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Producer sample breakdown

DJ Premier Samples

Houston, TX / Brooklyn, NY -- Active 1989-present -- Born Christopher Edward Martin

DJ Premier is the defining producer of East Coast hip-hop and one half of Gang Starr. His style -- boom-bap drums, crate-dug jazz and soul loops, and scratched vocal samples -- set the template for New York hip-hop from the early 1990s through today. He produced landmark albums for Nas, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., and Kendrick Lamar.

Premier is known for his distinctive drum programming (stiff, hard-hitting kicks and snares), his use of jazz records from the Blue Note and Prestige catalogs, and his scratched hook samples. He typically loops a short, hypnotic jazz phrase and lets the rapper's cadence do the work.

Primary sample sources

Blue Note Records jazzSoul-jazzHard bopFusionObscure vocal samples

Notable albums produced

  • Gang Starr -- Step in the Arena (1991)
  • Gang Starr -- Daily Operation (1992)
  • Nas -- Illmatic (1994)
  • Jay-Z -- Reasonable Doubt (1996)
  • Notorious B.I.G. -- Ready to Die (1994)

Sample breakdowns

They Reminisce Over You

Pete Rock & CL Smooth -- Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)

Sample source:Tom Scott -- Today (1970)

What was sampled

Saxophone melody

Mass Appeal

Gang Starr -- Hard to Earn (1994)

Sample source:Mandrill -- Fencewalk (1974)

What was sampled

Drum break and bass line

NY State of Mind

Nas -- Illmatic (1994)

Sample source:Ahmad Jamal -- I Love Music (1977)

What was sampled

Piano loop

Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)

Nas -- Illmatic (1994)

Sample source:Bernard Wright -- Who Do You Love (1981)

What was sampled

Keyboard riff

D'Evils

Jay-Z -- Reasonable Doubt (1996)

Sample source:Gladys Knight and the Pips -- The Way We Were (1974)

What was sampled

String arrangement

Other producers

See DJ Premier samples in action

Goat Music's Sample Tree videos show the source and derivative side by side so you can hear exactly how each producer transformed the original.