Pete Rock
Pete Rock performing at Marvel/Stussy launch party in Los Angeles, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Peter Phillips
Also known as	Soul Brother #1[citation needed] The Chocolate Boy Wonder[citation needed]
Born	(1970-06-21) June 21, 1970 (age 42) New York City, United States
Origin	Mount Vernon, New York, United States
Genres	East Coast hip hop, jazz rap
Occupations	Music producer, disc jockey, rapper, singer
Instruments	Turntable, sampler, keyboard, bass guitar
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Elektra, Loud/RCA/BMG, Rapster/BBE, Nature Sounds/Caroline/Virgin/EMI
Associated acts	CL Smooth, Marley Marl, INI, Heavy D, The UN, YGz, DJ Premier, Edo G, J Dilla, 9th Wonder, DJ Green Lantern, Rakim, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Pharoahe Monch, Kanye West, Smif-N-Wessun

Peter Phillips (born June 21, 1970),^[1] better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. After the duo went their separate ways, Rock continued with a solo career that has garnered him worldwide respect, though little in the way of mainstream success.^[2] Along with groups such as Stetsasonic, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Gang Starr, Rock played a major role in the merging of elements from jazz into hip hop music (also known as jazz rap). He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ Premier, the RZA, and J Dilla as one of the mainstays of 1990s East Coast hip hop production. Pete Rock is also the older brother and younger cousin, respectively, of rappers Grap Luva and the late Heavy D.^[3][4][5]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Pete Rock was born in The Bronx, New York,^[6] the sixth of seven children of Jamaican immigrant parents.^[7] His family moved to Mount Vernon, New York when he was seven years old. During high school, he met his future recording partner CL Smooth. According to Rock, his father was also a part-time DJ who had an impressive record collection. Rock would often accompany his father to a cricket club called Wembley in The Bronx and watch as he spun records for the guests.^[8] His first job was as a paperboy, in his neighborhood.^[8]

Early career[link]

His first major exposure to the hip-hop audience was in 1987 with Marley Marl, as a DJ on New York's WBLS radio show "In Control With Marley Marl." The 17-year-old Phillips was recognized by the listening audience as the man "puttin' in work", as he would use double copies of each record to cut up every song he played, when most New York DJs would only use double copies on every third or fourth song. Propelled by the growth of his popularity, he began producing in the early 1990s. In 1991 he joined with CL Smooth to release the EP All Souled Out.

The following year saw Mecca and the Soul Brother, the first of two full-length albums, released to critical acclaim and hailed as a classic by many. Pete Rock and CL Smooth were first signed to Elektra Records, managed, and Executive Produced by Eddie F of Heavy D and The Boyz who also then managed Pete Rock as a producer. Pete Rock was one of the original three "Untouchables" producers along with Eddie F himself and Nevelle Hodge.

During this period, Pete Rock began to produce songs for other acts, such as "Down With the King" for Run-DMC and "The World Is Yours" for Nas, as well remix singles for Jeru the Damaja ("You Can't Stop the Prophet"), Public Enemy ("Shut 'em Down"), and The Notorious B.I.G. ("Juicy" – the original of which was allegedly based on Rock's own demo). Pete and CL followed up Mecca in 1994 with The Main Ingredient. Like its predecessor, The Main Ingredient also received wide critical acclaim. However, soon after the album's release, the duo split and went their separate ways, with Rock focusing on production work for other artists.

In 1995, he formed the group INI, with Grap Luva, Rob-O, and I Love H.I.M. and released the classic 12" "Fakin' Jax". The trio recorded an album, Center of Attention(originally named The Life I Live), which was heavily bootlegged and remained unreleased until 2003, when BBE Records picked it up for distribution. The release of this album was coupled with another previously unreleased mid-'90s Pete Rock-produced album, DeDa's The Original Baby Pa.

In 1996, he appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Wu-Tang Clan, Coolio, and Fat Joe, among others. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as a masterpiece by The Source magazine.

Solo career[link]

While working as a DJ with Marley Marl on Hot 97's Future Flavas show, Rock was able to forge a relationship with Loud Records, allowing him to release his solo album Soul Survivor in the summer of 1998. After being dropped from the Loud imprint, Rock signed with Rapster/BBE under his own label Soul Brother Recordings. His first release on the imprint was PeteStrumentals, which was mostly made up of previously unreleased Rock beats; all recorded between 1990 and 1995 but remixed and mastered for the 2001 BBE Project. The album did however feature two additional 2001 songs that featured the vocals from The UN. An expanded and revisited version of the album was released less than one year later; three instrumentals had been replaced with three new songs performed by C.L. Smooth, Freddie Foxxx and Nature separately.

