CD Odyssey Disc 1337: Gang Starr

For the second straight album, we take a trip into the land of rap.

Late last year Gang Starr put out a posthumous (for Guru) album of previously unreleased music. When I saw it, I shrugged. That’s because I’m not usually interested in albums that come out after an artist’s death; too often they’re the dregs from the studio floor, or, in an effort to work with limited takes and masters, have spotty production. However, listening to this next record reminded me that it is always wise to give a favoured artist another chance to impress you.

Disc 1337 is…The Ownerz

Artist: Gang Starr

Year of Release: 2003

What’s up with the Cover? Guru and DJ Premier stand in front of the Mansion of Bass! Check out those gate posts! This would be awesome if you lived there, but terrible if you lived across the street.

How I Came to Know It: I bought this about five years ago when I was digging through Gang Starr’s back catalogue.

How It Stacks Up: I have six Gang Starr albums. I had saved the lowest ranking for “The Ownerz” but it ended up being a pleasant surprise. Instead, I’m bumping “Moment of Truth” down a spot and giving “The Ownerz” #5. This is the final album in my collection, so here's the recap:

1. Step in the Arena: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 737)
2. Hard to Earn: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 382)
3. Daily Operation: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 508)
4. No More Mr. Nice Guy: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1155)
5. The Ownerz: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
6. Moment of Truth: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 988)

Ratings: 3 stars

I was really ready to be underwhelmed by “The Ownerz,” a record I consistently pass over in favour of other Gang Starr albums. I was even excited to save a little storage space in my overgrown collection. Alas, it was not to be. Despite my inclinations, I ended up having a very good time.

This is a rarity, as there isn’t much rap music released in the 21^st century that catches my attention, but Guru’s flow is good in any year. His untimely death in 2010 was a real loss for music.

Guru’s style puts smooth first, so don’t expect a lot of furious spitting. He has lots to say, but it comes out soft and thoughtfully, much like his chosen subjects. Sometimes that will be political reflections on the state of race relations, sometimes observations about the sorry state of the rap music industry, and sometimes just a few sexy rhymes to get the attention of a lady.

DJ Premier employs a lot of jazz-infused scratches and samples, but “The Ownerz” has a harder, more aggressive edge when the song’s topic calls for it.

As with other later records in their discography (and generally what goes on in rap music of late), Gang Starr employs lots of guest vocalists. Jadakiss brings some great energy to “Rite Where U Stand” including:

“Let the .40 Cal give em a perm
This industry is like bacteria and my flow is a germ”

Usually I think of Guru when I think of “science nerd” rhymes, but here Jadakiss shows he’s down for a little biology.

My favourite guest is the ever-angry pugilist, Freddie the Foxx, who reprises his militia persona on “Capture (Militia Pt.3)”. No one is quite so angry as Freddie, opening his section of the song with:

“There’s one ripped out the frame, felony act

Everybody get the fuck up, welcome me back.”

Welcome back, Freddie – never change.

“Riot Akt” is another bright spot, with Guru digging into race relations in America in a way that is thoughtful and provocative in equal measure.

Despite all these great moments, the album suffers from being slightly too long (56 minutes) and with way too many tracks (19). Admittedly, a few of these tracks are just skits, but those skits aren’t all that interesting. And some of those skits are built right into the track itself, which I didn’t appreciate either. “Hiney” is a half-skit, half-rap, an a capella free form track where DJ Premier goes on at great length about his dick’s…er…great length. It’s a novel song the first time you encounter it but doesn’t stand up over time. Get it? Get it?

Also, would it kill these guys to spell correctly? Incorrect spelling adds exactly nothing to the value of a song title and degrades language without purpose. And yes, this also goes for Prince, who I blame for starting the whole fad back in the eighties.

Anyway, I always admire how Gang Starr fuses jazz sounds into something that makes me enjoy the experience, and “The Ownerz” once again puts this skill on display. The album is bloated and a bit self-absorbed, but that’s hardly an uncommon malaise in rap records of this era. In the end the best moments outweigh the forgettable ones, even if they don’t outnumber them. As a result, the record earned its way right back into the collection yet again.

Best tracks: Put Up or Shut Up, Rite Where U Stand, Who Got Gunz, Capture (Militia Pt.3), Riot Akt, Same Team No Games

CD Odyssey Disc 1155: Gang Starr

I got home very tired last night and didn’t have it in me to review my album. That’s OK because the extra day I spent listening to it made me appreciate it more.

Disc 1155 is… No More Mr. Nice Guy

Artist: Gang Starr

Year of Release: 1989

What’s up with the Cover? Two super cool dudes wearing clothes that are no longer super cool. The “white out” background is similarly of its time.

