DJ Premier has an extensive Rolodex of artists he’s worked with over his 35-year career. Because of this, he has stories for days of studio sessions and collaborations that never saw the light of day.
During the press run for his new album, Hip Hop 50 EP Vol. 1, DJ Premier stopped by Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club to talk about the project and, in the process, shared a story about a song he had with 50 Cent right before he became a megastar.
According to Preemo, he was tapped by Fat Joe to work on a Terror Squad compilation album in the early 2000s and had 50 Cent locked in for a song that was planned to be the first single. However, Dr. Dre stepped in after 50 was signed by him and Eminem.
“[Fat Joe] signed me to Terror Squad, and we were supposed to do a project like a compilation album the way Khaled does his, and the first single I was going to drop was a 50 Cent record,” Preemo told The Breakfast Club. “This was when everybody wasn’t really messing with 50 to the fullest because he was having too much drama after doing ‘How To Rob,’ and me and Fif hit it off right away and clicked when I got on the phone with him.”
He continued, “He said he would do the record, and right when it’s about time to do the record, we get a call that Fif can’t do it. I’m like, ‘Why not?’ and they like he’s about to sign to Eminem and Dr. Dre, and I’m like, ‘Noooo,’ because we already committed to us and I talked to Dre and Dre was like ‘Preem, I love you, but he’s not doing any more recording until he does his debut album.'”
That debut would happen to be Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, which pretty much launched the G-Unit boss’s career to the next level. Preemo would eventually link up with 50 Cent on 2011’s “Shut Ur Bloodclot Mouth,” but it was nowhere near the magnitude that first record may have had.
Nas & DJ Premier Reunite For First (Proper) Collaboration In 10 Years 'Beat Breaks'
DJ Premier just released DJ Premier’s Hip Hop 50 Volume 1 on July 15 and it features Nas, Lil Wayne, Joey Bada$$, Run The Jewels, Slick Rick, Remy Ma and Rapsody. The five-track EP is in collaboration with Mass Appeal’s Hip Hop 50, a multimedia campaign celebrating the genre’s 50th birthday.
Listen to the album below.
he should of made it a full lp
Dr. Dre is a talent and time waster.
Are you demented? 50 Cent and Eminem’s quality of music dropped immensely once they stopped working closely with Dr Dre. Facts!!!
He recorded many albums with other artistes we never got to hear!!
That’s actually the one thing about him that annoys the shit out of me. For a guy who claims to “live in the studio”, his output from himself and his artists is extremely low. So I agree with you there.
So what happened to the Terror Squad compilation?
No 50 no album I guess lmao
Wise move from Dre and Em. From a branding perspective, it makes sense. After signing 50, you want to make sure that you control the image and lead up to the album release. A dope song with Preem could possibly lead to a bunch of people comparing his sound under Dre to the sound that they loved with a Primo joint. Then they would have to deal with a whole bunch of comparisons, etc. Dre and Em launched that dude into the stratosphere.
That made no sense why tf would people compare primo joint to dres wtf 50 was already putting out songs. Nothing would’ve beat in da club back than.. Not even a primo joint so that’s irrelevant. It would just be another song for the compilation album.
If I were to have invested as much money in an artist as they did, you are damn right I would make sure that I have say in the roll out and lead up to an album being released. Your argument give no credit to the fact that they released the album and it sold 12 million worldwide. If they didn’t sell but 300,000, you might have a place to question their action, but the 12 million sold says that they knew what they were doing. Apply your arguements to GDep, Loon, the Lox, etc., and you can make an arguement, but you are using the wrong case study to make your point.
I’d love to hear that
I miss when the biggest rappers had to have a Premier beat on their records. I’d love to see that come back for example when Jay-Z drops a new album, Eminem or some newer rappers like Drake, Kendrick etc.
Kendrick and drake don’t count as new rappers these days when their hotter music drop a decade ago lol.
Theyre new rappers you fucking 12 year old
THIS IS A KNOWN MOVE FROM DRE. DRE WAS TIGHT AT GAME WHEN HE DID CERTIFIED GANGSTERS WITH JIM JONES BC HE FELT IT TOOK AWAY FROM THE ROLLOUT OF DOCUMENTARY.
JUST ADDING…THIS IS WHY GAME VERSE WASNT CLEARED FOR JONES ALBUM.
Reminds me when The Game had just signed with Aftermath but The Game still appeared on The Alchemist’s “1st Infantry” album before The Game’s debut album came out