Since then he has continued releasing solo albums including 2004's Soul Survivor II. In that same year he also produced the bulk of Edo G's My Own Worst Enemy, as well as a track for the all-girl rap group Northern State.

Pete Rock returned to greater visibility through a closer relationship with the Wu-Tang Clan. Their collaborations began with Soul Survivor, which featured Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon on various tracks as well as producing a track each for Inspectah Deck's ("Trouble Man") and Raekwon's ("Sneakers") respective 1999 albums. Rock continued to work with the Wu on Soul Survivor II which featured both GZA and RZA. In 2006 he also produced three tracks for Ghostface's release Fishscale, including the first single, and Nature Sounds labelmate Masta Killa's second album, Made in Brooklyn.

Pete Rock has cultivated a relationship with Brooklyn-based Nature Sounds Records. He recorded the song "The PJs", which also features Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon and Masta Killa, released on the Nature Sounds compilation Natural Selection. He released an album entitled NY's Finest in February 2008, featuring Raekwon, Masta Killa, D-Block, Redman, Papoose, Slum Village and Jim Jones, among others, also on Nature Sounds. The lead single from the album is entitled "914" and features rappers Sheek Louch and Styles P. He is scheduled to appear on albums by Bishop Lamont, Cannibal Ox, Termanology, Freddie Foxxx, Royal Flush, Verbal Threat, LL Cool J, JoJo Pellegrino, La The Darkman, Cormega, R.A. The Rugged Man, and others. He is also working with DJ/Rapper Doo Wop under the name Tango & Cash (taken from the film of the same name).

Planet Asia has recently claimed that later on in 2009 he will release a collaboration fully produced album with Pete Rock called "Planet Rock". On December 2009 Rock denied that, but talked about collabo projects with Tha Dogg Pound, Camp Lo, Smif-N-Wessun.

Pete Rock oversaw the production of Jay Stay Paid, a posthumous album by the producer J Dilla, released June 2, 2009, on Nature Sounds. Lately he has been in Hawaii, working with Kanye West on the latter's fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.^[9] In addition, he and DJ Premier have announced that they are working on a joint album together, although further details are unknown.^[10] Recently in London he confirmed that Big Pooh & C.L. Smooth will be on his half of the VS album and he plans on dropping 5 albums in 2011 including reuniting with C.L. Smooth for a third album & drop his 4th album on Nature Sounds.^[11] His next few collaborative albums are both due for a summer release with Monumental first then with Camp Lo's "80 Blocks From Tiffanys" LP.^[12] In an April 2011 interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, Pete Rock discussed his new solo work including his album with DJ Premier, as well as exploring the fact that he has had numerous beats rejected by Eminem over the years ^[13] Pete Rock Uncensored Radio Interview. In a August 2011 interview, he has confirmed the completion of the Camp Lo album "80 Blocks From Tiffany's" and that he is currently working on production for Torae's album, Elzhi & his own solo album "Petestrumentals II".

Affiliates[link]

Proteges[link]

Through the years, Rock has helped to jump-start the careers of several artists. His first project outside of Pete Rock & CL Smooth was the hardcore duo YG'z, who released an EP called Street Nigga in 1993, with four out of the six tracks produced by Rock; however, they were quickly dropped from their deal with Reprise Records. His next venture, INI, was a group featuring Rock, his younger brother Grap Luva, Rass and rapper Rob-O. They released a single, "Fakin' Jax", through Elektra Records in 1995, before their debut album, Center of Attention, was shelved by the label. The other two members continue to record solo material, albeit only sporadically. In an interview Rock elaborated on the situation:

We finished the album, turned it in to Elektra and they never put it out, they only put out a single. Sylvia [Rhone] really didn't cooperate, she didn't break bread with me when it came down to resolving that. It was all about her changing everything around. She wanted to change my whole sound. When she said, "You gotta make a beat like Puffy", I just knew it wasn't going to work out.^[8]

Another mid-1990s artist, DeDa, also met the same fate with his album The Original Baby Pa, although both this and INI's album were eventually released as a double album package in 2003. Other associated artists include Meccalicious, who recorded a few songs under Pete Rock's guidance (sometime around 1997), before disappearing from the music scene altogether.

Rock has had some success, however, overseeing and jump-starting the career of hardcore underground favorites The UN, a group featuring four MCs, including former Flipmode Squad member Roc Marciano. Rock premiered the group on the single "Nothin' Lesser" from his PeteStrumentals album, and they went on to release the fairly successful album UN or U Out in July 2004, featuring production by Rock, Large Professor, and several others.

Relationship with CL Smooth[link]

Since their split in 1995, Pete Rock's relationship with CL Smooth has been highly unpredictable. Although the pair briefly united for the reflective "Da Two" from Rock's Soul Survivor album in 1998, they avoided entertaining requests for a reunion album until 2001, when they once again teamed up for "Back on Da Block" from Rock's PeteStrumentals. In their interviews during this period, it appeared as though a new album was underway. As Rock would explain:

We've been on tour, we know every rhymer and producer in this business. We've influenced people, even people we've never met have said that we changed the face of hip-hop. So we're going to try to do some more.^[8]

The pair went on a short international tour culminating in their well-received show at London's Jazz Cafe; however, soon after this they declined to comment any further on the new album, which never materialized (although Smooth did make three separate appearances on Soul Survivor II). Eventually, Smooth would confirm rumors of a rift in an interview with AllHipHop.com,^[14] in which he appeared angry and frustrated with his former partner, saying "I didn’t ask him to be a superhero" and "I’m not the problem." In an interview taken in December 2006, Rock ruled out any further collaborations with Smooth but stated that he holds no grudges against his former partner.^[15] He recently confirmed that he will be recording a third album with C.L. Smooth.

Musical style[link]

Production[link]

Pete Rock builds his beats from samples, the majority of which are taken from obscure R&B, funk, and jazz records. Early on in his career he would also sample drum breaks such as Black Heat's "Zimba Ku" for Heavy D & The Boyz's "Letter To The Future". Pete Rock heavily used the E-mu SP-1200 as well as the AKAI [S950]—later moving onto using the MPC—for his productions. Pete Rock tends to use the samples as palettes for his beats, chopping (cutting the sample into smaller parts), filtering (altering the frequencies of the sample), and layering several samples, often within the same song. While this technique was applied long before Rock (on De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising or the work of The Bomb Squad for example), Rock's work is distinctive for the way in which he uses samples to achieve a hazy, droning effect. He is also noted for his resonant basslines, horn samples, and gritty sounding drums. His beats often sound as though they were being played from an old vinyl record; he samples many of his sounds straight off these records.^[16]

Another trait of his, more so in the earlier part of his career, is the way he uses horn samples to supplement his grooves. With perhaps the most famous example being "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" (on which he uses a horn sample from Tom Scott's "Today"), Rock has also used horns on several other productions such as "Straighten It Out", Public Enemy's "Shut 'Em Down", Rah Digga's "What They Call Me", and A.D.O.R.'s "Let It All Hang Out".

Along with Gang Starr, The Roots and A Tribe Called Quest, Pete Rock played a large role in the fusing of jazz and funk music into Hip hop. The aforementioned "Reminisce..." withstanding, Rock used many jazz samples on his album Mecca and The Soul Brother, such as Cannonball Adderley's "Country Preacher", for the song "Return of the Mecca", or "Capricorn" for the song "In the House" from The Main Ingredient. Pete Rock's heavy use of intro and outro beats has also been widely influential. To introduce feature songs, he often plays a short instrumental excerpt, completely different from the rest of the song. Aside from their role as transitions, these are widely regarded as a way of displaying his large collection and as a challenge to other hip-hop producers to identify the records that the breaks come from.^[17] Mecca & the Soul Brother and The Main Ingredient use intro/outro beats on nearly every track to great effect, and the tradition continues to the present on Rock's recent releases.

Remixes[link]

"Another Pete Rock Remix" is Pete Rock's trademark catchphrase, heard on countless singles which he has remixed. In addition to Hip-hop artists he has done remix work for artists from other genres such as his 1995 remix of "Before You Walk Out Of My Life" for R&B singer Monica. In 1992 he collaborated with Mary J. Blige on the What's the 411? single "Reminisce", which utililized the same sample from his own single "T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You)". Rock claims to have done several high profile remixes which remain unreleased including one of Madonna's "Secret".^[8] He also claims to have produced the original beat for The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy", and that it was recreated by P. Diddy and Poke (of Tone & Poke fame), without consent. However, he was invited to produce the remix, which utilizes the same sample as the original – Mtume's "Juicyfruit".^[8] Although he received no official producer credit, he made the original demo beat for A Tribe Called Quest's "Jazz (We've Got)", which was then recreated by the group for the album The Low End Theory.^[8] He remixed Public Enemy's "Shut 'em Down" and "Nighttrain", in the same day, starting at 12pm and finishing at 12am.^[8]

Up until 2003, he created all of his productions on the E-mu SP1200, thereafter using the AKAI MPC2000XL. He also has a collection of about 90,000 records and looks for records at least once a week.^[6] Pete Rock was one of 9 artists who participated in thetruth.com’s Remix Project, where he remixed the Sunny Side song “Magical Amount”.

In 2010, Pete Rock remixed indie rockers, Yo La Tengo's single, Here To Fall for the Here To Fall Remixes EP which included remixes by De La Soul and RJD2.

Influence[link]

Pete Rock has had a considerable impact on a number of record producers who have emerged in the hip hop scene since the late 1990s. Many critics have compared newcomers to him, generally favorably. Perhaps most notable among these comparisons are the late Detroit producer J Dilla, and North Carolina's 9th Wonder, both of whom have worked with Rock during their recording careers. Several of the comparisons stem from the fact that these producers have created the bulk of their productions out of samples, as well as the warm, mellow, and exuberant undertones apparent in their work. Pete Rock himself has added validation to the comparisons with J Dilla by stating "he's the only producer in this game that was just as serious [as me]."^[18]

Many other producers, including Kev Brown and Kanye West, have also found themselves compared to Pete Rock, with the latter glowingly referring to himself as "the new version of Pete Rock" on Slum Village's "Selfish" from the group's 2004 album Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit).^{[citation needed]} Pete Rock has acknowledged his relevance to these artists, releasing an instrumental record with 9th Wonder (Class Is in Session), as well as recording his own remix of West's "Heard 'Em Say". Rock himself has named his main musical influences as being influential hip hop producer and close friend Marley Marl and legendary soul musician James Brown.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Soul Survivor (1998)
• PeteStrumentals (2001)
• Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics (2003)
• My Own Worst Enemy (with Ed O.G.) (2004)
• Soul Survivor II (2004)
• The Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions (2005)
• NY's Finest (2008)
• Monumental (with Smif-N-Wessun) (2011)
• 80 Block's From Tiffany's (with Camp Lo) (2012)
• Petestrumentals II (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pete Rock discography at Discogs
• Pete Rock on Myspace
• Pete Rock at the Internet Movie Database
• Pete Rock on Twitter

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2010)

CL Smooth (born Corey Brent Penn, Sr., October 8, 1968, New Rochelle, New York) is an American rapper, poet, and is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth.^[1]

After the pair split in 1995 Pete Rock, whose work with CL had garnered him a reputation as one of the most acclaimed producers in hip-hop, went on to produce (and remix) tracks for dozens of marquee-name and/or well-respected acts, and to release a batch of solo and instrumental albums. C.L. Smooth remained musically inactive.

The pair managed to reconcile their differences only long enough to record five isolated tracks in the ten years since their split: "Da Two," "Back On Da Block," "Fly 'Til I Die," "Appreciate," and "It's A Love Thing." There were talks of a definitive reunion and a new album in 2004; however, the speculation was dismissed by both parties after another fallout.

During his period of hiatus, C.L. Smooth declined even to appear as a guest on other artists' albums, with the exception of "Only the Strong Survive" with DJ Krush in 1996. Recently, however, he has contributed featured guest vocals to songs by AZ ("Magic Hour"), Nujabes ("Sky is Falling") and Dipset affiliate J. R. Writer (the remix of "Mesmerize") or Supafuh ("Act of Faith").

He released his debut solo album, American Me, in 2007. To promote the album, Shaman Work released a promotional mixtape compiled by DJ J Period called Man On Fire in late April 2006, featuring 36 minutes of freestyles and a remixed version of the track "Impossible". He was also been featured on the DJ Jazzy Jeff album The Return of the Magnificent on the track "All I Know", which was also featured in the video game NBA Live 08.

In October 2010 C.L. Smooth and Pete Rock headlined the "Clean Energy Tour,"^[2] which had six shows all over California and focused on voter mobilization leading up to the November mid-term elections. He has developed an interest in climate change and become a vocal opponent of Proposition 23.^[3]

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

• American Me (2006)
• The Outsider (2007)

Featurings[link]

• Supafuh feat. CL Smooth Act Of Faith (2011)

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth albums[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• CL Smooth at MySpace.com
• CL Smooth at the Internet Movie Database

Sean Price (born March 17, 1972)^[1] is an American rapper and member of the hip hop supergroups Boot Camp Clik and Random Axe. He came to fame as one-half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruckus, or in short Ruck, along with partner Rock. He also is featured in the video game NBA 2K11 as a playable character in street mode. Price lives in Brownsville, Brooklyn.^[2]

In 2011, Sean Price was a judge on the Ultimate MC TV show alongside with Royce da 5'9", Organik, Planet Asia, and Pharoahe Monch.^[3]

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

Collaboration albums[link]

Singles[link]

Official mixtapes[link]

• Donkey Sean Jr. (2004)
• Master P (2007)
• Kimbo Price (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Duck Down Records website

Large Professor
Background information
Birth name	William Paul Mitchell
Also known as	Large Pro, Large P., Extra P Large P
Born	(1973-03-21) March 21, 1973 (age 39)
Origin	Queens, New York City, United States
Genres	Hip Hop
Occupations	MC, producer, DJ, musician
Instruments	Turntable, sampler
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Wild Pitch//EMI Records Geffen/MCA Records Matador Records, Kingz Kounty Entertainment, Red Line Music Distribution, Inc.
Associated acts	Pete Rock, Nas, Main Source, Eric B. & Rakim, Akinyele, A Tribe Called Quest

Large Professor (born William Paul Mitchell on March 21, 1973, in the Harlem section of New York, New York. USA^[1]), also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas.^[2] About.com ranked Large Professor #5 on its Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers list.^[3]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Mitchell moved in his early childhood to Flushing, Queens, where he was raised.^[1] His production career started early in his adolescence. As a young teenager, he would make pause tapes, in which he would pause a beat and blend it in with other sequences. Eventually, he managed to own a Casio SK-1 sampling keyboard that allowed him to make his beats in the comfort of his own home. He became a protégé of the late Paul C, a record producer and musician with whom he credits for teaching him virtually everything he knows about record production as well as the associated technology used for making hip-hop music. Paul C was doing production work with Eric B. & Rakim and Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud, and then, at age 17, Large was given the opportunity to program beats for Eric B. & Rakim's album Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990) while still attending high school. While working with them, he discovered Nas, who got a management deal with Serchlite Publishing (headed by MC Serch from former group 3rd Bass) and produced three tracks on Nas's debut album, Illmatic (1994), after he was signed by Columbia Records. His work with Eric B. & Rakim eventually led him to work on Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's Wanted: Dead or Alive (1990), producing (officially credited as a co-producer) the album's lead single and iconic hip-hop classic, “Streets of New York.”

Career with Main Source[link]

In 1989, he joined the group Main Source, which also included K-Cut and Sir Scratch from Toronto. Main Source recorded one album with Large called Breaking Atoms, which was released in 1991. It included hits such as "Just Hangin' Out", "Looking at the Front Door," and featured Nas' first public appearance on a track called "Live at the Barbeque", along with Akinyele and Joe Fatal.^[1] In 1992, their success allowed them to record "Fakin' the Funk", a track on the White Men Can't Jump motion-picture soundtrack. Because of business differences, Large and Main Source quietly parted ways and Large went on to sign with Geffen/MCA Records. During and after his tenure with Main Source, he worked with Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and he produced a number of tracks for Nas, Busta Rhymes, Masta Ace, The X-Ecutioners, Tragedy Khadafi, Big Daddy Kane, Mobb Deep, and others during the 1990s.

Solo career[link]

In 1996, he released two singles for Geffen/MCA Records, "Ijuswannachill" and "The Mad Scientist", for which videos were produced for both tracks. He was to have his highly anticipated solo album The LP released around the same time, but it was never released because of label politics.^[1] Geffen and Large Professor eventually parted ways, and he signed with Matador Records, which generally specialized in marketing and promoting contemporary rock and alternative tracks as well as electronic music. Although his album for Matador, 1st Class did not receive mainstream acceptance, it gained favorable reviews by fans and critics. The album included guest appearances by Nas, Busta Rhymes, and Q-Tip. The album also included the moderate street hit "Radioactive."

Large's publishing company is named Paul Sea Productions as an homage to his late mentor.

For many years, people thought that Large Professor directly taught DJ Premier how to use the Emu SP-1200 sampling drum machine, which Large used to help program many of his beats during the 1990s. However, according to Large Professor, he just showed DJ Premier to enhance what he already had. This is an excerpt from the November/December issue of Scratch Magazine:

Large Professor DJs at clubs, parties, and events worldwide and still engages in music production. He released an instrumental LP in 2006 called Beatz Vol. 1. Its sequel, Beats Vol. 2, was released in 2007.

His latest album, Main Source, was released in 2008 and features production by him and others including Marco Polo and verses from Big Noyd, Styles P, Jeru the Damaja, AZ and Lil Dap.^[1]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2002: 1st Class
• 2006: Beatz Volume 1 (instrumentals)
• 2007: Beatz Volume 2 (instrumentals)
• 2008: Main Source
• 2009: The LP
• 2012: Professor @ Large

Production[link]

• 1990: "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em" (Various songs on album by Eric B. & Rakim)
• 1990: "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (Various songs on album by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo)
• 1991: "Breaking Atoms" (Main Source)
• 1992: "Peer Pressure" with DJ Premier for Mobb Deep
• 1992: "Halftime" (from the Nas song from the soundtrack Zebrahead)
• 1993: Vagina Diner (Album by Akinyele)
• 1993: "Hey Girl" (from the Apache album Apache Ain't Shit)
• 1993: "Keep It Rollin" (from the A Tribe Called Quest album Midnight Marauders)
• 1993: "Niggaz Never Learn" (from the Big Daddy Kane album Looks Like a Job For…)
• 1994: "Stress (Remix)" (from the Organized Konfusion 12" Stress)
• 1994: "One Time 4 Your Mind", "It Ain't Hard To Tell" (from the Nas album Illmatic)
• 1995: "Resurrection '95" Extra P Remix (from the Common 12" Resurrection)
• 1995: "Resurrection '95" Large Professor Remix (from the Common 12" Resurrection)
• 1996: "Extra Abstract Skillz" (from the Mad Skillz album From Where???)
• 1999: "I Sparkle" (Slick Rick from the Wild Wild West Soundtrack)
• 2000: "The Heist" (from the Busta Rhymes album Anarchy)
• 2001: "You're Da Man", "Rewind" (from the Nas album Stillmatic)
• 2002: "The Come Up" (from the Cormega album The True Meaning)
• 2002: "We Are the Future," "It's Us," and "Drug Music" (from the Non Phixion album The Future Is Now)
• 2003: "Exotic's Raw" album, (Neek the Exotic)
• 2004: "What They Want" (from The UN album UN Or U Out)
• 2006: "World Wide" (from the Boot Camp Clik album The Last Stand)
• 2006: "Right 2 Know" (From the Prince Po album Prettyblack)
• 2006: "I Be Thuggin'" b/w "Mack of the Year" (Grand Daddy IU Single)
• 2007: "I'm Up Now" (from the Mic Geronimo album Alive)
• 2008: "L.E.O (Love Equals Omnipotence) - Spiritual Intelligence / All tracks produced by Large Professor.
• 2008: "Conquer Mentally" Large Professor Remix (Presto album State of the Art)
• 2008: "The Hardest" (AZ album Undeniable)
• 2008: "Stages" (Reks album Grey Hairs)
• 2009: "No Problems" (Earatik Statik album Good, Bad & Ugly)
• 2009: "New Classic" (U-God album Dopium)
• 2009: "Same Old Drama" (Grand Puba album Retroactive)
• 2009: "Journey" (Cormega album Born & Raised)
• 2010: "Ohh" (Joell Ortiz album Free Agent")
• 2011: "Still On The Hustle" (Neek The Exotic / Large Professor)
• 2011: "Do The Math" (Torae album For The Record)

Vocal appearances[link]

• 1990: "Money In The Bank" (Kool G Rap & DJ Polo album Wanted: Dead or Alive)
• 1993: "Keep It Rollin'" (A Tribe Called Quest album Midnight Marauders)
• 1994: "Stress (Remix)" (Organized Konfusion "Stress" 12")
• 1995: "Extra Abtract Skillz" (Mad Skillz album From Where???)
• 2000: "The Last Shall Be First" (Cella Dwellas album The True Meaning)
• 2002: "XL" (The X-Ecutioners album Built from Scratch)
• 2002: "Hip Hop On Wax" (Rob Swift album Sound Event)
• 2002: "The Come Up" (Cormega album The True Meaning)
• 2004: "Sugar Ray and Hearns" (Cormega album Legal Hustle)
• 2004: "Out Da Box" (Tony Touch album The Piece Maker 2)
• 2006: "United" (MF Grimm album American Hunger)
• 2007: "The Radar" (Marco Polo album Port Authority)
• 2007: "The Purist" (Polyrhythm Addicts album Break Glass)
• 2008: "Conquer Mentally" (Presto album State of the Art)
• 2009: "Fans" (Masta Ace & Edo G album Arts & Entertainment)
• 2009: "Sweet 16s" (feat. Neek The Exotic, Mikey D, Sadat X, Large Professor and Father D) (Satchel Page album Young Patriarch)
• 2009: "Like This" (DJ JS-1 feat Large Professor) No Sellout: Ground Original 2(album)
• 2011: "Beats By The Pound" (feat. Large Professor & Nutso) (Soulbrotha The Connexion EP)
• 2011: "The Quickening" (Funkoars)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Large Professor's MySpace page
• Biography Sketch at Matador Records website
• Large Professor's at Beatbuggy

DJ Premier
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Edward Martin
Born	(1966-03-21) March 21, 1966 (age 46) Houston, Texas, United States
Origin	Houston, Texas, USA
Genres	Hip hop, East Coast Hip Hop
Occupations	Record producer, DJ
Instruments	Drum machine Keyboard Sampler Turntable
Years active	1984 – present
Labels	Wild Pitch/EMI (1987–1990) Chrysalis/EMI (1991–1998) Virgin/EMI (1998–2003) Year Round (2003–)
Associated acts	Gang Starr Foundation, M.O.P., Royce da 5'9", Christina Aguilera, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nas, Kool G Rap, Blaq Poet, Apathy, Big L, Bun B, D.I.T.C., Game, Termanology, AZ, Buckshot LeFonque, Mobb Deep, Torae
Website	DJ Premier on Myspace

Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966),^[1] better known by his stage name DJ Premier (also known as Preem, Premo, or Primo for short), is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru. Born in Houston and raised in Prairie View, Texas, he has lived in Brooklyn, New York, for much of his professional career. Rolling Stone identified Premier as arguably Hip-Hop's greatest producer of all time.^[2]

The Source named DJ Premier one of the five greatest producers in hip-hop history,^[3] while the editors of About.com ranked him #1 on their Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers list.^[4] He also made the "Finals" in the search for The Greatest Hip-Hop Producer of All Time by Vibe.^[5] He attended Prairie View A&M University.^[6]

Productions[link]

Premier is known for producing all of Gang Starr's songs as well as many of the Gang Starr Foundation's songs. His work also includes production for heavyweight rappers such as (alphabetic order) Apathy, Big L, Bun B, Canibus, D.I.T.C., Fat Joe, Game, Jay-Z, Kanye West, KRS-One, Lord Finesse, M.O.P., Mos Def, Nas, Rakim, Royce Da 5'9", The LOX, The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, rock band Limp Bizkit, Big L, Big Daddy Kane, Ill Bill, Joell Ortiz, and pop/R&B singer Christina Aguilera, among many others.

Premier collaborated with MC Jeru the Damaja on the album The Sun Rises in the East, released in 1994, as well as the 1996 follow-up, Wrath of the Math.^[1] Also from the Gang Starr Foundation, Premier produced and supervised Group Home's Livin' Proof; although overlooked at the time of its 1995 release, the album has since come to find similar acclaim.^[1] Among others in that are closely tied to the Gang Starr Foundation who have worked with DJ Premier include Afu Ra, Bahamadia, Krumbsnatcha, Big Shug, Smiley the Ghetto Child, and NYGz. He recently produced the majority of Blaq Poet's Tha Blaqprint in 2009 and will produce the entirety of NYGz debut album.

Style and influences[link]

DJ Premier's style of production epitomizes the New York sound of his earlier peers. He is known for sampling jazz, funk, and soul artists, as well as sampling an artist's past work when creating a new track for that same artist. For example, on Jay-Z's "So Ghetto", from the 1999 album, Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter, Premier samples an older Jay-Z song, 1997's "Who You Wit II".^[7] In addition, his encyclopedic memory of hip-hop lyrics allows him to distinctively speak with his hands by scratching in lyrics from several different songs to construct new phrases.^[8] Premier's beats are known for his oft-imitated combinations of short vocal samples, often from multiple artists, to create a chorus. Premier has also experimented with atonal samples that are not confined to soul, jazz, and funk. For example, he sampled chopped up seminal electro-acoustic music from the 1960s on the track “Mental Stamina” by Jeru the Damaja.

In an interview with XXL Magazine, DJ Premier was asked how his sound evolved, to which he replied, "Marley Marl is my number one inspiration. Jam Master Jay, Mixmaster Ice and UTFO. Grandmaster D and Whodini. DJ Cheese, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa. Jazzy Jay, even Cut Creator. Seeing them do what they do. It’s black music, it’s black culture, it comes from the ghetto. How can you not relate to ghetto people when that’s the rawest form of blackness? Even though it’s not a good place in regards to the economy and how bad people have it in the neighborhood, the realism’s there, and that’s what we were born out of. So I very much pay respect by doing the same type of music in return." DJ Premier attended Prairie View A & M University and may have been influenced by the musical atmosphere at the university.^[9]

Relationships with artists[link]

The early line-up of the Gang Starr Foundation in the mid-1990s included Jeru The Damaja, Group Home, Big Shug, and Gang Starr. DJ Premier was fully responsible for the production of Jeru the Damaja's first two albums, The Sun Rises in the East and Wrath of the Math. Jeru released three albums since then, with Premier having nothing to do with any of them.^[1]

As far as Group Home was concerned, Premier commented, "They don't respect what fed them," in a 2003 interview, going on to say that the only reason he produced a track on their second album was because Guru said he would rhyme on it.^[10]

Besides the Gang Starr Foundation, Premier is closely affiliated with M.O.P., which he names as one of his all-time favorite groups. The relationship started with the remix of “Rugged, Neva Smoove” in 1994, a single from the group's first album, which also included the exclusive B-side “Downtown Swinga.” From then, Premier produced about one-third of the songs on each subsequent album and overseeing and mixing the projects. On M.O.P.'s 2009 Foundation album, however, DJ Premier provided only one track, which was called "What I Wanna B."

Recent and future projects[link]

DJ Premier has his own record company named Year Round Records. Among its artists are New York group NYGz, New Jersey rapper Nick Javas, and Houston rapper Khaleel. Tha Blaqprint by Blaq Poet, which has thirteen Premier productions, was released by Year Round Records through Fat Beats Records. On December 7, Premier's label Year Round Records released a digital compilation album titled Get Used to Us. At the moment Year Round plans to release a debut album fully produced by DJ Premier with the NYGz tenatively called Hustla's Union: Local NYG along with a Nick Javas debut album named Destination Unknown. Khaleel, another label-mate of Year Round Records, is planned to release a debut album titled Already!.

DJ Premier hosts a weekly 2 hour show Live From HeadQCourterz on SIRIUS Satellite Radio's Hip-Hop Nation on Fridays.

DJ Premier was one of the artists followed in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION music project. The film followed his production of the song Regeneration using live performance of his work by the Berklee Symphony Orchestra [1]

In a recent interview, DJ Premier said he will produce a beat for Immortal Technique's upcoming album, titled The Middle Passage. He contributed a song on Game's last album The R.E.D. Album called "Born in the Trap." and a song on Bushido's last album Jenseits von Gut und Böse.^[6] In an interview in 2012, DJ Premier confirmed on Shade45 that he is working with Eminem on his upcoming album.

Discography[link]

• The Sun Rises in the East (with Jeru The Damaja) (1994)
• Livin' Proof (with Group Home) (1995)
• Wrath of the Math (with Jeru The Damaja) (1996)
• Beats That Collected Dust (2008)
• Tha Blaqprint (with Blaq Poet) (2009)
• DJ Premier Presents Get Used To Us (2010)
• Beats That Collected Dust Vol. 2 (2011)
• Premo Pimpin' EP (with Wais P) (2011)
• StOoDiOtYmE EP (with Bumpy Knuckles) (2012)
• The Kolexxxion (with Bumpy Knuckles) (2012)
• TBA (with Nas)
• TBA (with M.O.P.)
• Pete Rock v.s. Premier (with Pete Rock)
• Return Of The Boom Bip (with KRS-ONE)

References[link]

External links[link]

• DJ Premier on Twitter
• DJ Premier at Allmusic
• DJ Premier discography at Discogs
• Fansite/newsite about DJ Premier