The Prince album DJ Premier called “perfect”
It’s no secret that Prince is one of DJ Premier‘s favourite artists of all time. The legendary Gang Starr producer’s love for the Minneapolis icon comes from the way he was unapologetic in all avenues, whether it was his music or appearance.
With 39 albums in his discography, picking a favourite Prince album isn’t easy. Preemo, however, believes his second studio album is his best work. Dirty Mind was released in 1980 and saw Prince increasing elements of rock in his music, along with sexually explicit lyrics. The album cover also featured the artist wearing just his underwear with a large coat.
“I’m a huge Prince fan and this wasn’t just cutting edge and against the grain, but it was spectacular too!” he told EgoTripLand. “I mean, dude had panties on! I was never homophobic or anything, but other cats would talk about Prince being gay or whatever. I never cared, I totally got it! I always understood what he was doing.
“There’s shock value in his work. And the music is totally a middle-finger to the world! His mentality was just to make solid, solid, solid music without being apologetic. Every song on here, one after the other, is just perfect.”
Although Dirty Mind wasn’t a commercial success, having only reached number 45 on the Billboard 200 chart, the single ‘Uptown’ climbed to number five on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles. Shortly after Prince’s death in 2016, DJ Premier put together a livestream honouring the artist, whilst naming him alongside James Brown and Michael Jackson as musicians that shaped him.
“I want to salute one of the greatest artists in the world, the artist known as Prince,” he said. “The guideline that shaped me musically consists of approximately ten people; James Brown, Michael Jackson, and Prince are all equally my number ones; it’s a three-way tie. Because of Prince, I will take any dare and survive the dare!”
DJ Premier’s mom once questioned his love for Prince, but he managed to turn her into a fan. They even attended his Musicology Live 2004ever Tour together in 2004 following the release of his Musicology album. “I understood where he was coming from. My mom looked at me like I was a little weird. She was like, ‘Why are you into this guy?’ But I made my mom a believer,” he told the Miami New Times in 2020. “She’s 87 years old now, and I took her to the Musicology concert, and she loved it.”
DJ Premier had the opportunity to meet Prince before his passing. Knowing the producer would be shell-shocked, D’Angelo took it upon himself to surprise Preemo by making him walk into a room with Prince standing right there. Naughty by Nature’s Treach was accompanying him at the time and played a hilarious part in their encounter.
“Turn the door, Prince is standing there by a pool table,” he recalled. “And you know, the look, the stare, the hypnotising stare, it’s him and Treach from Naughty by Nature. So I walk in, I’m already like, ‘Men ain’t supposed to faint when they see Prince. Don’t look at him. Don’t look him in the eye.'”
He continued, “So obviously, D’Angelo had set me up, he lined me up. He already knew, ‘When Preem walks in, he’s gon’ bug out.’ So I walk in, I’m talking to him and he goes, ‘Aye man, I love ‘Step in the Arena.’ I was just like, ‘Don’t faint again.’ Right when he said ‘I love ‘Step in the Arena’, Treach punches me in the chest [like], ‘See, n-gga, I told you Prince knows what time it is.'”