DJ Premier

DJ Premier原名Chris Martin，1966年3月21日出生。他的童年是在Houston和Brooklyn渡过的，当他搬家到Brooklyn后对HIP HOP产生了浓厚的兴趣，开始自己尝试着制作，之后不久他就遇到了同样热爱HIP HOP的Guru，当时的Guru已经组建了Gang Starr，当时成员Mike Dee的离队使团队有了一个空缺，就这样，Premier加入了Gang Starr，他们将爵士和HIP HOP融合的特殊风格十分讨巧。90年他们为Spike Lee的电影Mo' Better Blues制作了原声，一下使得很多人认识了Gang Starr。
在Gang Starr取得巨大成功的同时，Premier也没有停下前进的脚步，他为很多RAPPER制作专辑，90年他为Lord Finesse和DJ Mike Smooth制作了他们的经典专辑Funky Technician（没听过的真的是要强烈推荐一下）。渐渐的，越来越多的人请Premier为他们制作专辑，他成为了整个HIP HOP界的偶像。94年绝对是每一个HIP HOP迷必须记住的一年，这一年中出现了太多的经典，我无意中发现，这些经典专辑大半都出自Premier之手，Gang Starr的Hard to Earn,Nas的Illmatic, the Notorious B.I.G.的Ready to Die,Jeru the Damaja的The Sun Rises in the East), 甚至连Big Daddy Kane的Daddy's Home他都参与了制作。
Dr. Dre, RZA和Prince Paul是圈内公认的超级制作人，他们缔造了无数张经典专辑，即使有了如此的成绩，他们也只是能够与DJ Premier比肩的人物。DJ Premier是何许人也？听HIP HOP的人几乎无人不知，如果你还不知道他，那真是该好好恶补下功课了。爵士说唱天团Gang Starr成员（说实话Guru的能力着实有限，如果没有DJ Premier，他也没有今天的成就）。再看看这些经典唱片吧，Nas的Illmatic, the Notorious B.I.G.的Ready to Die, Jay-Z的Reasonable Doubt, Jeru the Damaja的The Sun Rises in the East, Mos Def的Black on Both Sides，无一不是出自DJ Premier之手。
by John Bush
No more than three producers (Dr. Dre, RZA, and Prince Paul) can test DJ Premier's status as the most important trackmaster of the '90s, and no style is more distinctive. Aggressive and raw, a Premier track was an instantly recognizable soundclash of battling loops and heavy scratching -- all of them perfectly timed -- that evoked the sound of Brooklyn better than anyone. Besides helming tracks for his main concern, Gang Starr, since their 1989 debut, Premier's productions appeared on many of the East Coast's most important records: Nas' Illmatic, the Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die, Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt, Jeru the Damaja's The Sun Rises in the East, and Mos Def's Black on Both Sides.
Premier, born Chris Martin, spent time in Brooklyn and Houston while growing up, and studied computer science at Prairie View A&M outside Houston. Known as Waxmaster C, he'd already learned to play a variety of instruments and also managed a record store. After moving back to Brooklyn, around 1987-1988 he came into contact with Guru, a Boston native. Guru had already formed a group named Gang Starr two years earlier (and recorded with the 45 King), but his former partner, Mike Dee, had returned to Boston. DJ Premier and Guru signed to Wild Pitch and released a debut single ("Manifest") and album (No More Mr. Nice Guy). Gang Starr's interest in melding hip-hop with jazz informed the record, and they were invited to add to the soundtrack for Spike Lee's 1990 film Mo' Better Blues. Their subsequent work was much more mature and unified, with a pair of instant East Coast classics (1991's Step in the Arena and 1992's Daily Operation) arriving in short order.
DJ Premier had been working with other vocalists for years, and his productions for the 1990 landmark Funky Technician by Lord Finesse and DJ Mike Smooth cemented his status as one of the best producers around. He soon began recording exclusively at D&D Studios, a spot soon to become a shrine for hip-hop fans (thanks in large part to his own work). The year 1994 was a huge one for Premier, probably the best year for any rap producer ever; in addition to dropping another Gang Starr classic, Hard to Earn, his productions appeared on five-star, all-time classics by Nas (Illmatic), the Notorious B.I.G. (Ready to Die), and Jeru the Damaja (The Sun Rises in the East), as well as Big Daddy Kane and Branford Marsalis' Buckshot LeFonque project. Though his workload dropped off considerably during the late '90s, he still managed to place tracks on three of the first four Jay-Z albums, and returned in force with the new millennium, including shots with Common, D.I.T.C., D'Angelo, Jadakiss, and Snoop Dogg.