Listen to DJ Premier’s Remix of J. Cole’s “1985”

J. Cole has found a fan in DJ Premier. The esteemed Gang Starr producer evidently appreciated Cole's recent album KOD so much that he dropped a remix of the album's popular song, "1985 (Intro to 'The Fall Off')," today (May 29) after personally asking Cole for the vocals.

On the remix, Primo injects Cole's dusty album closer with organ chords, horn stabs, and record scratches, matching the rapper's criticisms toward new school hip-hop with a proper palette of retro boom bap.

The New York producer shared the story behind the track in the song's caption on SoundCloud. Unsurprisingly, Premier is a fan of contemporary rap's preeminent traditionalist. "I bought J. Cole's 'KOD' LP as soon as it dropped with no warning to the fans; which I too am a fan," he wrote.

"'1985' resonated with me immediately so I asked Cole if I could get the Acapella [sic] 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," Premier continued.

The release follows Cole's interview with the original song's alleged target, Lil Pump, who recorded an unreleased J. Cole diss track last year. Earlier this month, Pump said that the two artists were on "good terms," and days later, Cole and Pump released an hour-long conversation together that reflects a shared sense of understanding of each artist's artistic prerogatives.

This may not be Primo's only A-list collaboration of the summer. A recent Instagram post by Drake hints at the possibility of the producer appearing on the rapper's forthcoming album Scorpion. Premier also released PRhyme 2 with Royce 5'9" in March. The duo kicks off a tour in support of the project this week.

Listen to DJ Premier's "1985" remix below.

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