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TIMELESS: DJ Premier Revisits Gang Starr's "Step In The Arena"

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  • The-gafflerThe-gaffler 2,190 Posts
  • phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
    DJ Premier: Well, I???m a fan of more than Hip Hop??? I also listened to Rock music real hardcore. I???m very in to New Wave, Punk music. I was a rebel in my family; I was into the Punk scene. I used to stick a needle in part of my skin and let it stick out the other skin without completely bleeding out of my thumbs, just to look all wicked and crazy. I used to go to Devo concerts, and I???d buy their yellow [suits]. [I???d] put that on, wearing the weird glasses with a flat-top. Like, I was a weird dude??? I used to listen to a lot of New Wave stuff, like The Smiths, and Psychadelic Furs, and The Cure, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Dial House, Joy Division??? I was into all that stuff. The Thompson Twins, just all this crazy stuff. And sometimes they would have a song that just had one verse. And then it???d fade out. So I took a lot of [inspiration] from that. Prince, he???d do a record called ???Gotta Broken Heart Again??? on the Dirty Mind album, and then as soon as the verse is over he???d make the guitar collapse like he???s killing stuff. And that???d be the end of the song??? I was like, ???Yo, I wanna do stuff like that!??? I took a lot of pointers from Prince, and Michael Jackson, and The Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, with their interludes.


    Mind is blown.
  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    DJ Premier: Well, I???m a fan of more than Hip Hop??? I also listened to Rock music real hardcore. I???m very in to New Wave, Punk music. I was a rebel in my family; I was into the Punk scene. I used to stick a needle in part of my skin and let it stick out the other skin without completely bleeding out of my thumbs, just to look all wicked and crazy. I used to go to Devo concerts, and I???d buy their yellow [suits]. [I???d] put that on, wearing the weird glasses with a flat-top. Like, I was a weird dude??? I used to listen to a lot of New Wave stuff, like The Smiths, and Psychadelic Furs, and The Cure, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Dial House, Joy Division??? I was into all that stuff. The Thompson Twins, just all this crazy stuff. And sometimes they would have a song that just had one verse. And then it???d fade out. So I took a lot of [inspiration] from that. Prince, he???d do a record called ???Gotta Broken Heart Again??? on the Dirty Mind album, and then as soon as the verse is over he???d make the guitar collapse like he???s killing stuff. And that???d be the end of the song??? I was like, ???Yo, I wanna do stuff like that!??? I took a lot of pointers from Prince, and Michael Jackson, and The Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, with their interludes.


    Mind is blown.

    Fav part of the interview.

    Reminds me that NYC hip hop & Punk beginnings were a lot closer than many realize.
  • deejdeej 5,125 Posts
    my fav part is def the story about 'just to get a rep' & how guru hung up 'before' & 'after' pictures of his car lmao
  • deejdeej 5,125 Posts
    my fav part is def the story about 'just to get a rep' & how guru hung up 'before' & 'after' pictures of his car lmao
  • MjukisMjukis 1,675 Posts
    Great interview.

    In december, a Swedish radio show (some of you might have heard the guy who makes it, Mats Nilesk??r, and his weird swenglish, or been interviewed by him). It was pieced together from the Guru and Premier interviews he's done over the years, and one additional interview with Premier done after Guru passed. It's one of those times I've listened to the show, like "I can't believe my taxes financed this, it's too good to be true!"

    Anyway Premier told some funny stories - don't know if they've been published elsewhere. One was about when he lived with Guru - he'd stay home and cut up James Brown records while Guru was at work. Guru worked with kids, and he sort of wanted to look bulkier around them, to get respect. So he'd often wear two sweatshirts or something. This thing escalated to the point when Premier would wake up and look around like "where are my clothes?". Guru would then come home with two or three layers of Premiers clothes, smiling and saying "ALL PREMIER'S SHIT"! I just thought that was really funny. "ALL PREMIER'S SHIT!"
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