How I Came To Know It: I was just digging through Gang Starr’s discography and found this early gem. Like most other Gang Starr I’ve heard, I liked it.

How It Stacks Up:  I have six Gang Starr albums, which is all of them. Of the six, “No More Mr. Nice Guy” comes in 4^th.

Ratings: 3 stars

Gang Starr’s first album is raw and uneven, but laced with plenty of tracks that hint at greatness to come. This album is just a cool beat, a couple of well-placed samples and Guru droppin’ rhymes. It isn’t the sheer brilliance of 1991’s “Step in the Arena” but it has plenty to recommend it.

Best of these is “Manifest,” a classic rap song from the golden age of rap - a time when rappers rapped about rappin’. Guru’s flow is back on the beat but still maintain a groovy energy, combining rapid-fire MF Doom style rhyme density with basic couplets that gives the song structure. The groove has a heavy jazz feel, which is an influence felt throughout the record.

If anything there is too much jazz, particularly “Jazz Music” which is an homage to the history of the style. Despite many attempted visits to the altar of jazz, I can never bring myself to worship there, so while I like the isolated samples on the record, I can’t pick up what they’re putting down on “Jazz Music.”

When they’re not rappin’ about rappin’, Gang Starr spends their time providing positive messages like staying positive (“Positivity”) and how your actions impact others (“Cause and Effect”). It is a minor miracle that it doesn’t come off as an after-school special, or public service announcement. Instead, these positive songs inspire some of the better rhymes on the record.

This call to live a mindful life is the progenitor of a lot of today’s socially conscious rap and despite the sometimes obvious messages, it remains heartfelt and real. More impressive is that Gang Starr can deliver the message without ever resorting to politics. These are universal messages about how to treat your fellow man, not surface-level complaints about politics of the day. As a result, thirty years later the songs are still fresh.

The beats are fresh as well, with some solid scratching from DJ Premier. On “DJ Premier in Deep Concentration” it feels like he’s just showing off, but you are too busy appreciating the skill to mind.

Rap was so pure in the day, and the samples employed were always repurposed in a way that made it into new art. The sample laws of the early nineties did a big disservice to rap, but in 1989 early adopters like Gang Starr were free to try whatever would work. They respected the privilege and the result is some very cool sample layers mixing funk and jazz into something new. On top of it all, Guru drops his rhymes, unhurried and confident flow. That flow has more than a few imperfect rhymes and there were times it made me cringe, but for the most part Guru’s skillful delivery makes it work.

My biggest complaint with this record is it is too long. It features 14 songs, but two are remixes (“Positivity” and “Manifest”) and neither is necessary. The remix of “Manifest” is particularly disappointing, because it pushes the vocals to the back of the mix, making your ear strain to hear it. These early beats can’t carry all that extra load, and it just felt like Guru was rapping through a tin can attached to a string.

There are a few other songs I could live without as well, but overall “No More Mr. Nice Guy” is a classic of early rap music. It isn’t the best record of its time, but it is worth your time if you like this era of the art form.

Best tracks: Manifest (original mix), Gusto, Cause and Effect, 2 Steps Ahead, Knowledge, Positivity (original mix)

CD Odyssey Disc 988: Gang Starr

I am in the middle of a delightfully relaxing weekend, chilling out with my lovely wife and watching the world go by. It was exactly what I needed.

I even found time for a small CD shop. I bought four albums: the new Shovels & Rope album, the new Aimee Mann album, as well as old seventies albums by John Prine and Heart. I’ll talk about those when I roll ‘em.

Disc 988 is…Moment of Truth

Artist: Gang Starr

Year of Release: 1998

What’s up with the Cover? Guru and DJ Premier approach the bench. Presumably the judge is explaining that a tour shirt is not appropriate attire for the court room. Also everything is bathed in a golden light. Is the courtroom under some curious enchantment or am I having a stroke? Does anyone else smell toast?

How I Came To Know It: I already knew Gang Starr and thought I had enough of their music to be happy when my friend Patrick sent me a Youtube clip of the song “The Militia”. When I heard it, I knew I had to have whatever album it was on. This was it.

How It Stacks Up:  I have six Gang Starr albums, which is all of them. Of those six, I put “Moment of Truth” fifth.

Ratings: 2 stars

“Know when to say when” is an expression that was temporarily forgotten in the heyday of the compact disc. All of a sudden artists had a format that could hold 80 minutes of music and were determined to use it. Songs that should have been cut and left on the studio floor started making it onto albums. Gang Starr is a repeat offender of this failure to edit, and “Moment of Truth” is this tendency at its worst.

I’ve gone on about album length many times in the past, but that’s because it is important. Overly long albums are hard to focus on, and almost always have weak and self-indulgent selections. There is plenty of good music on “Moment of Truth” but like a clogged artery, it is made less efficient because of all the musical congestion. This album has 20 songs and is 78 minutes long. If you aren’t “The Wall” or “London Calling” there is a good chance this is a mistake.

