Salaam Remi Recalls Working With Amy Winehouse, The Roots & Fugees

In the latest episode of Fuse's digital series Backatcha, hip hop producer Salaam Remi looks back on working with the Fugees and Amy Winehouse, as well as his first TV performance.

"It was on Leno a few weeks ago. I played on Fallon with the Roots one time, after Amy Winehouse passed but I never actually performed. I never had a DJ set up by myself," Remi says. "To have to play my song live, rehearse, get the blister on my finger... and for that to happen be on Jay Leno with  Akon and a string quartet and a harp and my band? It was a great experience. I was really excited about it."

Fuse then shows the producer an old image of a floppy disc. "The Fugees Bass Kit, that disc was actually the disc I used 20 years ago, which was the first record I did for the Fugees, 'Nappy Heads.' That’s the drums and bass from the first hit that they made. I was going through my discs at my house and came across the actual disc that was that record."

Remi then pulls out an image of a young Amy Winehouse, who he worked with in the past. "I had a poster of Spragga Benz, the reggae artist, in my living room while Amy was recording Back to Black . 

"She’s actually there doing her parts [for the album]. She knew who Spragga was because he was actually on a couple of her songs, but I actually had his poster in the background, hanging up in the living room while Amy was playing and singing all her vocals on the Back to Black album, the songs I produced."

Catch up on episodes of Backatcha here!