DJ Premier

Guru had such a different voice from most people. Plus he had a Boston accent! So, I always made sure the beats were tailored to him. ”

And hip-hop is about style and finesse and being creative and different, and to do that you have to be ballsy enough to not do what everybody else does. ”

I like when people don't think I can pull things off. ”

I'm super cool with Kanye. ”

Black men, we're known for getting into some drama with other black men, specifically black-on-black crime. We're used to the confrontational attitude. ”

Everybody knows with rap artists, if you can't go to the hood, it's almost like you're not authentic, even if you're a dope artist that's respected. ”

I like showing versatility. ”

I'm not a tough guy, but I'll throw down just like the rest of them if I have to. ”

You can't do seven successful albums and just hate each other. Our yin and yang, and night and day, is what made us great when we went into the studio. ”

The great thing was that both K-Ci and JoJo told me to not make an R&B track that was reminiscent of radio hit records. 'Make a Gang Starr track and we'll write our lyrics to that,' they told me. They couldn't stress it enough. ”