J. Cole closed out his latest album KOD with the standout cut “1985,” in which he serves up some words of encouragement (and warnings) to young rappers. While the track was dedicated to the younger generation, Cole’s “1985” seems to have resonated with hip-hop vets, including DJ Premier, who rolled out his own remix titled “1966 Remix.”
For Preemo’s remix, Cole’s original smooth, minimalist beat is beefed up by the famed DJ’s masterful rugged scratches and sharp boom-bap production.
“I bought J. Cole’s KOD LP as soon as it dropped with no warning to the fans; which I too am a fan,” Preemo said in a statement. “‘1985’ resonated with me immediately, so I asked Cole if I could get the a cappella and do an underground DJ version just for fun. He sent it and I just pieced some stab samples to keep it on some boom bap shit.”
With a career spanning three decades, Preemo is still in demand. The DJ recently teamed up with Royce Da 5’9″ for PRhyme2 and might have a Drake collaboration on the way after Drizzy posted a throwback photo of Preemo with the scorpion emoji on his Instagram Story earlier this month.
Listen to DJ Premier remix J. Cole’s “1985” below: