On the latest episode of DJ Premier's So Wassup, he breaks down the making of "B.E.P. Empire" by the Black Eyed Peas. Preemo explains that he first witnessed the Black Eyed Peas on the Smokin' Grooves Tour in '98, which included Cypress Hill, Public Enemy, Busta Rhymes & The Flip Mode Squad, Roc Marciano (as part of Flip Mode), Alchemist (as roadie for Cypress Hill), Wyclef, Pras, Canibus and Mya.

"This group that I had never heard of or seen was an opening act," Premier shared. " They were so unique. They were called the Black Eyed Peas. This was 1998 and they danced and performed so unlike they do now. They were different, original, and gave you a good performance. We'd be backstage sayin' 'Them Black Eyed Peas dudes gonna blow.'"

Premier says that he stayed in contact with the group, and in 2000 they were working on their debut Bridging The Gap with Steve Stoute who was at Interscope Records. "Steve brought them to D&D Studios and I cooked up a beat on the spot," he explained. "They said that they wanted to do something to the beat and they started writing. Stoute asked them to do something harder, and Will.i.am said that they're real no matter how they do it, and that they were gonna do it their way."

Premier says that the song was originally untitled until they named it "Empire". "The record was laid, the verses were done, and Taboo, Apple, and Will.i.am all did what was necessary to make it a complete record. We were all satisfied and didn't know what to call it. At first we called it 'Empire' because of the empire of us all together." Since B.E.P. is the group's acronym, Preemo says that B.E.P. Empire had a better ring.

Check out the episode above.