Friday, December 7, 2019
A couple minutes after direct messaging the artist: “here,” him and his friend met me at the front desk. I followed them across the cafe and into the elevator. On the way up I felt like I was holding my breath. I came this far downtown to conduct my very first interview for BetterinPrintMagazine. My muse? A popular 20 year old disk jockey from Chicago. I made conversation with the artist as we stepped onto the second floor of The University Building at Columbia. I noted the DJ wore a black graphic hoodie with sweatpants to match. To top off the all black fit he wore a custom Chicago White Sox’s hat. The snapback had three 7s on one side and five distinct letters on the back:
Preme.
Preme, (Instagram handle: @prem3__ ), is the party god who’s sets are notorious for breathing energy into venues. Whether its his own show or he’s opening for a well known musician, its inevitable that the crowd will rush to the dance floor once he mounts the podium. The musician just made 20 and has already opened for big name artist like Pierre Bourne and Lil Keed. You might also recognize him from DJing two consecutive Summer Smash Festival or the 2020 All Star Games.
han : Where are you from ?
“Im from Chicago, the south east-side area you know, kinda like 95th and Jeffrey going towards the hundreds. It’s a lot of art and inspiration over east where Herb and all them grewup.”
han : And why music ?
“I’ve been a music head all my life. I was the rap kid that would look up lyrics and love to decipher albums for fun.” he responded though a smile.
“Im 19, but I’m really connected to the Kanye West Generation. I started DJing when I was 12 and fell in love with t-ing people up and stuff like that, I love watching them dance.”
“Ive been a music head all my life. I was the rap kid that would look up lyrics and love to decipher albums for fun”
-DJ Preme
han : What was the Lil Tecca show like?
“Well they’d announced the show like two months before and I already knew it was a show I’d really, really wanted. And I’ve worked with Lyrical Lemonade and Speaker Box in the past for the Summer Smash Festival so I was already used to big crowds. I don’t have a problem getting shows with bigger name artist who come to Chicago. But I wanted to make sure the Lil Tecca show was something that was just me, something that I’d earned. I remember when I got the call and the guy on the phone says: “Yo Preme, you’re doing Lil Tecca tonight.”
Even when retelling the story Preme’s eyes get wide like he was hearing the news again for the first time.
“And I’m like oh snap, oh my god, okay, cool. I’d made a post on Twitter and on my IG and everything and it was just nuts. My Twitter and Instagram started going crazy. The show sold out the day of and when I pulled up at the show at 8:00PM the lines were wrapped for two blocks. There is just a crazy difference waiting for the crowd verses when the crowd is already there and they just fill up the place.” He says making grand hand gestures. I love Preme’s philosophy of thinking of DJing as a collaboration, not just a performance.
“ I remember reintroducing myself and telling them ” if you give me energy I’ll give ya’ll energy. ” After the night was over I went back to my managers and we just looked at videos from me that night, and man. The performance was so different, like I think about that crowd a lot. I usually have crowds that just jump around, but when it came to singing lyrics they sounded like choir, like… yea. I really liked that aspect. I was up all night thinking about it like: “Yo, *laughs* lets run it back.”
“If you give me energy–I’ll give ya’ll energy.”
-DJ Preme
han : So, what's you're creative process when you're performing?
“I usually introduce myself every set, and I always try to relate to the crowd and play off of feeling. Like at the Lil Tecca show they gave me an hour and thirty and after my initial mix, when I felt the crowd getting stale I did my go to song is Waka Flacka Hard in the Paint. And after I get that out the way, *claps hands* — gone, it was just gone.”
“Now it can be a random Saturday and I could be opening for my favorite artist.”
-DJ Preme
han : Did you imagine yourself here when you were younger?
“Mmm.. yea. When I was younger I used to be in my room playing songs and act like I was on stage. Now that I’m actually here and doing it it’s kinda scary, like I used to do this all the time, now it can be a random Saturday and I could be opening for my favorite artist.”
han : What do you have planned for 2020?
“Im about to start doing my own shows and really just earn opportunity. That’s all I’ve been thinking about lately, earning. A lot of people think because of my associations that stuff gets handed to me, but this shit is not easy. It’s about building your credibility. Like when I performed at Summer Smash they called me last minute because they know I can perform a raw ass show and they know I’m going to be there on time.”
han : What is The Preme Night Show? (PNS)
“Just getting bring out special guest and doing night show events and making it like it used to be. I’ve been talking to my homie Warhol who is back in Chicago and the homie Supabwe who I did a show for a couple weeks ago, and thats like my big brother. I also want to do work with Save Money Vic Mensa’s collective and maybe combine all those people.”
han : Tell me more about what you mean by: " Like how the city used to be."
“I mean earlier Chicago like 2012 – 2016 when I was really outside. It was crazy because there would be parties and shows every weekend and you’d get to meet people. I remember when Lyrical Lemonade did a Playboi Cardi show and early Lil Pump and early Smoke Purp were there. It was nice because you got a chance to meet these people before they were super rich. I kinda want to bring that back with The Preme Night Show, like the availbilty to link with people who you think are on. I miss that crazy feeling in the streets of Chicago like something was always happening. I want to start the next decade off just raw and organic. I want to bring that old feeling back cause thats when the city is most in its glow, you know?”
han : What values do you hold highest as a musician?
“I think it’s really important to remember where you came from as an artist because a lot of people would not be who they are today without the city. I feel like that is something people forget about too. When I see my friend Cole Bennett at an underground party I almost catch myself saying “What are you doing here?” but then I remember he’s like a man of the people. People still trust him with the culture of deciding whats really hot and whats really not and I love that. Sometimes you have to really go back to that to see what people are listening to and wearing and stuff like that. Yea, people can forget that.”
han : What is music Betterin?
I would say music is Betterin person. When you see a person live like when I saw Travis Scott or Lil Uzi it makes the music more meaningful you know? I love when people say mimicking voice “Awh this was the song that was playing when we first met.” And it’s especially true when you think about the acoustics and sounds, or just defining a year with all your friends, music is always better in Person.”
Listen to DJ Preme’s Hottest mixes now on SoundCloud:
