Green Light with Chris Long - DJ Premier in The Fish Bowl

Episode Date: March 16, 2020

Legendary hip hop producer and music artist, DJ Premier. With his favorite fish, Charcoal, watching front row, Preemo and Chris talk hip hop music, its culture, the difference between rap and hip hop, his relationship with the late DJ AM, his personal star struck moments and the impact his career has had on his life and family. About Chalk Media: Following the unfiltered voice and vision of Chris Long, Chalk Media is the interactive online community for you, the intelligent and humorous sports fan. Driven by access, Chalk delivers a unique perspective that cuts through the canned talking points and provides a variety of content from your favorite sports and entertainment celebrities. Here at Chalk, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we are rooted in challenging the perception of professional athletes. We embrace the “real” with a unique combination of humor and intelligence. Chalk is a community with a voice beyond 240 characters that brings a perspective and vibe to a traditionally brash and boastful sports media space. Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more. Nothing is off limits at Chalk - hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. 🌍🏀🏈SUBSCRIBE NOW ⚾🏒⛰️ http://bit.ly/chalknetwork Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, y'all, week two of the Fish Bowl podcast series coming at you here. And this is one I'm excited about. This is one interview, especially in my early days of interviewing folks over the summer, where I just tried to, as much as I could, shut up, listen and learn from a hip-hop legend in DJ Premier. DJ Premier is a guy that I got to know because he liked my charity, Waterboys. He was donating. He was, you know, really into it. And then came down to an event.

then he became like a little Philadelphia Eagles fan a little bit. He would come down and check some games out. And then we just got to become buddies. And it's pretty cool, you know, having a guy like DJ Premier, Primo, a hip-hop legend, in my Rolodex. And so when I had an opportunity to interview him, I jumped at it. And the timing was great. He had just, he was actually recording and getting ready to release the new Gangstar album, which dropped over the summer and people love.

So again, one of the most respected guys in hip hop, somebody who's still doing it, hustling and grinding in the studio, somebody that brings you great projects, great music, an architect of some of my favorite tunes growing up, and somebody who's still making good music, 30 plus years in the game. So without further ado, here's Primo, check it out, enjoy it. I know I love sitting down with my good friend, hip-hop icon, DJ Premier. One thing about you that I think is always interesting is your memory,

and, like, it serves you well. because you've had 30 years of experience yeah you know after 30 years I mean I'm still addicted to putting out albums because I come from the album era where now with the digital world people you could stream one single and you know get a get millions and millions of of streams where we you know the the album concept is has started to diminish where you know the era I come from it was always about you know buying a whole album, even if it was a hot single on the radio, it still made you want to buy the album. You came up in an era where you put the record on and you had to listen to it all the way

through. Yeah. And how has music changed in the way people digest it from that standpoint? I just followed the same blueprint of what we were raised on. Like, I was 19, going on 20 when the interest was taken to sign me to a record deal. So, you know, a lot of the kids now in this generation, I'm in the 18, 19, 20s as well, which I got to sometimes go, man, we were actually their age, even though the sound is different now. So a lot of the music that we borrowed from, especially the sampling era, it borrows some music that we had in our house. You know, my mom had to read the Franklin, Al Green, the Crusaders, you know, Minnie Ripperton,

Curtis Mayfield, but then my sister who's older, she's four years older than I have a sister was two years older. My sister was into the Bee Gees and the Beatles and, you know, Carly Simon and Van Halen. And then, you know, so then I got a taste of that. Then I get into my era of being into Parliament, you know, Funkadelic, James Brown. Then I was into the Rolling Stones, you know, because all my friends in school. And then plus once you get into the sports era, your other teammates are into, you know, sticks. And, you know, Ted Nugent and all that's a rush, ACDC.

And then that starts to mesh with what you're into. next thing you get into the hip hop era, they're taking, you know, like even we walked this way, with Run DMC, I remember when they met Aerosmith, they were like, man, we didn't even know y'all Aerosmith. We were like, put the Toys in the Attic record on. You know, they just know that. Get the Toys in the Attic record, two copies,

and keep cutting that beat up so we can rap and do our rhymes. So that's how much of a gap that got bridged through music, pulling all these different sounds together, and then becoming a culture, where I think hip-hop is one of the only culture genres in music. Like, countries are culture to me, too, because I grew up in Texas and been around a lot of cowboys. I used to go to rodeos as a young kid.

Really? You know, yeah, the Houston livestock show on rodeo, and this is when the Jackson 5 would be coming in a town on a regular. It wasn't like a rare thing. Like, oh, man, Michael Jackson tickets on sale. It was like, oh, Jackson's not for coming again. And you'd go to the rodeo and catch them at the town. the Astrodome, you know, but when Astro World was right before the stadium they have now. So,

you know, like that was my childhood upbringing. So all of that is a major part of, and then again, what your parents have in the household, you're usually going to gravitate to as well. I absolutely love this conversation. The first album my parents allowed me to buy was Soundgarden, super unknown. Right when it came out, my mom took me to the CD store, snagged it, still love Chris Cornell this day. God rest of his soul. But in the 80s, when I was a little kid, we used to listen to Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, who Primo mentioned Frankie Beverly Amaze. And then in the early 90s, when my dad hit it big with that second and third contract,

you got that shiny suburban, that red suburban with a tape deck. And we listen to everything from Seal to Shot A to Counting Crows to Hootie and the Blowfish. But my favorite album, my dad played it on the boat in the summer in Montana. Very nostalgic for me. It's, of course, Bruce Springsteen's country offshoot called Tunnel, love and tougher than the rest song on that album still does something for me reminds me my dad a special album and it's my responsibility to pass on musical taste to my kids Waylon of course my oldest son is named after Whalen

Jennings he loves war on drugs he loves my morning jacket and he can name Shuggy Otis songs he's off to a good start I wonder if your diversity of musical taste was a huge tool for you that maybe some kids don't have now yeah I don't think you can outgrow cult a culture any Like, you, Jamaicans don't stop smoking weed or say, oh, well, you know, I'm old. I'm old now. I'm not going to grow my dredge, you know, like, hip-hop to me is, you know, the way we dress, you know, the way we break our hats down, you know, even the sneakers we buy.

I'm still, you know, I wear older men's clothes, but, and I don't have back, it happens hanging off my butt anymore, but I still am just embedded into the whole. whole culture of it. So it's beyond just being a fan of listening to the music. And it carries with me to where I'm glad I had so much other styles of music before I got in hip hop because it still feels good when I hear, you know, running with the devil with David Lee Roth and I'm sitting there doing the guitar when Eddie Manhilden's part comes on. And then I'm imitating Getty Lee and Alex Lifson and Neil Purdle on the drums with Rush. You know, like that stuff still blows me.

me away. But then so does Prince, so does Michael Jackson, so does the Eagles, you know, just... Good music, it's good music. Yeah, man. Does being from Houston and then having to make it in New York, just the diversity and sound and culture, has that helped you? Like, you know, in the New York scene, being able to adapt because you made that big adaptation in high school moving to New York and then coming back. Yeah, my thing is, I approach everything from a fan perspective. It's a

same approach for me with music every time I go into the studio to create. I'm always like, do it like if you are going to be excited to buy that record when you hear it. I always say I like to make stuff I would buy. So that's my approach every time, but still in a competitive mode. What's harder now? Because like I said, I mean, you're 53 years old, but you're more active than these young guys. You stay busy and you've had projects now that don't quite mirror. quite mirror gang star, but you've done Prime, and I know it's slightly different.

What's harder managing a project like that or a gangstar project over years? I mean, like, what are the differences in like the beginning of your career, these collaborative efforts, not the end, but the middle of your career, because I think it worked to you. I'll use Christina Aguilera as a good example, because when we got together to work, she, I remember a lot of my fans were like, you're working with her, you're going to go mainstream, you're going to soften up your and water down your sound. It's like, no, she likes what I do, and she wants my sound, and she wants to make some hits, and it's like, okay, I'm going in with that mentality,

the same way I would go in with a Biggie record that I did, or a Jay-Z record, or a Nas record, or even a KRS one record. So when I went in with her, the same exact mentality is given to her, but just, I'm guru, rest in peace. You always call me a beat tailor, because I tailor. because I tailor it to the artist. So, like, sitting with her, knowing what's on her mind,

I'm like, okay, I'm going to make everything sound like your vision. I remember when we were after the first album, Back to Basics, the next album that she was working on, she had a pink pool table, and she was like, I want to discuss my next album. And I was like, okay, she brings a cardboard out, and they had, like, people with pins in their eyes

and blood coming out. and, you know, it might be a little baby's face with, you know, an arrow and just all kind of weird stuff. You know, all, you know, like cut out of magazines, all pasted almost like a ransom note type of thing. Yeah, like true detective. Yeah, like maybe she's the bad guy. Yeah, and she goes, that's my album. And I was like, got it. I wasn't like, huh?

Well, that's weird. Got it. So now I'm already thinking weird, but still weird pumps. Still, we could dance to it, still have the emotion that I know she could bring because she's such an incredible singer. Oh, her voice. I mean, there's nothing mainstream about her voice. She's sick with it.

And so already, I didn't have to go with him, man. I don't know what she means. I totally got it just from that poster. Do you prefer working with artists that when you walk in, they have a plan, or do you like somebody who's pretty malleable? And then, like, also through your career early on, you're up and coming. So you're producing artists.

Right. Is that like a peer-to-peer relationship? And is it more of like a coach-to-player relationship now? There's got to be artists who are real type A. There's got to be one to just say, fuck it. And they just, like, Jay Z's the most famous one that everybody says like one take. He just walks in. Yeah, it's either all for me.

For me, if they don't have an idea, I'm already there. Like, well, this is what I envision you sounding over my stuff. Right. If they haven't, Jay always would always call me and say, hey, I got this song I want to do. And he would literally do the rhyme over the phone, acopella, and say, it's going to be this, it's going to be called this. I wanted to do it.

Like, when we did a million to one questions, and rhyme no more as one, two songs merged together on his In My Lifetime Volume 1. He told me how he wanted to do it. He said, and then before it goes into Rom No More, I wanted to break down. He said, he said, those things you do with the breakdown. So I was like, all right, whenever he finishes, okay, you know.

And he even calls me Memory Man one time because he said, you always remember everything. And then I said, okay, cool. And then I remember when he came to D&D Studios, which was very well known for underground hip hop, and a lot of good music came out of there. He would, I remember he came with Too Short that day because they were working on a song called a week ago.

So they're in one room. I'm working on the first half. I call him in there and say, hey, listen to the first part. He goes, I like it. Let me record. He can record it. All right, I'm going back in there with two short to finish working on this song. I started working on rhyme no more.

Say, yeah, I'm done. He comes in, listens to it. That's it. Does that. He goes, okay. And then he used to go, okay, do the premiere thing. Like, he doesn't sit there going, I got to watch and stand over. He knows I got the rest.

His part is done. He's back in the other room. And when he's ready to go, he's like, see you later. Just send me a finished product when you're done. Actually, I was talking to somebody recently in the industry, and they said, like, Chuck Barry used to, he show up. Didn't matter who was in the band. He'd play with, you know, 100 different people on a tour.

He'd say, like, fuck it, I can show up and I can rock and roll. Nice. So you've got that end of the spectrum. Yeah. But what's the cerebral end of the spectrum? Who have you worked with that was very meticulous? And I don't mean this in like a, it's a negative. It's just a different way of doing things.

Um, Karras ones, meticulous. Yeah, he's, you know, he wants it the way he wants it. Because, like you said, I definitely have a coach approach where, you know, like I'll say, hey, you're lying, you squeaked right there. Let's come back and fix that. Or you don't sound like you're delivering it right. the way your lyrics are written proper, but say it more like this.

And like, I'm not telling you how to rap, but it's not convincing me as a list, yeah, the delivery. And they'll fix it. I've never had anybody fight me on it, you know, and stuff like that. But KERS one is like, that's the way and that's the way. And that's somebody who's got clout.

Yeah, and that I looked up to. You might think of as an icon. Oh, yeah. So you can, you're more liable to work with some somebody eye to eye. I'm very selfish when it comes to the recording process because that fan thing I told you before is still like no. In order for it to be where everybody's going to really mess with it, it has to be this way that I vision it for the final outcome because I have a DJ mentality as well. And DJs, we're written that we're meticulous because, well, street DJs.

I like to be considered a street DJ. Street DJs break records from just saying that's hot. I'm playing this. My radio shows that I do on Sirius XM strictly breaks banging records that sound like the era of what we call the purest form. The purest form is dope beats, dope rhymes, scratching, and it just has to sound like that. A lot of people that don't have scratching on it,

we're just like, oh, we're just scratching. The same thing with mixtape. Oh, I'm putting out a new mixtape. A mixtape in our era was DJ's mixing and blending and cutting it up, maybe some shoutouts or whatever, but it's mixed. And now everybody's doing a mixtape. And I'm like, no, that's a compilation because it's just some new songs and there's no scratch. It's not a mixtape. Yeah, the definition got taken into a whole different context.

And it's like, who the fuck shit? That's disappointing because I thought I had a lot of mixtape. I used to have all the fucking, you know, the, you know, I'd pay for like, you know, that Piff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I probably had like got perv volume like 40 seven. Yeah. And I thought I had mixtapes. I still go to that piff.com and grab stuff.

Yeah, and then, yeah, they're not fixed tape. And even me, I'm like, who the fuck changed this shit to mixtape? Where my mixtapes are mixtapes. There's cutting, it's scratching, this blending, all those elements are there where you're like, yo, this shit is hot. I'm just keep playing it. And, you know, I gotta give you a stack of my old mixtapes from back in the day. Yeah, I don't even know why I didn't think about bringing these to you. So, yeah, I mean, like you talked about, I'd heard you say this before that my, in so many words, my scene is still here.

Right. You just have to know where to find it. Absolutely. So how do you reconcile wanting to be commercially successful, but sticking to, and this is more for artists, right? You can call the shots now. But like an up-and-coming artist who's got the ability, how does somebody like a J. Cole do both? Right? Because I would assume he sticks to the integrity of his music and the lyrical content.

Wazy, he was educated by the right people. I remember DJ Dummy, who was his DJ. He was also a commons DJ. I know he just retired and shot the dummy. And then his brother's LS1, DJ LS1 is Onyx's DJ. And Onyx had a nice period of running things when they were doing their platinum years. But dummy is what we call a battle DJ. Battle DJ we respect as well because they're from our cloth.

You know, I'm not a battle DJ, but I do battle stuff that makes battle DJs check for what I do when it comes to scratching because my, I love the name that Guru gave me. He said, I scratch with maddening accuracy. And I like that name, you know, so battle DJs, we're another level of the world of what we do. And we are so deep rooted into the underground that I, I, I, I. Our education on the whole thing, we probably know every single part of it. So when he was on tour with Jay Cole in his younger years, one day I was on the phone with him for something,

maybe he needed me to send him a song or something like that. I'm like, yeah, how's everything going with Cole? He said, man, good. He said, man, you know what I love about him? He's young, but he said I showed him some videos on the tour bus. He said I showed him B Street and Breaking. He said the next day when he got on the bus, he goes, Yo, Ken, Ken, hey.

If you know Beat Street, you know the guy to play the manager, would always call Kenny Kenne. And you got to say it that way, because then it's like, oh, I know you're talking, you already know he's referencing that movie. Just like if you do reference something from soprano, or Casino, or Goodfellas, same thing, or even Scarface. So he took it and was like, wow, this is amazing. Same thing with Wild Style.

style. So the fact that he's now in love with our era that he missed as a child, he actually appreciates it to where now his level of longevity is going to be increased because those things are very important in the culture of your occupation and your profession. Like when I think of somebody aging well in hip hop, I think of Jay-Z. Right. You know, not to keep bringing him up. No, he is. But to me, you're correct.

Late 80s, you know, he's a totally. totally different dude with the heavy chains and then in the mid 90s some of his most iconic hits and favorite albums of mine, at least we're in 96. And then it spans, you know, 23 years to, you know, 2018 or whatever 444 came out. Yeah. It's lyrically totally different. Yeah. How does an artist get that staying power and how do they adjust their lyrical content, their brand a little bit and do that responsibly without abandoning who. they are. I mean, for using the most

simplest terms, it's like he gets it. He totally gets it. And that's the thing that will make you last is you get it. Like, you could take him back to talking about the 70s of hip hop all the way up to knowing who

little baby is and knowing who Juice World is, you know, who Post Malone is, you know, and even a Mac Miller, God bless him. You know, it's like, we know that. stuff and we know we know they're songs but and not all of them they're not all of them but some of them most of them may not know our songs or care you talked about people that that influenced you and somebody that's popped up a few times is guru i mean like what was guru like i mean is

there a guru story that sums him up or what did you learn from him the most mainly uh that he's so he saw on another level of intelligence and his writing because he is when it comes to emcees, your wordplay and being a wordsmith is really the one of the most important keys to being a successful artist and MC. Because we separate and there's rappers and there's MCs. You know, Jay-Z's an MC. Most of the kids now are rappers. And that's cool because as we say, rap is something you do, hip-hop is something you live.

So we are on the hip-hop side of it. They're on the rap side of it. And rappers don't take the entire culture seriously. They're just doing it either for another way out. You're like, man, this is easy. I can do that. I can rap and make a hard record. But that doesn't mean that.

They might be in it for the ride. Oh, yeah. Most of them are. They see the cars. And I'm like, well, most that shit's rented. The Lamborghini's rented. The chains are rented. The chicks are rented.

Does fiction matter? Does it matter that some dudes are full of shit? Does there need to be some authenticity at some point in their life? I don't mind fiction if it's done right. And you can, you know, like, you know what I'm saying? Because like, Raq Kim, which I see there's a Rock Kim record over there. He would talk about how he would shoot you, but he's saying it like, I'll destroy you and out and rap better than you by killing you off because you're not as slick as me with my pen. But then you got all the hip-hop, the gangster shit with it.

Like, you know, I murder motherfuckers and I kill them and I'm selling bricks of coke. And they have sold one brick. And they probably don't even know how much of ways. You know what I'm saying? Where some of us have had experience and all of that stuff. And then won't promote that in records. Right. You know, I know people that are certified, you know, former killers that will do party records.

Like, hey, hey. And you're like, man, they do some soft shit, but we'll fuck you up if you want to test them. Right. You know, so they don't want to be. known for being, you know, gangster or anything. They want to be known for having fun and having a good time. Can you tell the difference?

Most times, yeah, and you, in hip-hop, you're going to be checked on who you know and where you come from. When somebody comes out, especially if they're getting the bus, but like, where's he from? He's from so-and-so. Okay, well, we know so-and-so.

Let me check and see if he's official. I mean, even when we moved from Texas and guru from Boston, We were still connected to people that were connected to people that are certified because you have to get your hood pass. You really do. I mean, if you don't have a hood pass, it's going to reflect on, especially if you're doing street records. That's why we filmed this in Williamsburg.

Right. I'm good at it. But, yeah, I mean, like, yeah, I'm sure it varies. I mean, people, I mean, if your art's good, you could be from anywhere. But, like, to me, it would appear to me if you don't have any. rep like just act like you yeah yeah exactly act like you and we're fine with that i remember when we used to shoot videos in the hood the grimy guys that really hold the block down we're like yo man love y'all's music i love how y'all rep um uh y'all y'all are shooting our projects we will make

sure you'll tell you you ain't got no problems don't put us in the video and that even that now with the with the social media and instagram and snapchat all these all the wild dudes that are really all in their business, showing their money, showing the guns, showing this and that. And it's like, and then they're going to jail and it's like... Right. Where's that line? Because, like, on one hand, like, it seems to me like you could incriminate yourself in music.

Absolutely. And on Instagram. Yeah. What you put out there, will? The younger guys need to be schooled on that. Absolutely. I mean, it's almost like common sense because your music and what you put out there does attract a certain type of audience.

I mean, we did it. We all of our records had a message, even so like, just to get a rep and tons of guns and records like that, even Massfield, when we were making fun of radio, watering things down, yeah, and became one of our biggest hits. It's, but we understood, and then we were older as, and, you know, like gangstar, guru always said gangstar represents three things, street, uh, streetwise, uh, spirituality and intelligence. So we're a mix of all three of those. I went to college, we were college educated, but we still like to have fun and be loose.

You know, I love to party. We used to have a frat house type of an environment when we lived together. It was always girls coming in and out. It was always, you know. You guys were like literally family members, and is what it seemed like. Fights. You fight, I mean, talk about the one fight. Holes in the wall.

You got something that's cooler than the tattoo on you. Yeah, the two marks right here when we got into it. I got him in a hole and he just bit me and the teeth marks have never gone away. And it's funny. He was a tough motherfucker, huh? Yeah. What it is, what guru is, you know, I'm stronger than him. And I could literally lift him and throw him.

I used to bail a hay. So, you know, the country's strong. To New York. Yeah. You will literally throw him across the room. And as soon as you're like, who now leave me alone. When you turn, and by the time you get the door, all of a sudden he comes out of nowhere.

I'm almost like, remember fatal attraction when she just popped out of the water? For Jim Barry, dumb and dumber, when he tossed back up with the doggie bag. Same thing. It's like, what the? And then you fight again. Now stop.

Yeah. You walk back out and he back on you, and fuck you. And it's like, it's like, somebody gave him a battery shock and put him right back on full charge. But you were able to go right back in the studio. Yeah.

I'm talking about busted, live, bandages on our heads, bandages around our hands, and going to make a banging record. And then him leaving the studio going, fuck you, you fucking bitch, I hate you and leave. Another hit.

Is that rare now, though? I'm sure every crew. You know what it is? A lot of the, in hip-hop, at least for us, from seeing it all happen with so many groups that we wished it and break up, we kind of already know what their story is going to be before they even get to.

that part because we understand you start off with your entourage we used to be 100 deep then you know then 90 deep then 80 deep I only have seven people around me predominantly you know I'm saying a lot of those guys didn't really have real love for you and and you know and even that having you having the biggest crew or posse yeah when did that peak when did that peak like are we out of that phase where everybody has to have 100 people around them no no no they're still rappers that's rolling deep. Some of them have to, based off of how they're living, some of them don't.

Again, and then when I even, like I said, when I rewind the tape, I'm like, well, man, we weren't in our 30s yet and we was rolling like that. So as you get older, you start to realize, especially once you start to go across and go see the other part of the world by going to Europe. Once you travel, I had

friends that never been on a plane. I had friends that didn't even know how to get, that's born and raised in Brooklyn, didn't know how to get to the Bronx or to get to the city. And it's like, yo, how do you And now they're on a tour around the world. You've got to surround yourself with people you trust. Because, I mean, like, New York seems like a place you've got to be on your toes. You grew up in neighborhoods.

You're supposed to be on your toes. Now you're giving all this money and fame. My reaction naturally would be just surround myself with as many people I think I trust as possible. Yeah. And you got to sift that out because we weren't born and raised with them as kids. You know, all my close friends from Texas, we're still that tight. Like, when I go home for Christmas, I always go to Texas. And when I get there, it's like,

I say, what's up, you put, what's up, you bitch-ass motherfucker? Oh, man, we're doing that tonight? Yeah. And it's just right back, it's not famous, you know, I'm not famous Chris. At home, I'm just regular old Chris. It's right where we left off. My mom was a art teacher, so a lot of that,

the art and the graffiti and drawing and all that comes, you know, which is part of hip-hop, you know, I love graffiti and all that stuff. And that also translated into how we communicate as well, know, just from graffiti and just, you know, equating that with, you know, the, how the Egyptians did it with all the hieroglyphics and stuff like that and symbols. There's so much fucking graffiti in New York, and it's really cool.

Like, I like the look of it. Yeah. I never see people doing it. No, there's spots and then... But, like, do you ever catch people, like, driving by? Like, to me, I was in the car yesterday, I was like, there's so much fucking cool graffiti. How does... Yeah.

Do people, like, are they, like, ninjas? Yeah, you got to know how to, you got to be low. To, like, tag, like... Yeah, you got to be low. Yeah, you got to be low. Because is it like, do you still get, like, hit hard, like, legally for that? Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course, vandalism to them where we look at his art.

It's street art. And street art is expensive. You want to get a mural done. It's, like, a lot of money, but, like, some of these people are doing it for free. Yeah, you know, like, I got a Banksy. I did a party for him because one of the DJs couldn't do it. I don't know if it was it Questlove. I don't know if it was Questlove, but he couldn't do it.

And I remember when we were in the... negotiating the business, you know, I'm like, for one, doing a bankruptcy party. He's like, oh, shit. And plus he's invisible, so I was like, man, maybe I get to meet him. Right. They were like, no, you don't get to meet him. And we're like, well, what is it? I remember I was with Dr. Dre.

And he was like, yeah, you're doing a bankruptcy party. He said, man, probably going to get to, you know, touch hands and dab them up. I was like, well, they already said we don't get to meet them and nothing like that. And, you know, and plus I don't think we're getting paid. and he goes, so he's just going out there? I said, no, he said, man, what kind of business you're doing? And I'm like, well, we're actually getting a personal painting done for us as the payment. Dre goes, fuck that, take the painting.

You know, even pause for a minute. We're looking at him like, because I value, I value Dre's opinion. Yeah. Yeah, and he goes, man, fuck that. Get the pain. Fuck the money. Sure, dude. You know what I'm saying?

Because he's in the art. Yeah. Yeah, he has a nice retina, you know, which I want a retina. Yeah. And so eventually, and I've even liked retina stuff on Instagram, and he finally DM'd me like, yo, man, love your music. And I'm like, wow, retina hit me. So do you get, so you get starstruck sometimes? Hell yeah.

Who do you get stars? Who some of you met and you were like? See, me and Dre met in the early NWA days because they gained that our first gangstar party. So, but I've always been a huge fan of him. Um, who, uh, who's somebody, uh, Stanley Clark, uh, bass player. I met a Cornell West. I was, uh, oh, you love me in Cornell, huh? Yeah, I was like, wow, I saw him in the airport.

Obviously, you know, exactly who you were. No, he didn't know, I saw him in the airport and just was like, you know, he saw that big afron. I'm like, I'm going up to. He's buried in books. Yeah. He's not. I saw Kareem sliding out of the Espies, and I was like, listen, I never do this.

I don't like asking anybody for pictures. And I was like, hey, man, can I, can I get a picture to him? I'm so sorry. I figured he didn't know who I was, but I was just at the espion. I was like, he's not going to know who I am. And at first he was kind of like,

yeah, yeah, man, let's do it. Like, you know, but I'm trying to get on the move. Yeah. And then I guess his,

his handler was like, hey, that's Chris Long, it's Howie's son. Right. And they were cool from L.A. So then he pulls me outside and I talked him for like 10 minutes. Wow.

Coolest fucking guy. I fanboyed out a couple times. Yeah, I got the opposite. See, I got that with Kareem. I was going to the airport, I'm like, no one, we're going through security.

No one's around, so I'm like, this is the best time because it's not busy. If it was busy, I already, I'm like, nah, don't move on him. It's no one around. And he just got the security, he's putting his shoes on. I'm like, I'm like, you're such a legend, you know. Anywhere I can take a picture, he goes, no, not right now.

And he goes, I can't, I can't do that right now. And he said it like that with an attitude. And I was just like, so I did a post. where I go, you know, I just got fronting on my career, and I'm showing him because he's walking off and I'm just like, there he is. And I post it on Instagram. Like, you know, man, he just played me.

He's not on Instagram, so he never saw it. If he knew you were, I would have been super cool. But also, I know that, like, somebody, it's one thing to be a football player and be, like, kind of famous, but you got a helmet on all the time. That basketball player fame is different. Your fame's good because you're behind the scenes

pulling all the strings and you've got to be a real dedicated fan to know your face. and like, but like, football is nice, but those basketball players, not just their faces in the camera, but they're tall as fuck. Yeah.

So when a basketball player walks in to an airport, everybody knows it's a fucking basketball, and they start Googling. That's got to get old. Yeah, I just thought he was going to say, okay, let's do it real quick. That's the worst you got big time. No, I can't do that right.

And he said like that, like, like, how dare you ask me right now for a picture? And I was like, yeah, what's your code? Do you have a pet peeve when dealing with a fan that you're like, if they do this, it's going to bother me? Don't pull. Don't put your shit on the phone and press play and stick it to my ear.

Right. I can't hear the bass. I can't. I need to hear in a car. It happens a lot, huh? At least, welcome to you with a big boom box and just play it when I'm like. You get people that come up like, you know how normal motherfuckers get like people to come up and say, hey, listen to my mixtape? Yeah.

I get people saying, like, they don't even know I play football. Like I had a guy give me his mixtape recently at this place I go to eat. And I'm like, what the fuck I'm going to do with this? Like, yeah. Like, I can't put you on. people probably come up to you left and right a lot yeah like I said I've been in barbershops and I'm sitting there

you know when they start doing your hair and you kind of just can close your eyes a little bit I was and I hear look and the guys got the phone going yo this is my man check him out and I'm like dude I can't hear it he goes oh close it up and I'm like no because I can't hear

the beat it just sounds like it's coming through a little 10 speaker at least bring the little fucking portable a beast by dray speaker or something and plug it You guys probably got a droid or something. Yeah, I can't enjoy it like that. We come from the era of testing it in cars and a big radio.

So that's still my testing ground because that was the way we made them for the cars. Guys had systems, we made it for them. You know, we want them to drive by blasting our stuff. Same thing with the mixtase. I know if I give it to my man Walt and he's got a booming system, he's going to drive through the whole neighborhood blasting everybody and be like, yo, where are you getting that home? That's a great way to promote.

Yeah, and that's how all the records, that's why you heard the 808, the boom, boom, that came from people having car stereos. And look, for a long time, now that the car stereo is a little more sophisticated now where you could just buy it from off the lot in their factory now, you know. Yeah, it's almost like now it's if you have, like, to me as a 34-year-old man, if I have bass in my trunk, like in college, I had, like, all these 12s. 12s.

