DJ Premier

Biography

There's an old saying: ‘Rap is something you do; hip hop is something you
live.’

No truer words have been used to describe this music and culture.
And no individual more truly embodies the second part of this maxim than
DJ Premier: turntable technician, producer, and now, record label founder.

Premier has been a crucial figure in the early development of some of rap
music's modern legends, specifically the Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and Nas.

Besides helming tracks for his main concern Gang Starr since their 1989 debut and touring the world DJ’ing alongside front man Guru, Premier's productions appeared on many of Hip Hop’s most important records: Nas' ‘Illmatic’, the Notorious B.I.G.'s ‘Ready to Die’, Jay-Z's ‘Reasonable Doubt’, Jeru the Damaja's ‘The Sun Rises in the East’, and Mos Def's ‘Black on Both Sides’.

With a solo album due for a 2005 release on his own imprint ‘Year Round’, featuring the likes of 50 Cent, Jay Z, Mary J and more, Premier will undoubtedly sore into the hip hop limelight once more.