Gang Starr have updated “Bad Name,” their standout track from DJ Premier and the late Guru’s acclaimed 2019 LP One of the Best Yet, with a new remix featuring fresh verses from Method Man and Redman. Rolling Stone has the exclusive premiere of the “Bad Name” remix, which DJ Premier says was one of his priorities following the duo’s first album in 16 years.
“My plan all along was to include and do special remixes after One of the Best Yet was released and I knew Red & Meth would be perfect for the remix of ‘Bad Name’ and they both really wanted to be a part of this remix for me and Guru,” DJ Premier said of the remix. “I did a new arrangement and it’s so dope with Red & Meth putting their spin on it. Meth is the perfect closer and Redman blacks out. He sounds so happy and it comes thru the speakers.”
“Word to god, if Guru was still here, a lot of you weirdos wouldn’t have a real career. Just wannabe gangsters, but you wouldn’t have Premier,” Method Man proclaims on his verse.
In 2019, DJ Premier detailed the difficult road leading up to One of the Best Yet, Gang Starr’s first album since 2003’s The Ownerz: Guru, the wordsmith in the rapper-producer duo, died in 2010, and soon after DJ Premier became involved in a legal battle over Guru’s unreleased recordings between the rapper’s estate and a producer named DJ Solar.
For One of the Best Yet, DJ Premier recruited Gang Starr friends and followers like Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, J. Cole and Royce da 5’9″, with eyes on expanding the guest list for future releases and remixes, like the refurbished “Bad Name.”
“It’s been an incredible run and the feedback has been tremendous. Gang Starr fans are the best and so diehard. They knew with Guru not here, that I was going to pull this off. They trust what we do and knew I wouldn’t put a new Gang Starr album out unless he and I would be proud of it. The illest thing has been going back and re-watching our old archived footage. Seeing Guru happy. It’s brought back so many memories. It’s very documentary level stuff” DJ Premier told Rolling Stone.
“There will be more videos released for One of the Best Yet, but I want to keep the music side fresh,” Premier says. “We’re discussing a bunch of different options, perhaps releasing some new tracks, or a B-side like ‘The ? Remainz.’ There is still music.”