Though Biggie died before his sophomore album came out, he already knew he was the greatest to ever do it, according to DJ Premier. On the latest episode of Yo Wassup? where Premier dives into his hip-hop history, he provided an oral history behind “10 Crack Commandments.” Though the iconic countdown at the beginning of the record leads to Biggie’s breakdown of the cardinal rules of selling dope, Premier explained that he produced the record for Angie Martinez’s “The Hot Five At Nine” show on Hot 97.
“Angie was so hot. She still is hot, but during that time of her new come-up, everybody that’s anybody were doing promos that sounded like records, including us. Jeru was so hot during that era of Hip Hop, and he was also runnin’ Hot 97 just as well amongst Wu Tang Clan and so many others, including Biggie,” DJ Premier said. “But here’s the catch. This beat from ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ was created for Angie Martinez because she did a show called ‘The Hot Five at Nine.’”
DJ Premier Reflects On Biggie Declaring Himself As The Greatest
DJ Premier went on to detail the recording session where he, Lil Cease, C-Gutta and Biggie cooked up “10 Crack Commandments.” The session took place around the time Biggie and Cease got into a car accident together, which Big later referenced in “Long Kiss Goodnight.” “I remember Big sent Cease to McDonalds to get some food and on his way out, he says, ‘Yo man, I hope somebody robs you, Cease.’ And I was like, ‘Why would you want somebody to rob Cease?’ ‘Cause he crippled me,’” DJ Premier recalls Biggie telling him.
DJ Premier continued, “He said it jokingly. Obviously, he loves Cease so, so, so much, and he still does, even from up above, so it was a fun session. And the crazy thing is, after that song was done, he goes ‘Preme, I did it! I’m the greatest!’ Though many rappers have claimed to be the greatest, Biggie Smalls evidently proved so when Life After Death dropped in its entirety. Check out Premier’s recent episode of Yo Wassup above and sound off in the comments with your thoughts.