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.