DJ Premier is one of the greatest rap producers of all time, a sound scientist who always managed to conjure entire orchestras out of crackly old samples. He’s never worked with a live band before, but there’s a first time for everything. And now he’s leading the Baddest, a drum/horn/bass combo that puts his scratching and his vibe front-and-center, as Rolling Stone reports. They put together “Bpatter,’ their first single together, at a rehearsal in Japan, and it builds a powerful groove. The song would be an instrumental if it weren’t for Preemo playing hypeman on his own track, but that works out pretty well. Check out the song and its murky black-and-white video, directed by Hastings & Santana, below.

Premier and the Baddest are on tour in Europe right now, and they don’t seem to be in any hurry to put out a record.