Almost 10 years after the death of Gang Starr rapper Guru, the iconic hip-hop duo has returned with a new album, One of The Best Yet. The project includes posthumous Guru verses that Gang Starr producer DJ Premier obtained and is peppered with features from known Gang Starr collaborators and newcomers alike. DJ Premier stopped by Genius for a For The Record interview with Genius Head of Artist Relations Rob Markman to discuss how the album came together. Preemo explained how he landed a J. Cole feature on the album’s first single, “Family and Loyalty,” and why he wasn’t upset that Lil Uzi Vert refused to rap over Premier’s “Mass Appeal” beat a few years back.
DJ Premier surprised rap fans in September when he dropped “Family and Loyalty” with a J. Cole verse. Premier revealed that he had reached out to both Drake & Kendrick Lamar before asking Cole to hop on the beat.
“First, I wanted Drake on it because we had just done ‘Sandra’s Rose’ for Scorpion. He was literally locked down for this tour and it just couldn’t happen in the timely manner to get it done,” Preemo said. “I wanted to Kendrick. They said… ‘He’s locked in right now on his own album.’ So he’s got his own album, cool. No problem. Then I was like, "Man, I wonder if Cole would do it.”
Premier said he originally sent J. Cole the “So Many Rappers” beat, but they both decided the “MIDDLE CHILD” rapper had already covered that topic on previous tracks, so Premier sent him “Family and Loyalty” instead. Five minutes later, Premier got a response back from Cole.
“He texted me and said, ‘Bro, I got the chills. This is dope,’” Premier said.
DJ Premier also discussed his relationship with Lil Uzi Vert, who sparked some controversy when he refused to rap over Premier’s “Mass Appeal” beat during a Hot 97 interview back in 2016. The incident didn’t bother Premier at all.
“He doesn’t have to rhyme to anything I do. It’s all love,” Premier said. “[Uzi] DMs me and he goes, ‘Yo, big bro. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to rap over 'Mass Appeal.’ It wasn’t that ‘Mass Appeal’ is whack or whatever. That just wasn’t the style of beat I wanted to rhyme over.‘ He said, 'If it had been 'Full Clip’ instrumental, I would’ve been with it.‘”
In fact, the pair planned on collaborating on PRhyme 2, but Premier said “a scheduling issue” prevented the track from materializing.
Check out the full interview with DJ Premier in the video above, and catch up on all of the lyrics to One of The Best Yet on Genius now. Stay tuned next week for another new episode of For The Record and subscribe to the Genius YouTube page.
