Last November, DJ Premier celebrated the relaunch of the iconic record label Payday by teaming up with ASAP Ferg to release the banger "Our Streets." The released served as the first of four Premier collabs to commemorate the revamping of Payday, which was formed by longtime Gang Starr manager Patrick Moxey back in 1992, and released key early songs—many of them produced by Preem—by artists like Yasiin Bey, JAY-Z, Jeru the Damaja, and Showbiz & AG. Now, to help bring that legacy into a new era, the second Premier team-up has arrived: the producer has joined forces with Casanova for "Wut U Said?" Complex is proud to premiere the track, which you can hear above.
Premier picked Casanova for the track for a very specific reason.
"Making decisions from a DJ/producer/fan perspective is always my approach when I make a new joint for an artist," Preem told Complex. "Since the Payday deal is a four-single deal, how do you follow the ASAP Ferg record 'Our Streets'? I love hardcore hip-hop so much, which mentally took me into a darker place and I immediately thought of Casanova."
And it was Casanova's back catalog that cemented the deal.
"I love 'Don't Run' and 'Set Trippin' and saw the impact it has in the clubs," Premier added. "I told him that I want to attack the same vibe, but change the tempo into the Preemo tempo. He was there when I made the beat, so he immediately recited the hook to me and I was already sold! I was hoping that he would do his trademark 'B-B-BOOOM' which gets me so amped, so when he put this in the song I knew we had a winner!
For Casanova, the chance to record with Premier was unforgettable.
"There are heroes and there are legends," Casanova he said. "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. This collaboration is legendary. Hope dat don't go over ya head."
The upcoming video for the track will be directed by photographer Daniel Hastings, who shot the covers for Gang Starr classics Mass Appeal and Hard to Earn, as well as covers for Jeru the Damaja and Group Home on Payday.
Premier is in the middle of a big winning streak. In addition to the Payday singles, he produced "Sandra's Rose" off of Drake's Scorpion—a song that was the culmination, he told Complex, of years of conversations about doing a track together. Now all we need is the unreleased version with the scratches.
"Wut U Said?" is available now on all streaming services. Check out the official video below.
