DJ Premier & The Badder Band: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Aug 21, 2017 | Abby O’Neill | Three-time Grammy winner DJ Premier, one of the definitive architects of New York hip-hop, brought a new type of life to NPR’s Tiny Desk: our first concert helmed by a DJ. A packed house of head-nodding journalists grooved through their lunch hour to a nine-song medley of iconic Premier productions while decompressing from the unrelenting grind of the news cycle. The set list rested on the undeniable footprint of Preemo’s classics, but this was more than just another DJ mix. His touring outfit, The Badder Band, overlaid Premier’s blends with an undulating electric bass courtesy of Brady Watt, a steady accent on the one from drummer Lenny “The Ox“ Reece and boisterous horns from Mark Williams and Jonathan Powell. But it was Premier who remained front-and-center, commanding the crowd like a true party rocker. With throwbacks ranging from Gangstarr’s “Step into the Arena“ to an amped rendition of Jeru The Damaja’s “Da Bi