Q&A: DJ Premier on Where Rap Went Wrong and How to Fix It

If New York hip-hop has a spiritual gatekeeper, it’s DJ Premier. Along with being part of definitive ’90s rap duo Gang Starr, Premier has balanced crafting songs for certified rap royalty Jay-Z, Biggie, and Nas with supporting the city’s more varied and underground scenes. His upcoming label compilation, Year Round Records: Get Used To Us, sticks to that credo, showcasing life-time Big Apple rhymers Freddie Foxxx, Blaq Poet, and KRS-One alongside more recent home town talent like Papoose, Saigon, and Joell Ortiz–three artists looking to re-ignite their careers after floundering on major labels. Here’s Premier’s take on where New York rap went wrong, why it needs to be destroyed in order to recover, and how he’s warming to his role as elder rap statesman, to the point where he’s creating old school mixtapes to educate upcoming rap cats.

On your new label compilation you feature songs with Papoose and Saigon. A few years back both of them were tipped as future superstars capable of re-asserting New York’s rap credentials, but their careers quickly faded. Why do you think that was?

Papoose had a million dollar deal at Jive but I knew Jive wasn’t going to let him drop all the street shit he was doing. They’re not the same Jive that had Whodini and A Tribe Called Quest and KRS-One and the Fu-Schnickens and all that. Even though they had R. Kelly and Britney Spears and N-Sync, the Jive of old was very eclectic and rooted in what we love about music. They’re not that any more. So when you have a Papoose, he can do some commercial records, but that’s not what he is and that’s not what he does to make you wanna hear more stuff from him. You can’t all of a sudden convert him into a commercial artist. They’re going to force him to make those commercial songs and when they don’t work they’re gonna drop him.

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