DJ Premier has worked with almost every single major artist in the rap music sphere. No seriously, take a look at his production discography and you’ll find a who’s who of the biggest, most critically acclaimed names in all of hip-hop from the last two decades. There is however, one noticeable omission: Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar. As it turns out, it’s not for a lack of trying.
Recently, one fan decided to ask Premo directly on Twitter whether or not he and K Dot might ever link up together on a track. The answer was frankly surprising. As it turns out, Kung Fu Kenny and DJ Premier cooked up some material for the former’s most recent album DAMN. “I’m sure one day it’ll happen,” the legendary DJ responded. “We worked on a couple joints but they didn’t make the album…that’s family so it’s all good.”
I'm sure one day it'll happen…We worked on a couple joints but they didn't make the album…that's family so it's all good
— DJ Premier (@REALDJPREMIER) May 12, 2017
In an interview with Fader shortly after DAMN dropped, Kendrick’s right hand man in the studio, TDE producer extraordinaire Sounwave, talked about how the rapper approaches the process of creating music. “Kendrick is hands-on — every album, with everything,” Sounwave said. “As far as the little things that he does in the studio, it’s the same. But with time, he’s become better. Things that he would do back then are enhanced times ten now. Practice makes perfect. He used to never write — it was a lyrical exercise thing in his head. Now, I’ll catch him writing because he wants everything to be pronounced and felt that much more.”
As for the unreleased Premo productions, maybe we’ll get to hear those on the next project?
