In 2019 I crossed off an item from my bucket list: I got to work with DJ Premier on the first album from Gang Starr in over 15 years: One Of The Best Yet. The album had previously-unheard verses from the late Guru, joined by the likes of J. Cole (“Family & Loyalty“), Talib Kweli, Ne-Yo, Nitty Scott, Q-Tip, Royce 5’9, Big Shug, Freddie Foxxx, and Group Home, among others.
Premier has now released an instrumental version of One Of The Best Yet, which came with the bonus track “Glowing Mic” which is an new take on the song “Mr. Gang Starr.” “Since the song ‘Mr. Gang Starr’ was previously released after we hadn’t worked together in so long, I noticed the multitrack session said ‘Mr. Gang Starr (Original Version),’” DJ Premier said to Rolling Stone. “The lyrics and the hook are totally different so I gravitated to it and I didn’t want to use the same title and confuse people. My search for scratch ideas landed me across a song I produced for Torae (‘For the Record’) in 2011. The line says ‘I destroy the mic for my glow.’ Instantly ‘Glowing Mic’ became the title simply from hearing that line.”
Hear it below.
