Rapper Bahamadia poses for photos backstage at the Hyatt Hotel in Chicago, Illinois in January 1996. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
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DJ Premier Gives the Backstory to Bahamadia's “True Honey Buns"

DJ Premier Gives the Backstory to Bahamadia's “True Honey Buns"

Published Wed, May 11, 2022 at 1:00 AM EDT

On the most recent episode of DJ Premier's So Wassup, the prolific New York City-based producer gives the backstory to his collaboration with the legendary Philadelphia emcee Bahamadia for her 1996 track “True Honey Buns (Dat Freak Shit).” Preemo explains how Bahamadia was discovered by fellow Gang Starr emcee Guru; through his independent label Ill Kid Records, where he would record demos for promising underground talent in order to shop them around to labels. Other notable acts to get record deals through Ill Kid Records include Jeru the Damaja, Big Suge, and Group Home. 

Preemo explains that he was blown away after hearing Bahamadia.

"Just off top—the vocal style, the attitude, the bark and the confidence of her delivery," he says. "I was like 'she's gonna definitely get an album deal.' And not only that, she's definitely going to be a name to be reckoned with out of female emcees respected on a high level."

Bahamadia landed a record deal with Chrysalis Records and EMI, going on to release her debut studio album, Kollage, on the label, which would feature three tracks produced by Preemo, including the classic deep cut, “True Honey Buns (Dat Freak Shit).” The track is a smooth jam that finds the emcee explaining the events in a woman’s life and how some women can “overdo” it while trying to get a man’s attention, telling her female listeners, “It ain’t what you do, it’s how you do it.”

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Bahamadia spoke with Rock the Bells in 2021 about her career and the evolution of the female emcee in contemporary Hip-Hop culture. The Philly-bred emcee explains she never had an issue being authentic in an era of hypersexualized women emcees, instead, being signed for her impeccable wordplay and undeniable swagger. 

“I was in a very rare position where I was signed for my authentic self,” Bahamadia says. “I had full creative control. They didn't give me any flack about anything, not imaging or anything like that. It was super rare during that time when it was just starting to be about focus on branding and sex appeal and all that stuff. I just didn't have those issues at all.”

Be sure to check out the full episode of DJ Premier's Youtube series, So Wassup? And stay tuned for more classic Hip-Hop news.

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