Last year, Gang Starr producer/deejay DJ Premier and veteran New York emcee Canibus collaborated on C of Tranquility on the song “Golden Terra of Rap”
. While the independent release may have marked the first time music was created together, it is not the first time the pair worked together.
In a recent interview with VladTV, Premo revealed that he and the Jamaican-born, New York-raised lyricist butted heads strongly in the rapper’s major label days. “Me and Canibus had a lil’ run-in; it was my minor,” recalled the multi-platinum producer, and hit-maker for the likes of Jay-Z, Nas and Jeru The Damaja. The song, reportedly titled “Nigganometry,” – a title that Canibus would still use on his 1998 debut, Can-I-Bus, was never made. Premier revealed that the musical composition he made would later become a hit single in D’Angelo’s “Devil’s Pie.”
“[Canibus] said, ‘I want some heavy, hard bass.” Referring back to the beat that would become one of D’Angelo’s biggest records, Premier said, “I could hear him [rapping in his own unique style on that]. [After hearing my track], he was like, ‘Yo know, I just don’t feel like you understand my vision of what I’m tryin’ to bring out.’ I was like ‘Okay [grimacing].’ I gave the check back to Universal [Records]. They actually sent me a letter after, that they appreciated that I took it that seriously. Again, I know how to make a record – I been makin’ singles [for over 20 years].”
The VladTV interview is below:
