DJ PREMIER TELLS THE STORIES BEHIND ‘MOMENT OF TRUTH’ ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Gang Starr’s Moment of Truth album, DJ Premier sat down with Billboard to offer some behind the scenes stories to many of the album’s standout tracks. Here are a few choice quotes from that interview.

On “Militia” (Feat. Big Shug & Freddie Foxx a.k.a. Bumpy Knuckles)…

I remember Bumpy Knuckles came in wearing all mink everything and said, “Yo, when I spit my verse, I gotta pull my guns out and aim them.” He was serious! I told him that I was going to duck in the event that those guns accidentally went off. He pulled out the twin glocks, spit his verse in one take and said, “I’ve got a meeting to go to” and left! He came in at 10am, pulled out his guns, kicked his verse and then said he hoped we did a video —which we did — and then was gone.

On “Moment of Truth”…

The day we went back after he beat the case was the day he wrote the song “Moment of Truth.” When I heard his lyrics, I remember how emotional it was. We were going through deaths around us. The passing of my accountant Mary Coleman who was the first person I shouted out on “In Memory of…” was particularly devastating for me. She was beyond my accountant. She was my mother away from home.

That song made me want to cry. I’m not really a crying type. But to hear those lyrics and knowing everything that he was going through at that time was very, very emotional. Today, I perform it with my band and every time I damn near fall apart, but in a good way. Like when James Brown would drop to his knees when he performed. I didn’t know what to expect until he did it.