Last year, DJ Premier cobbled together a bunch of unreleased material that comprised a Gang Starr album titled One of the Best Yet. Today, there’s an instrumental version of that album that’s out, and on it is the song “Glowing Mic,” which features a previously unreleased verse from the late Guru.
“There are two versions of a song called ‘Mr. Gang Starr,’ one version was released right after Guru passed away. The version I had stored away has totally different and unreleased lyrics,” DJ Premier told Rolling Stone. “As I was constructing the track, I found a scratch from Torae ‘I Destroy The Mic For My Glow’ and it was an instant decision on what to name the track (‘Glowing Mic’).”
Listen to the song below.
In a press release, Preemo elaborated on why he decided to release the album in an instrumental format and why it remains powerful 10 years after his longtime collaborator died.
“The DJ market, especially for instrumentals has never waned. I have always stayed in tune with my consumers because I am one of them,” he said. “I like to release what I would buy and it seems like I am not alone.
“I feel totally satisfied knowing I made so many people happy; including Guru’s family, his fans and peers who love him and Gang Starr.”
Earlier this year, Preemo featured on the new Public Enemy song “State of the Union (STFU)” and Run the Jewels’ “Ooh La La.”