And the obnoxious loud music. I had a couple 12s and I had an expedition with 24s on it. Like the bubble one? The sled. I never thought when I made it big and had my own interview show, I'd be talking about the sled. That was an early 2000s model, Ford Expedition. It was the bubble. I had it in college.

I saved up for 24s. Nice shiny 24s, of course. They were in back then. I had the subwoofers in the back. Everybody knew this sled. I didn't want to sell it when I got to leak. Went through a lot of trouble to try to find, you know, a very specific market that would buy an expedition on 24s. So I gave it to a teammate who gave it to an ex-girlfriend, who gave it to somebody else.

So if you're out there and you have the sled, please take care of it. It means a lot to me. Maybe you could sell it back to me. Hit me up on Twitter. IG. Oh, we're watching the fishbowl. And you have the sled. Give me my truck back.

Please. Those are dope I love vintage I love vintage Do you have an expensive habit A car Or me not You have like something

You splurge on I don't care if I had 40 million right now I wouldn't get a Bugatti I wouldn't get a I Probably I definitely would probably get a Ferrari

That would be the biggest The Ferrari Because I'm Well that's great restraint Yeah It's only a 200 K Fuck that $2 million I want

You know It's like Million It's absurd And then you see people crash it. Look at Tracy Morgan. Who crashed, Tracy Morgan, just crashed his Uber driver. Yeah, $2 million.

He had just taken off the lot. Did he play it cool? He, when he got out, he hit the other car with the, you know, on the glass. Like, what the fuck? You know, and the footage is, you know, viral. And not even that. I remember I got into it. Even that, the viral thing, it's just so different because even the situation like that,

next thing you know, he was the front page of the New York Daily News, the next day. And I remember I got to do it with a guy who bump my car because we wanted to merge and I let one guy in and another guy and I'm not going to let three in. It's a code. It's one, one. If you let two in, you're

saying. Yeah. And even that's, yeah. He gets mad and tries to do it and I cut them off. Like, no, because you saw me let two other people in. And he I mean, he's so ever slightly love to have my bumper where I felt the the truck doing a little. Like on purpose?

I guess just to still move in. To the degree, brand new, I have brand new truck. To the degree of where I wasn't even worried. Like, I just love to have. We get to the light, he cuts me off and gets out the car. Yeah. I get out and go, you don't want it with me, motherfucker, so I get out to fight him.

I hear a lady go, whip his ass premiere. I like this going, whip his ass for me. I got your back. I look, and there's a lady on the corner who spotted me, and she's like, I got you film it so that if you whip them, I'm going to be your defense. Right. I'm like, no, no.

So now I'm like, turn that off, turn that off. And she goes, no, I got your back. I said, no, just turn it off, please. The guy gets in this guy, he saw my rage, and I haven't road rage. I can't even remember when. Plus, he got in the car. It is, yeah, you get shot and get killed, man. So he gets in the car.

And what it was, when he got out, he started beating on my car. And it's like, you tap me. from behind. It ain't like I hit you from behind. I've never seen somebody in traffic be like I was wrong. Yeah. I wanted to take a turn into the industry on some more serious stuff. I mean, you've worked with Mack Miller, God rest of the soul.

Everybody I talked to in the industry just had this reverence for him and this appreciation for the guy he was. You know, substance abuse being a big issue in society today. Yeah. In football, mental health, all this. We're having this awakening. Is it time in hip-hop where people start looking out for each other more, just like the rest of society? It's so tricky because, you know, we all have, in most cases,

especially in our industry, you know, from sports to music, anything entertainment. But music is a different animal because you guys, your sleep schedules, your travel schedule on tour, like, I couldn't imagine. And just the influences, yeah, like you said, even the parties go to, it's around you. Even if you don't partake, it's still around you. And that's a temptation because it's like, damn, everybody's enjoying themselves. Everybody's doing it. I'm not into that, but.

I'm on the bus or I'm in the hotel. Like, I got to step out for a few. What's it like? Because everybody looks like they're having a good time and the aftermath. Oh, man, we did this last night with this person, this person, and then it gets to a point where you either want to partake. And then especially if you're amateur to it, the one that the amateur usually turn out the ones that just can't stop

and they go really off the deep. And then they just can't, they just stay in the skate. mode. And, you know, obviously most drugs are an escape. Right. Especially, you know, substance abuse period. But for us, I mean, you know, I'm glad I've been blessed to turn off the switch when I party, you know, to this very day. I've always known, okay, parties over tomorrow.

I got work. And I literally approach it that way. I don't care if I'm hung over. I literally go to work and get the hangover off by either drinking another drink or taking Advil or something like that and literally go back to that was yesterday and back to work a lot of people can't do that

and if they're in our circle and they're our loved ones a good example rest of piece to DJ AM he had a crack addiction years ago you know then he had the plane crash with Travis Barker

what we now know is that there were six people on that Learjet four of them have died to survived we have identified the survivors this morning, both well known in the music industry. One, Travis Barker, the former drummer for the group, Blink 182, and the second Adam Goldstein, known as DJ AM, a popular DJ in California. And he and I made the sneakers called rivals for Nike. He did a dunk, and I did Air Force One.

He represented the West Coast. I represent the East Coast. I never made a sneaker before. He's a sneaker junkie. And we were friends since he was 14 years old. I've known him. So A.M., I remember after they had the plane crash, when Che and little Chris died in the crash, and him and Travis obviously survived, we're eating at a spot, a really popular spot in the city

with me and a couple other DJ friends of ours. And he goes, well, I was like, man, I've never made a sneaker. And he said, well, the dunks I have. on now I'm going to do the dots, the platter dots, like the turntable, and I'm going to put it here and do whatever, whatever. Plus Nike gave us the materials. They gave us like four or five materials, and they say you can only make it out of these.

So if you want to take the suede part and put it here, you can put it wherever you want, but only these materials you use. Right. I made my sneaker, he made his, and he didn't know, like, my party hard pass. We just smoked weed together. So we never looked at weed as a drug.

so again but then he went to you know crack and things like that and just going way beyond doing the pills and he said after the I was like man I don't I know you don't want to talk about the crash he goes no I'll tell you the whole thing and I was like you don't have to he goes no I want to and he explained he you know what it was like what happened I mean you could tell he totally remember the whole scenario he said dude he said I'm I fly commercial only because I'm more comfortable that way and blah blah blah and he said he said he said he's They prescribe me these pills, whatever, whatever. And then I knew he had done, he started doing that show for MTV or VH1.

Was it gone too far? I think it was. And he had to talk other people that had addictions out of doing drugs. And I remember when he went to the store and I think it was a female. She went to buy, we call it a stem, the crack pipe. She went to buy a stem. And I remember he goes, man, I haven't held one of these. in like 11 years.

I'm about to enter what I would call the creepy hood. When I used to smoke crack and I was on my way to cop and you pull in, you just get that nervousness. Kind of got my eyes peeled everywhere because drugs are easy to find. Let me tell you. Because I used to go to some of his alcoholic anonymous meetings because we were friends and I'd be in L.A. He's like, yo, come with me to me and take my car or whatever and I got to get him. He did and I come with me and all types of stuff. We were hanging like that.

He's like, yo, Prince is doing a private party. They're performing at the Roxy and me and him would go. How do you stay clean in an atmosphere like that? He was totally clean still at that point. I told him about some of my other uses that I did back in the day. And he's like, nah, man, I never thought you ever did stuff like that. He said, it never showed on you. And you don't have that reputation of that being in your life.

I'm like, yeah, well, I've always known how to cut it off and move on. right before he died, he texted me on my phone and said, hey, do you ever think about going back to that stuff? And that was scary to me because I'm like, why are you asking me that? And, of course, I'd put, hell no. Two days later, they were like, yo, I remember Al called me. It was like, yo, the AM's dead. Because it's a slippery slope, right?

Because you're like, I see a problem. I don't want to assume something about somebody. I don't want to barge in on them or bust up, you know, their situation or, you know, start an intervention. But, like, we see warning signs in our friends. Yeah. And it's just, it's a good conversation to have, you know, with our industry. I mean, I figure when you're talking to younger guys, like, it's just we all know the horror stories, right? I would have loved to have been like, yo, dude, let's talk.

There's players I wish I'd have done that with. Well, I was going to do it because we were going to Vegas to launch the sneaker. Two days before we're going to launch our sneakers with Nike big campaign, he's gone. And when they said he, I remember when one of his guys that's close to him called me later, and I was like, yo, what happened? He said, he OD'd and he said he got back on the pipe and on the crack and everything else. And obviously when they found him dead, he had a crack pipe on him and, you know, and pill in his mouth. And I was just like, damn, you know, because I really thought he was, you know, because I really thought he

He's not going back there because he's been super clean. It just goes to show you how like once you're an addict, it's always there. Oh, yeah, to fight every day. It's like me losing weight. I'll lose it, get back in shape, and then all of a sudden I swell back up again because it's about maintaining the keeping it off. Everybody's got advice. Everybody's got something that they struggle with.

No question. And I think, you know, like outwardly talking about it helps people. I like the fact that in our business people are talking more about mental health. health. Yeah, big time. People need to talk more about it. People need to talk more about substance abuse because as men, we're supposed to bury all that. Absolutely. And a lot of eras of dudes, especially older dudes, they grew up in an era where it was like, that's weak.

You know, and I just think it's cool when you see guys able to step out and talk about their demons or their issues. Because you realize you're not alone. Anything you're struggling with, I always feel like when I'm struggling with something, Yeah. I think, like, well, somebody just down the street struggling with the same thing. It makes me feel a little bit better about it. What's the royalty check you get that you're always like, holy shit, like this is still coming in? Yeah.

Gangstar, Biggie. Yeah. The Biggie checks have been nice. I'm sure the Biggie checks are nice. Yeah, the Jay-Z checks got nicer as, I guess, as his situation got different. I know when my dad gets royalty checks for fucking firestorm or broken air. because he comes upstairs and he's like, check this shit out. People are still bugging.

What about something? Everybody asks you what your favorite record you recorded. What's one that maybe did well, but you're like, I can't listen to that shit anymore. I don't like it. Because, you know, people change, people's taste change. Yeah, I like more of my underground stuff, to be honest. So do you resent one hit that you're kind of like, yeah? I wasn't into doing the Limbiscuit record because my manager at that time had pushed me to do it.

and I didn't consider Fred Dursu. He was a crazy cool dude. Yeah, I'm sure he's awesome. And he came to you, he said, I'm not a good rapper. Yeah, yeah, exactly. He didn't, and that's why I liked about him. And then he really got me open when he goes, dude, I have your tape king's tapes.

I was like, you got tape kings? Sick. To know tape kings back then, you had to be in the know of the scene. So when he said, I got your tape king's tapes, I love head over wheels by G. I'm like, that's beyond underground. I'm doing the record. And then meth and math, I mean, like...

With meth, it's like, yeah, I'm out, man. And the thing is, they're in together now with a biscuit, six million sold. It's not necessarily your favorite, but... Yeah, six millions said, you know, and the plaque is on the wall. So what's... We talk about regions. What's the most underrated region that MCs are coming out of

that maybe people overlook? Or what's the next region that people overlook? Wow, that's a good question. Shoot. That's what I like to hear. Wow. I think like Detroit has a lot of dope MCs. Yeah.

A lot. You know, I know this Royce, this Big Sean, you know, there's Eminem. Relative to what people know. Yeah. But they just, they're an MC city. I mean, and they're very Detroit. Like, like, that Detroit versus everybody, they're really the one that started that whole thing. Well, Detroit and Michigan, whether, whatever neighborhood and socioeconomic,

economic background you have, it's like it's got an edge to it. It's like everybody just has this like Detroit versus everybody, Bob. You know, my tattoo artist, shout out of the Ben Around tattoos. He's going to love that. I shouted him out here. Maybe he'll give me a free tattoo. There you go. But he's from Michigan.

And the way he describes it is everybody's got this edge. Like they go chip on their shoulder. And it's no different when you hear the artists that come out of there for sure. Yeah. I got shout out my tattoo artist too, cartoon. And Gary Cosmo. Gary Cosmo is the one that, did Rage Against the Machine's bass player.

You know, he has, Tim, how Timmy has the, it's almost like a black sleeve. It's like skeletal. We were on tour. It's heavy. Yeah, it was in 99.

I was on tour with them. I wanted my first tat, and Gary was coming to finish doing the rest of his back and everything. What's Rage doing now? Well, you know, their profits of Rage, which is the band with Chuck D.

And B-Rill of Cypress Hill. Yeah. And Chuck D. A Public Enemy, all the front men. But they're about to go back on the road now it's profits of race so so it's the race is it's you know all three of the band members minus zack and then chuck d for public enemy and be real the the the voices and they do cypress hill music public enemy music and rage music all in the same set i got something that's

buried so fucking far i hope but me and my buddies when i was a little kid i liked cypress hill a lot right and we used to get the instrumentals on a tape and rap over oh yeah i hope that's so fucking buried i think it was uh you got to dig them up you got to Let me hear him. Fuck, no, dude. Yeah, I'm gonna be like, hey, Primo, can I get, you can you hear my tape? No, dude, no, put your phone to my ear.

Yeah, like. I used to, it was the tequila sunrise beat. Oh, okay, yeah. So this was like, I was 13. This was like the days where we used to go sneak out and smoke cigarettes and that sort of bad kid shit and listen to Cypress Hill. I love that.

I want my dad smoked Marlboro Reds for a brief time, and I was like, he's- When you smoke Marlboro Reds, you're not fucking around. No. All right, Marlboro Reds came up. Sorry, I got to stop this interview, talk about Marlboro Reds. The first cigarette I ever smoked as a young teenager, country store, have no idea how they sold to me and my buddy outside Charlottesville, but we used to get a pack

and sneak out into the field in broad daylight and just rip heaters. Only a couple though, because they were Marlboro Reds. And anybody that's had a Marlboro Red knows that they are harsh, especially on young lungs. But this ad here, here, solid gold. Just take another minute, check it out, brilliantly produced. No lies in this ad at all. Very, very, very accurate ad from the 1950s. Check it out. This is a man who smokes Marlboro cigarettes. What kind of a man is he? I'm a guy who likes to work on my car. I like to take it apart and put it back together. I get to working on it and forget where I am. What time it is? I even forget to eat.

You don't forget to smoke, though. I always smoke when I work. They go together. We talked about Detroit. What about an international scene that's up and coming? When we go to play in London, when we go to play in London, we hear rappers all the time, and I'm like, oh, they've got a big scene here.

But London's always had a big scene in the 80s, and Paris's scene is insane. And it's hardcore. I'm talking about really hardcore, where we don't know what the fuck they're saying. saying and it's like, they sound hard. Yeah.

It just, you know, and you're just like, yo, yeah. Yeah, what he said. Exactly.

That guy's fucking serious. You know. That's awesome. You know, so, but yeah, for France is always that has a really

hardcore scene. A lot of Toronto emcees, you know, well, before, way before Drake, there was, you know,

Cardinal official, a thrust. Was cannabis from, from Canada? No, cannabis is, It's from the States. Okay.

Yeah. You know, but she'd big up to Biss. Well, cannabis, I heard the story that he almost got the devil's pie. Yeah. It was made for him. Made for him. DeAngelo, Richmond, Virginia.

Yeah. What up to Dee, man. That's my guy, man. Yeah. He's deep. He's so deep. That's my guy. Iconic, super iconic.

Majorly. Like out of a different era. Yeah. Yeah. No, we're aliens, and I get his alien ways. I get it. We can talk on the same wavelength of weird, and it's not weird. That's super fucking cool.

That's good to hear about it, too. You're part of that, too. That's sweet, man. I'm in the Alien Club with the Angel. Oh, yeah, 100%. No, yeah, you're totally. The text we've done with each other. I know.

I'm like, yeah, he's connected. I was just high as fuck. So what genre of music you wouldn't expect people to think you pull from? You know, like I talk to action. Polish music. Yeah. Polish music. Yeah.

I got some Ethiopian jazz I want to put you on, too. Not that you have any shortage of music. Yeah, I'm with it. Okay. First record you ever owned, you kind of mentioned a few. Actually, it was ABC Jackson. No, I want you back. I want you back.

Last question. Unexpected track on your... I wrote down iPod, but that really aged me that I said iPod. Do I just like my iPod at the gym and just had to go get it yesterday because I still use my iPod? No shit. Yeah. So what's the most unexpected track on there that people would be like?

Unexpected. Uh, hmm. See, I'm a big Devo fan. Really? Yeah, I wouldn't see Devo. And they're in their 60s and they were still. tearing the stage, like ripping it down. Yeah.

Yeah, anything Devo, man. All their albums. You know, I'm into punk music too because, you know, they exploit it. I'm talking about just grime yard. Anything that was rebellious. But, yeah, the, uh, what, oh, yodel music.

Yodel music. I love yodel music. No shit. Yeah. No shit. Yeah, I just bought a yodel, you know, like compilation on iTunes. It's got like about 60 songs.

And I'm sitting there going, yeah, la, yeah, now I need to see, this is a result. Yeah, yeah, y'all. Thanks for listening to week two of our fishbowl podcast series. Again, DJ Premier, man. What a cool dude behind all that bravado, competitive spirit that it takes to get ahead in the hip-hop world. He is an engaging, very charitable, intellectual, caring person with just a big heart and a very interesting person to talk to a bit of a renaissance man when it comes to the music world and i guess you have to be to make the classics that he has produced uh so next week we're gonna have my buddy

marine kirstianis uh first female above the knee amputee to summit kilimanjaro that's a 20 000 foot mountain she did it with one leg she makes me feel like shit about myself but not because she's mean just because she's really awesome and she's done a ton of great stuff in her life she served our country wounded in action, survived the helicopter crash, comes back against all odds, becomes an elite athlete, and somebody who continues to serve after her service days were technically over when it came to the military. So she's going to reflect on her life's journey and some of the ways that she's overcome some of the obstacles that have been thrown her way. Pat Tillman Award winner and my personal friend, Kirste Anas, next week.