Published Sat, January 16, 2021 at 2:00 AM EST
Some albums cast such a large shadow over popular music that it's impossible to imagine a landscape without the indentation of their impact.
"Whenever I produce, I do it with a deejay mentality," Preemo told HipHopDX in 2011. "When I say a deejay mentality, we pay very close attention to everything that comes out on a record. We dissect it."
We just needed more space to do our stuff. They had me kinda frustrated, as far as creativity. I did not want a mansion and a limo to take me everywhere. But I did want my own space to create more..."
- Guru on leaving Wild Pitch Records (1991)
The stripped-down grooves of "Step In The Arena" pointed the way to post-Bomb Squad East Coast hardcore's sonic trademarks; from Da Beatminerz to Havoc of Mobb Deep, Preemo's beats here are a jumping off point for the rest of the 1990s.