not going on the album.’ So I went back thinking of trashing it, and working on another one. Then Biggie calls me later around five or six in the afternoon, and asks, ‘Yo, can you come in tonight so we can lay down the joint?’ I go, ‘But I got to make something.’ Big says, ‘Nah, I want to lay the joint you gave me earlier today.’ I replied, ‘Puff said he didn’t like it.’ Then Big goes, ‘Fuck Puff! I got shit to say, and I got to get at your man Jeru too.’ I said, ‘As long as it’s peaceful, you got to do what you got to do. You’re a man.’ You know, Biggie was hurt by a lot of people he felt like betrayed him when it came to his success. He did what he had to do, but at the end of the day, I wish he were still here.”

Gang Starr f/ Inspectah Deck “Above The Clouds” (1998)

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DJ Premier: “That’s about your mental. I remember we called Inspectah Deck, and he was on the phone with Guru like, ‘Yo, what’s this song about?’ And Guru said, ‘It’s about your mental.’ Just like that. Deck leaned on one part of the control board, and Guru faced the opposite end, and they faced each other with their pads writing their lyrics. I just had the beat running, while I was constructing the intro, because the intro had to be sick. So I was doing that, but looking at them every now and then. And they eventually go, ‘Yo, I’m ready.’ Guru walks in and does his, and when Deck goes in, we’re just like, ‘Jesus Christ.’”

Fat Joe “Dat Gangsta Shit” (1998)

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DJ Premier: “Joe and I go way back. Him and Guru were very close too. This is when we were living in the Bronx. That’s a turntable record. It’s fun; it’s a simple beat, nothing crazy. It gave him room to rhyme. That’s why some of my turntable records are more stripped down and raw. It gives you the ability to rhyme because it doesn’t smother you out. If you’re going to do another cut on the album you can do some experimentation, but green wise, you’re going to put some cactus and nothing else.”

Jay-Z “So Ghetto” (1999)

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DJ Premier: “At the time, Jay and I hadn’t spoken in a while. And I ran in to him at a Janet Jackson concert. I remember he walked by, and I was at the little concession stand to get a slice of pizza or something. He was popular already, but not as big as he is now. So my boy goes, ‘There go Jay-Z.’ And you know how they walk by and see you, but they’re walking in a certain pace and don’t catch you on the dot? So when he looks, my boy goes, ‘I bet you he ain’t going to come back.’ As soon as he said that, Jay doubles back and comes back. He goes, ‘Yo, I’m working on my new album, man. I need you for this joint.’ He came here, I played him the beat, and he loved it. This was the first time he didn’t give me any instructions. He said, ‘Yo, I love it. I’ll be back in an hour.’ Came back in an hour and said, ‘Aight, let’s go.’”

Mos Def “Mathematics” (1999)

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DJ Premier: “That’s left field. I love that beat. Oh, my God. That’s straight gutter. You can’t front on me with that. I chop that shit up lovely. ‘I revolve around science/What are we talking about here?’ You know a lot of DJs cut and attach stuff now, but they ain’t doing it like me. And that’s not even to brag, it’s just scientific. It’s mathematical. Mos and I go way back. He used to be managed by my manager. He was in a group called UTD, Urban Thermo Dynamics, back then. His sister Ces, and D.c.Q, his brother, were all in the group. [Mos] is so bugged out, so I knew I had to make a bugged-out beat. ‘Mathematics’ is just so fucking funky. I remember I went to see Scarface at Enterprise Studio. They called it Enterprise because it looked like a spaceship. It was in a big, huge, movie-theater-type room. He’s in there working on one of his albums, and he was like, ‘You got some beats? Let me hear what you’re working on.’ I played him the beat for ‘Mathematics,’ and he goes, ‘Yo, I should have that! That’s what I want! When you do something with me, I want that! Don’t give me no down south whatever. I want that beat, and I will kill that.’ Scarface even met Mos Def and told him that he wanted that beat. But Mos is quick, man. He heard it, had his verse ready, went in there, and it didn’t take him much.”

Nas “Nas Is Like” (1999)

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Big L f/ Big Daddy Kane “Platinum Plus” (2000)

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DJ Premier: “Jay-Z was supposed to be on [‘Platinum Plus’] too. It was supposed to be the three of them, but he never had the chance to do it in the time frame. We really had to turn it in to make the date. So we just went ahead and did it without him. This is when Jay and Big L were talking about a deal, but they were friends anyway. L used to take Jay everywhere and go, ‘Yo, this is my man Jay-Z. He’s dope.’ He took him to Stretch & Bobbito, and he would take Jay to all the spots. It wasn’t the other way around. I met Big L through Lord Finesse and Showbiz way back. [Finesse] met him at Rock N. Wills, which was one of the spots we used to go digging and all that. They used to have battles there. L was at a battle, he met Lord Finesse who he was a big fan of, and they clicked. He introduced to him to Show, and then Show put him on ‘Represent’ on Runaway Slave.

“We were just always around each other a lot. L was just super funny. He was a jokester. One time, him and Showbiz were arguing about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King in this room. Showbiz was like, ‘Yo, you’re stupid. You think you know everything, but you’re stupid.’ And L was still trying to justify himself. And he talks like he rhymes. He’ll be like, [raises the pitch of his voice] ‘Yo, yo, yo, Premier like, that nigga don’t know what he be talkin’ bout. Yo, check this out, yo, Martin Luther King, he said in his book like, yo, Malcolm X, yo.’ You know what I mean? And Show was just like, ‘You’re stupid! You don’t know shit! Fucking, you’re the dumbest motherfucker in the world!’ And L would be like, ‘Yo, fuck you, you don’t know shit, yo, let me tell you about Malcolm X.’ And they were waiting for Fat Joe to get here to do ‘Da Enemy.’ Joe finally walks in and goes, ‘What are ya’ll arguing about?’ And then Show was still going at it like, ‘You’re a stupid motherfucker.’ And L would be like, ‘Yo, yo, yo, you don’t know shit. Yo, ya’ll get the beat ready? I already got my rhymes.’ And Joe was like, ‘You go first.’ And then we heard L said his shit, and we were like, ‘Oh, my God. When the streets hear this? It’s on and popping.’”

Black Eyed Peas “BEP Empire” (2000)

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Capone-N-Noreaga “Invincible” (2000)

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DJ Premier: “They were just thugged out, man. They were just on some other shit. He had a billion people in here going in and out, constantly. I’m trying to get a certain reaction, and it took like three days to finally get one from them. I’ll just keep making beats. I’ll scrap it, or put it on a disk, and come back to it later. Over and over, and on the third day they were like, ‘Yo, that’s it.’ Capone sat in one corner, and N.O.R.E. sat in another corner, and they started writing. They’re just like how they are in their records. They drink a lot of liquor, smoke a lot of cigarettes, puff a lot of weed—just everything. It was a thugged out session. You know, but I could relate to thugs. I understand their mentality and their world. I’m at home in either circumstance. A non-thug one or a thug one, it doesn’t matter. I speak more than one language. I speak nigga, Ebonics, and English. And I know how to approach the beat for N.O.R.E. versus Mos versus Lady of Rage versus Snoop.”

D’Angelo “Devil’s Pie” (2000)

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DJ Premier: “It was actually a Canibus track for ‘Niggonometry.’ And he said, ‘I just want a hard bass line, and some drums.’ I did that beat, but he said I’m not cutting it in to his vision. Then D’Angelo called me the same night talking about, ‘Yo, man, I want you to hear what I’m working on and get a track from you.’ So I go by there, and I played him the track Canibus didn’t want, and D’Angelo was like, ‘Ooooooooh!’ He gets really amped. You see him all sexy and naked in the video, but he was running around the room, and we were just looking at him like, ‘Wow.’ He was like, ‘Yo, this is it.’ And then we cut it. All of a sudden Belly comes out, and Lyor Cohen was like, ‘We want to buy that for Belly.’ So we got paid twice: for the album and the soundtrack. [Laughs.] And I got a Grammy for that.”

Common f/ Bilal “The 6th Sense” (2000)

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The Lox “Recognize” (2000) and "None Of Y'all Better" (2001)

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DJ Premier: “They were at some studio. Maybe Quad? And I went up there and made it on the spot real quick, and I had to leave to go out of town, so I said, ‘I’ll just leave it with ya’ll. Just touch it. Then I’ll mess with it when I get back.’ They blessed it. Being groomed by Puff on Bad Boy, you got to learn how to structure out your albums, and they know how to do that. So with that one it was just real easy. For ‘None of Ya’ll Better,’ which was Jadakiss’ Kiss Tha Game Goodbye, I was just expecting him to be on it, then again, I went out of town, when he sent the parts back, now remind you we were on two-inch tape, not Protools, so they get me the reel, I pop it in, and I’m looking at the track sheet like, ‘Styles P and Sheek Louch?’ So they jumped on it again! I never got a solo record from any of them except when Jadakiss did ‘Rite Where U Stand’ with Gang Starr. I guess they thought, ‘Shit, I got a chance to be on another Premier track? I’m jumping on it.’ So they always made it a Lox collabo, which is always dope because they always got busy.”

Devin the Dude “Doobie Ashtray” (2002)

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DJ Premier: “That was originally a remix. It was actually a sample they couldn’t clear. So they were like, ‘Could you replay it?’ I just pulled out my little keyboard, and did something real simple. I put in my drums and my snaps, and it was done. I sent it back, and they loved it. Devin’s the shit. He’s working with one of my artists. I have an artist named Khalil, who’s signed to Year Round Records, and Devin’s going to be on the record called ‘Please Don’t Change.’ I just saw Devin two weeks ago when I went to see my mom down in Texas.”

Gang Starr “Battle” (2002)

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DJ Premier: “Eminem reached out and asked us to be on the 8 Mile soundtrack. We were grateful. We already saw the footage that they gave us to look at, the battle scene coordinated by Craig G and everybody. So we were like, ‘Oh, okay. That’s perfect.’ I love that record, and the cut is crazy. I was purposely stopping the cut like, ‘Yo, man, how, much, money, you, got.’ I did that to make it catch. DJs who are purists know. They’ll be like, ‘Ooh, he’s stopping it.’ Doing that on beat, and trying to catch it, DJs know I killed it. Regular people who listen won’t know.”

Royce da 5’9” “Boom” (2002)

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Royce da 5’9” “Hip Hop” (2004)

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Pitch Black “It’s All Real” (2004)

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Termanology “Watch How It Go Down” (2006)

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Kanye West, Nas, KRS-One, & Rakim “Classic (Better Than I’ve Ever Been)” (2007)

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Royce da 5’9” “Shake This” (2009)

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Bun B “Let ‘Em Know” (2010)

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