Just under one month ago, DJ Premier and A$AP Ferg linked for “Our Streets.” The hard-nosed Hip-Hop collaboration marked the relaunch of Payday Records, once home to JAY-Z, Jeru The Damaja, Showbiz & A.G., Group Home, WC, and more.

Setting December off in style, Preemo and Ferg deliver the video, which is appropriately rooted in the streets of Harlem’s New York. The Gang Starr O.G. rocks a durag to match Ferg’s, with throwback sweatsuits. In between a shopping spree, they post on the block with a twin to Marley Marl’s BMW M5 on the cover of In Control, Vol. 2. It’s the perfect aesthetic for a joint that feels like a Y2K-era Premier track (with its vocal drop, scratch chorus, and front-and-center drums). Meanwhile, Ferg’s voice shows that the loudest voice in A$AP Mob this year is deeply connected to Rap roots, especially in his city.

Ferg delivers his bars with gusto. “Done created a dream world, slept with my dream girl / Brought mama that new house, diamonds and mean pearls / Done went to Africa, talked to the have-nots
Donated some uniforms, teach ’em how to have guap / Preemo put the soul in it, I make the track hot / And this thing forever, got the game in a padlock / I just want somethin’ real, I’m tired of the ass shots / Don’t wanna go to the club, I’m tired of them trap spots / My generation’s stuck on stupid / Showin’ guns on the ‘Gram, but no one use it / Sometimes I feel like I’m about to lose it / Because the fake win when y’all know what the truth is / It’s me, the F-E-R to the f*ckin’ G.” The MC who has put Method Man, ONYX, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony on high profile albums consumed by Rap’s younger generation shows that he’s studied the greats.

Preemo beats have long captured a timeless NYC feel. Leading 2010s artists like Ferg tap into that sound, just as Jay, Nas, Biggie Smalls, The LOX, and so many others did. For Hip-Hop Heads, the “Our Streets” visual is payday.

While Ferg dropped Still Striving, Preemo’s labels released MC Eiht’s Which Way Iz West album (now available on vinyl), and Torii Wolf’s Flow Riot. In each, he executive produced—as well as provided plenty of beats.

Photo by  Manny Inoa.