I’m from a family of alcoholics and coke addicts
Daddy taught me if the ass is so fat
It’s a fact that if you with your ho, don’t matter
It’s still appropriate to scope at it
Livin’ life with no balance
Drivin’ drunk on co-pilot, drivin’ ’til I to-tal it
I’m tryna stay afloat, but I got nobody to throw a rope at it
The game is just a game of splits and politics with no ballot
All kind of clips with mo’ malice than pushin’
If you profilin’, there’ll probably be more violence than lookin’
I’m so stylish, but I ain’t talkin’ eBay, no high-end fashion either
If you catch me by the runway it’s the one that’s for the PJ
This one is for my lyricists, courtesy of my DJ
(“Courtesy”)

I know it’s been a while y’all, but today I’d like to touch on a modern hip hop “instant classic” that celebrated its three-year anniversary this past weekend. PRhyme is the self-titled (and self-released) first full-length collaborative project from legendary NYC-based Gang Starr producer DJ Premier and versatile veteran Detroit emcee/Slaughterhouse member Royce Da 5’9″, who have worked together beautifully several other times in the past; most notably on the blazing singles “Boom” and “Hip Hop” (from 2000 and 2003, respectively). Consisting of nine tracks and clocking in at just 35 minutes, this short-but-sweet effort showcases Royce’s superior mic skills at a high point in his 15-year-plus career over some hot original beats from Preemo, which are sampled exclusively and brilliantly from the catalog of psychedelic soul and hip hop composer and producer Adrian Younge.

The latter had previously been making a name for himself for a few years prior, having scored the excellent 2009 blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite and producing full albums for Ghostface Killah and Souls Of Mischief; most recently, he teamed up with none other than Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest fame to score the hit Marvel series Luke Cage on Netflix last year. Younge’s soulful, ’70s blaxploitation-flavored productions are just itching to be sampled, and that’s exactly what Younge aims for; he has even said in interviews that he wishes to create the type of music that hip hop producers would want to sample. This is Preemo’s very first attempt at creating an album using just one artist as original source material for sampling, and his approach to flipping Younge’s work is quite masterful.

My personal favorite tracks on PRhyme include the bangin’ singles “Courtesy” and “U Looz”, the organ-drenched “To Me, To You” (an outstanding duet with the ever-elusive Jay Electronica, whose once-strong buzz has diminished almost completely since his 2009 Just Blaze-produced heater “Exhibit C” and endless delays for his official debut studio album), “You Should Know” (featuring a chorus from fellow Detroit native Dwele) and “Underground Kings” (which contains solid guest verses from Los Angeles-based Black Hippy member ScHoolboy Q and beloved ATL rap veteran Killer Mike (who heads will recognize both as a former member of the Dungeon Family and current member of hit indie rap sensation Run The Jewels, a duo consisting of Mike and former Company Flow frontman/Definitive Jux founder El-P). Other guests on this joint include thoughtful Chicago hip hop legend Common (“Wishin'”), additional Los Angeles native/Black Hippy member Ab-Soul and polarizing rising star (see what I did there?) Mac Miller (who both lend choice verses to “Dat Sound Good”) and finally, Royce’s Slaughterhouse brothers Crooked I, Joell Ortiz and Joe Budden (who all shine (or slaughter, rather) on the closing posse cut “Microphone Preem”).

While it’s both true that I’ve been sleeping a lot in recent years when it comes to checking for new releases AND that I may be a little biased due to Premier being my favorite hip hop producer of all time, I can safely say that PRhyme is an outstanding and cohesive release from the current generation of the culture and can be easily filed under “instant classics”. My love for this joint would only be strengthened several months later when I got to see Preem and Royce perform live at The New Parish in Oakland with opening guest support from Boldy James, Your Old Droog and DJ Skizz.

As it turns out, today just happens to be the two-year anniversary of the digital release of PRhyme‘s Deluxe Edition, which contains four exclusive bonus tracks with guest support from developing current stars Joey Bada$$ and Logic and such well-established lyrical beasts as Black Thought (of The Roots), former Little Brother member Phonte Coleman and metal-masked underground cult icon MF Doom! As of this writing, Preemo and Royce have reportedly been working on the official sequel to PRhyme, though it is unclear whether it will adopt the same formula as the first album by sampling exclusively from Adrian Younge or from another source altogether. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to find out.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhjLCPokpQI?ecver=1]