DJ Premier has revealed that Biggie crowned himself “the greatest” after they collaborated on Life After Death on arguably one of Hip Hop’s most classic records ever.
During an episode of his YouTube series So Wassup?, Premo gave the origin story behind Biggie’s 1997 drug tutorial track, “Ten Crack Commandments.” The legendary producer said everything starts with both Jeru The Damaja and Angie Martinez, who was one of Hot 97’s most popular radio personalities at the time.
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“When Angie had just started over at Hot 97, she was the new queen of the whole town,” DJ Premier began. “Flex was already big as a DJ doin’ his thing, Enuff was doing his thing, but when it came to the female DJs or radio jocks, Angie Martinez was running the show, big time!
“Angie was so hot. She still is hot, but during that time of her new come-up, everybody that’s anybody were doing promos that sounded like records, including us. Jeru was so hot during that era of Hip Hop, and he was also runnin’ Hot 97 just as well amongst Wu Tang Clan and so many others, including Big.
“But here’s the catch. This beat from ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ was created for Angie Martinez because she did a show called ‘The Hot Five at Nine.'”
DJ Premier then delved into more of the inner-workings of the iconic record before revealing that Biggie gave himself the aforementioned title during the “Ten Crack Commandments” recording session.
“It was me, Lil’ Cease and C-Gutta,” Premo said. “I remember Big sent Cease to McDonalds to get some food and on his way out, he says, ‘Yo man, I hope somebody robs you, Cease.’ And I was like, ‘Why would you want somebody to rob Cease?’ ‘Cause he crippled me,’ just like he said in the song ‘Long Kiss Goodnight.'”
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He added: “He said it jokingly. Obviously, he loves Cease so, so, so much, and he still does, even from up above, so it was a fun session. And the crazy thing is, after that song was done, he goes ‘Preme, I did it! I’m the greatest!'”
Biggie was tragically murdered in Los Angeles in March 1997 just a few weeks before Life After Death was released.
A new Biggie mural was recently unveiled on Christopher Wallace Way by New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
On March 9 — the 23rd anniversary of his death — city leaders and loyal fans gathered on the street named after Biggie to celebrate the occasion. Adams spoke about the monumental event at a press conference in the late rapper’s hometown of Brooklyn.
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“We are larger than our surroundings,” Adams said, according to PIX11 News. “The possibilities are endless if we go within and use the creativity for our life experiences, how do we tell our stories, and how do we make sure we leave from our block of Brooklyn and become a global phenomenon.”
