Credit: Kim Metso

The Biggie Smalls song ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ is considered a hip-hop classic, and many regard it as one of the late legend’s best tracks of all time. The DJ Premier-produced song featured on the emcee’s 1997 project Life After Death, a Diamond-certified album. However, the beat and its samples caused some issues behind the scenes.

The 1990s saw an unparalleled amount of sampling, and some of Biggie’s biggest hits, including ‘Juicy’ and ‘Big Poppa’ were revived and modified renditions of classics from long before.

That said, DJ Premier wanted to include one sample in the beat for ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ from the 1991 Public Enemy track ‘Shut ‘Em Down’. More specifically, Preemo wanted to use a snippet of Chuck D’s voice and a scratch effect. During an interview, Premier reflected on the making of ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ but also revealed some issues that arose between himself and Chuck D after the song’s release.

Premier began by unveiling that Biggie asked for the Chuck D sample, stating, “To make a long story short: on ‘Ten Crack Commandments,’ Big went in there and did the vocals and the only thing that Big instructed me to do besides what was already laid down was, ‘Every time I say number one, number two, number three, take that Chuck D scratch and scratch it with me saying the number.’ I said, ‘No problem.’”

Biggie Smalls was pleased with how the song turned out, and he loved how DJ Premier had incorporated the Chuck D sample into the beat. While speaking about the track, Premier unveiled that, in his opinion, it was Biggie’s most outstanding track, asserting, “I think it’s one of the best records he ever made!”

Although the late Brooklyn lyricist was overjoyed at how the track sounded, Chuck D was extremely unhappy when he heard ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ for the first time. He particularly didn’t like how DJ Premier had used Public Enemy’s ‘Shut ‘Em Down’ for a song which outlines rules for drug dealers.

In fact, the ‘Fight The Power’ rhymer was so infuriated that he brought a copyright lawsuit against Biggie’s estate and DJ Premier. In his 2003 interview, DJ Premier disclosed that the Public Enemy frontman was opposed to drug use and didn’t want his voice on a record of that nature.

Detailing Chuck’s issue, Preemo explained to XXL, “It was the fact that it was called ‘Ten Crack Commandments.’ Chuck’s not into that. He doesn’t want his voice affiliated with anything that involves drug use or, drinking alcohol, sex, or whatever. So they came after me and Biggie’s estate, saying that basically, we violated in the fact that we used him in a song that condoned drug use.”

DJ Premier unveiled that while on tour with Chuck D, he told him to lay off the lawsuit, especially after the death of one of the defendants. Still, Chuck D didn’t back down from the lawsuit, which left a terrible impression on Preemo. Premiere and the ‘Rebel Without a Pause’ rapper didn’t see each other for a while after this incident. However, when they eventually crossed paths, Preemo gave him a piece of his mind.

Recalling this, Premiere told the publication, “I found Chuck one day around my neighbourhood that I live in now. He happened to tap me on my shoulder, he was with his kids, and I got into it with him a little bit. I never spoke to him again and I started kind of having a little hate for him to a certain degree.

He concluded, “I felt like he was a hypocrite. I would never sue a dead man, especially Big. I thought that was spiritually wrong, especially for what he stands for. I love Chuck D as a lyricist, a performer, a writer, and the head of Public Enemy. I love what he represents, and I felt like that was a foul on the fact that he couldn’t let a man’s death override a lawsuit. I’d rather it be all on my back than have to go sue a dead man’s estate. It put a big dent in the rap game.”