Since the mid-1990s, legendary Texas-born, New York-bred producer DJ Premier has been a undeniable staple for the culture.
Having produced for NYC royalty and classic albums in Nas‘ Illmatic, JAY-Z‘s Reasonable Doubt and Notorious B.I.G.‘s Life After Death, Premier was able to use his clout as a boom-bap founding father to link with stars of the 21st century — working with Kanye West, Joey Bada$$, Drake, Logic, Pusha T and more.
Now, as his longtime collaborator Nas’ record label, Mass Appeal, looks to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of hip-hop, DJ Premier was tasked with putting together an elite soundtrack for the occasion. On Friday (July 15), he released the first installment of the Hip Hop 50 tape, which includes features from Lil Wayne, Nas, Joey Bada$$, Remy Ma, Slick Rick, Run The Jewels and Rapsody.
Along with Nas, many of these artists are beloved to Premier, as him and Joey’s most notable collaboration “Paper Trail$” includes the timeless bar “I’m screaming cream, who f**king with the rap supreme? Joey Bad and Big Preem came to collect the green.”
In the case of Run The Jewels, Premier helped provide the instrumental for one of the biggest tracks ever “ooh la la” from 2020’s RTJ4, which has amassed over 35 million Spotify streams.
Considering these blockbuster features were included on Hip Hop 50‘s first volume, we can only imagine what other marquee talents will be added down the road.
Check out ‘Hip Hop 50, Vol. 1’ below!
