Yep, ladies and gentlemen, the man that embodies the most the term 'Hip-Hop' (better than the Blastmaster KRS, yes I've said it) has been working with Xtina for her forthcoming LP :
Extract from an interview by the nice people of
Plastic Soup :
"There have been albums in the past from artists where the only real good point of the set has been your productions. Nas’ albums pre-ether and post illmatic were pretty much like this and Rakim’s ‘The Master’ also an example. With some rumours circulating at the minute that you might be handling Nas’ next album, are you looking to do more on artist albums, particularly now you and Guru are leaving Gang Starr for a while?"Prim' : Definitely, me and Nas just did the new Scratch cover together at my studio, HeadQcourterz (yes that’s how you spell it) and I told him, yo let’s do this. Jay-Z told me back in January that he thinks that me and Nas have some of the best chemistry in the studio, and I firmly agree with him on that. When I was in LA working with Christina Aguilera, Nas was there in the other room finishing Kelis’s album and I made a sort of start the album track while I was out there just to set the tone of how the album should sound. Believe me, it’s on tha one, I’m mad excited to get it poppin’.
So she's got a track on that new record with Nas called "Still Dirrty." "It's part two of the one she did on the last album, but the beat is totally different," said DJ Premier, who produced several of the songs. "It's more jazz-sampled with these horn blasts."
And it's mos' definitely HOOTTT !!!!
See for yourself :
Nas is the only guest on the record, according to Premier, but Outkast's Big Boi is recording a verse for the remix to the first single, "Ain't No Other Man." Aguilera is shooting a video for the song this weekend.
"I was surprised I got that call 'cause of our differences in the audiences we hit, but I'm always up for challenges and trying something new," Premier said. "She described what her album is about and then she sent me some CDs of what type of stuff's been inspiring her to make the record, and it happened to be a lot of stuff that I grew up on in the early '70s, 'cause I'm 40. Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Marvin Gaye, Esther Williams, all kinds of different things. Once I saw that's the vibe she wanted, I still had to make it sound like the way my beats thump and stuff but still give her the atmosphere she's trying to bring out on the singing side."
Premier used live instrumentation on some tracks and sampled old jazz records on others. On one tune, he sampled voice messages from fans left through Aguilera's Web site with one of her own classics."I had 'Genie in a Bottle' a cappella on vinyl, and I was scratching that, trying some things, and Christina walked in and was like, 'Yo, that's hot,' so we laid that down," Premier said. "That turned into a whole song called 'Thank You,' and I think it's the last song on the album."
Premier was only slated to do one or two tracks but ended up with five on the album, plus the intro. Perry also has several tracks, and Kwame, Mark Ronson and Big Tank, who does the music for "The Boondocks" cartoon, each contribute as well."
She played me the stuff Linda Perry did, and everything was dope, totally opposite from what my music is, but when you put it all in the right sequence, it works," Premier said. "Her album is really, really well-rounded. She totally put it together right. And she was directing the whole thing. She knew what she wanted."
To those who are still eager to try to make this hiphop icon fall, here's what he's got to say :
"There has been criticism in the past of your productions being too samey and formulaic, but for many that is the beauty and appeal in knowing instantly that you’re the producer behind the track. And it certainly hasn’t stopped the legions of rappers desperate to add some underground kudos to their albums calling you up over the years. What would be your response to this assessment of your style?"Prim' : Anyone who feels that way about me can continue to feel that way. It doesn’t bother me. They have never lived in my shoes and most of them that criticize me for that are definitely not in the Top 3 of the greatest Producers to ever touch a drum machine, let alone play any instruments in which I play several from guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and a few others. Shit, I was taught how to stay funky by James Brown, Prince, George Clinton, Rick Rubin, Dr. Dre, Larry Smith, Marley Marl, Howie Tee, Full Force, Malcom McLaren, Brian Eno, Steve Lillywhite and Rober John “Mutt” Lange. I’m always gonna have that signature sound, just like a vocalist has a distinctive voice. You never forget that voice. My sounds and my structure are mandatory to establish my name. So anybody who feels that way as a critic does not live music, so fuck em. Need I Say more?Nope...
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