Ahmad Jamal: Pete Rock vs. Preemo

Ahmad Jamal: “I Love Music”
From The Awakening (1970)

Nas: “The World Is Yours”
From Illmatic (1994)
Produced by Pete Rock

Jeru The Damaja: “Me Or The Papes”
From Wrath of The Math (1996)
Produced by DJ Premier

Since it’s unofficially Nas week here on the site, I wanted to bring back the ‘who flipped it better‘ series with one of my favorite Nas tracks and Pete Rock productions — “The World Is Yours”. The Ahmad Jamal sample in that track is just amazing. Well, DJ Premier also flipped this track for Jeru The Damaja two years later. How did Preemo do against Pete Rock’s beat? Which do you all think is the better track?

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Posted in Who Flipped It Better?

http://kevinnottingham.com Kevin

Ok, this is what happens when you only get 2 hours of sleep the night before. This should be Pete Rock vs. DJ Premier. I know, I know… Pete Rock produced “The World Is Yours”. Disregard the image until I get around to changing it.
WillMartynUK

lol well done for correcting yourself Kev – no harm done!
I absolutely love both tracks and Premo is my favourite producer of all time.
HOWEVER, The World Is Yours is not only my favourite Nas track but also my favourite Pete Rock production, so I must go with it as winner.
Not an easy choice by any means!!
2 classic tracks, 2 great producers. Enjoy…
http://www.garciastudios.com/music/ Garcia’s Grooves

Two of my fav producers without a doubt! Pete has fallen off a bit lately compared to what he used to put out though. Premo has stayed consistent and has moved into my #1 fav producer slot.

That being said, I love both tracks, plus I’m a huge fan of Ahmad Jamal and that album, “The Awakening” is a masterpiece!

Alas, I gotta go with the Pete Rock track as the winner! Being on that Illmatic album and the overall feel of the track…a classic!
http://myspace.com/bodywhineshot ”BLINKY”

As for the flip i’ll go with primo, but i think, pete’s track is more efficient in the end.And oh my god for Ahmad Jamal, I didn’t know about him, this track is HUGE, a sample gold mine when you dig piano sample as i do.
stexdo

the world is yours is my fav hh track all time….
when Ahmad Jamal did the milan concert i was in the front row…he is the shit
Thomas

Pete Rock is the winner!
http://www.myspace.com/quericoproductions QueRico

Pete Rock’s track is better in my opinion.
Tommylux

I can’t call it, I’ma say this is a tie. It’s hard arguing who flipped it better, cos they took different parts and made two distinctive songs. On the technical side of things, pete’s might be a tad better cos it’s got more groove, rhythm, or whateva you wanna call it. But given that both conjure up equally as many memories from my adolescence – I used to play both every now and then I went through my top tracks – I can’t possibly choose but one.

Garcia, in my eyes it should be the other way round: although Pete’s production’s never been the same after “The Main ingredient”, I think he’s been more consistent than Premo. If you look at Premo, he used to have beats on every album by any major rapper you could name. And he used to entirely produce some, which has made for classics like “Wrath of the Math” or “living Proof” (not to mention the Gang Starr albums). And now you’re lucky if you snatch a Premo production every now and then on, say, a Termanalogy mixtape, and – to be honest – most of them are nice but don’t have the same head-nodding effect on me as way back. the last Premo beat that absolutely blew me away was “Boom”. I’ve heard the things he did on Big Shug records and some, and I’m not impressed. Most people I know who worshipped him like a God in the past feel the same. In a way it’s not fair, though, cos we keep measuring the guy against stellar achievements you can’t top, it’s a bit like knocking raekwon for not being able to recreate “Cuban Linx” every time he opens his mouth to rhyme…

On the other hand, pete has altered his style but has been putting out work constantly, some of which was undevalued in my opinion.

But maybe premo’s put out stuff that’s just been below my radar. Any recommendations?
S.T.T.R.E.S.S.

Ok Kev, youve put two powerhouses up against each other.Without question, the two best producers of our time.Without them, it wouldnt be alot of the other producers.If you would ask any of the hottest producers today who their influences were,99.5% of them would say these two(you have to leave .5% space for those living under a rock).As for the question,they both did a great job using different parts of the song and they both had elements of old school hip hop in it. Its hard because they both have different styles.But I would give this round to Pete Rock and its not because of Nas or Illmatic.I think it was Blinky that said that Pete got efficient at the end,but I think Preem was more efficient through the whole track than Pete.And another thing that gave Pete the upper hand was scratching another hip hop classic(Its Yours-T La Rock)in the hook and singing a little to add a a pinch of flavor.I dont think its quite fair to compare these two tracks for two factors. One,unless you truly knew the impact that Jeru made its hard to judge and yea i know we’re listening to the track, but I noticed how others kept refering to the illmatic album and Nas,which could cloud a judgement.And two,I think Me and the Papes was treated more as a interlude than a song.
http://www.myspace.com/trez Tr

see. this just isn’t fare. DAMN YOU KEV! (jokingly)
both were able to create joints from this one source, and yet they have there very own mystic about them.

both are dope, no debate there.

it’s personal preference: coke or pepsi

for me..Preemo!
deeinc

Gotta go with pete rock on this one, although the way Preem flipped it is CRAZY original, “me or the papes” doesn’t have the “feel” the world is yours does….lyrics or production wise.
Gaffle

This was a no brainer…Pete Rock wins this hands down…
http://www.garciastudios.com/music/ Garcia’s Grooves

Tommylux, believe me, Pete Rock has been my favorite producer for years. It’s not until his last album that he finally moved down a notch in my book. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the cat has skills, but I’m such a jazz, piano, and horns type that I really miss what he used to do back in the Mecca and Soul Brother and Main Ingredient days. He needs to reunite with CL SMOOTH for an entire album and give us headz somethin’ to reminisce about. Know what I mean? Feed us, Pete! Feed us!

As for Premo, I’ll admit I’ve been geeked on him a little more lately just downloading all the “Diggin in the Crates” samples on this site and hearing how genius he was and is at taking obscure records, chopping them up, and making masterpieces! And his drums?! Mannnnnn, love that dirty-dirty sound. ewww-weee!I keep reading he has an album coming out but then it never surfaces. :-/ I guess since Gang Starr had more albums, and Premo laced them all lovely, I gave him the nod overall these days.

Here’s to hoping both Pete and Premo keep us reachin’ for the crates and thinking…”where the hell did he sample that from???? Genius!”
Tommylux

yeah, i totally agree with what you said there about Pete; as dope as some of his recent stuff is, I also miss that old filtered jazz loops thing with the unmistakable horns, like his remixes for “Jump Around” and “Shut em Down”. The first rap track ever I checked out at a store was precisely his “Shut em Down” remix, so it’s no surprise I was hooked after that… and concerning CL Smooth, that’s also one of the greatest disappointments ever, the two of them not being able to squash their differences, i think the chemistry they had was magic
skills

me & my crew have this argument all the time man even tho they ride wit preem and i consider them neck and neck because they both have their ups and downs. As far as the sample goes i ordered the album on cd and i was buggin over the shit that was used on there BUT i didnt catch the primo part till months later cuz i was stuck on the pete joint and the fact that i was on a mission to find that sample for years (shout to dj eclipse).i heard the primo part by accident..i was playin the album at a bar i was djin at while we were shootin pool during the early part of the night everyone was buggin over the nas part then i let it play and was like “oh shit” (as all of us beatheads say when we hear somthin out of the blue)loud as hell and went to the booth and kept rewindin that shit like red in friday. even back then it was hard to choose till this day i think it was a friendly shot at pete
trapperjohnmd

Pete Rock on this joint. I think He and CL should reunite. I don’t think either has fell off in their production skills. The joint Pete do with Royal Flush on NY’s Finest is one the hardest joints out now

Ahmad Jamal: Pete Rock vs. Preemo

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