In addition to songs that are forgettable, “Moment of Truth” also wastes time with skits and rants. This includes a series of phone messages from sexy women offering Guru support in the wake of his arrest for gun possession (as well as a song “JFK 2 LAX” about the same topic). Both the song and the skit should go.

Later Guru spits some invective at other rappers who reveal where Gang Starr is getting samples. “Moment of Truth” came out in the era where you were legally required to pay to sample other songs, which has severely limited the way the art form has evolved – and not for the better. While I share Guru’s sentiment I’d rather listen to music, not a long diatribe about not being a fink.

For all these complaints, I still enjoyed this album. If some rap is for dancing, some for driving and some for having a party, “Moment of Truth” is rap for chillin’ out. The sound is heavily influenced by jazz and 70s smooth and the beats are laid back and slow. Guru’s rhymes take their time unfolding, focusing on smooth cadence over furiously packing a lot of rhymes into a single line.

Also this album features one of my favourite rap songs of all time, “The Militia.” A classic “we rap better than you” track, “The Militia” has a funky R&B guitar sample, and some sweet scratching from DJ Premier. The song is a collaboration of a number of artists, including Big Shug and Freddie Foxxx. When Freddie Foxxx takes the mic at the end and starts spitting about delivering beat downs (through both his raps and his fists) it is one of rap’s great moments.

Thematically, the album covers a lot of ground, including the pressures of maintaining the rap lifestyle (even when it can be unhealthy) as well as the importance of working hard if you want to succeed at the rap game. I’ve always admired the positive messages that wind through Gang Starr albums. Behind all the requisite references to guns and girls, Gang Starr is a self-examined bunch. As they say on the title track:

“Don’t even feel like drinking or even getting high

‘Cause all that’s gonna do really is accelerate

The anxieties I wish I could alleviate.”

Not many rappers would admit that they are avoiding drinking and drugs, and later in this song Guru doubles down, eschewing violence as well:

I’m ready to lose my mind but instead I use my mind

I put down the knife and take the bullets out of my nine

My only crime was that I’m too damned kind

And now some scandalous Motherf___s wanna take what’s mine

But they can’t take the respect that I’ve earned in my lifetime

And you know they’ll never stop the furious force of my rhymes.”

Not many rappers would be brave enough to talk this way, but Guru not only does so, he manages to sound tough at the same time. His rhymes are powerful enough to protect him all on their own.

Unfortunately, these messages are spread through a massive and sprawling album that threatens to drown them in a sea of less compelling songs. Less is more, Gang Starr.

Best tracks: You Know My Steez, Moment of Truth, B.I. vs. Friendship, the Militia

CD Odyssey Disc 737: Gang Starr

I’ve had a pretty productive week and things that usually bother me aren’t. I just feel chill and capable, kind of like this next album.

Disc 737 is…. Step in the Arena

Artist: Gang Starr

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover?  What a lovely photo from the 19^th century. You can tell it is from the 19^th century because it has a sepia tone to it and the two gentlemen depicted are not smiling. No one smiled for photos back then.

Guru is sporting a New Orleans Saints cap and DJ Premier is rockin’ the Minnesota North Stars hat. The year this album came out wasn’t a great year for either team. The Saints went 8-8 and lost in the first round of the playoffs and the North Stars went 36-40-4 and also lost in the first round of the playoffs.

The year after though, the Saints went 11-5 and the North Stars went all the way to the Stanley Cup. We must therefore conclude this album’s release inspired both teams to greatness. On a bittersweet note, Gurus’s Saints won the Super Bowl in 2009, the year before he died. I hope I don’t have to cut it that close with the Dolphins.

But I digress…

How I Came To Know It: My friend Casey introduced me to Guru’s solo work through “Jazzmatazz” and when I found out he was originally one half of the rap act Gang Starr I sought them out. I bought this album first because it was the oldest one in the store, and I like my rap old-school.

How It Stacks Up:  I have six Gang Starr albums, so obviously my first purchase inspired me to more. In fact, I have since bought all six of their albums. Out of their entire discography, “Step in the Arena” is my favourite.

Ratings: 5 stars

The beauty of “Step in the Arena” is in its simplicity; lay down a beat, and then rap on top of that beat. If you do it this well you don’t need the tricks used in so much modern hip hop music.

The smooth jazz feel to “Step in the Arena” leaves plenty of negative space that if the album were made today would be filled with some guest singer singing a pop hook. Instead Gang Starr trusts to the strength of their beats and rhymes. They know they are that good. The empty space in these songs let you properly appreciate how carefully chosen the beats are, and how masterfully Guru will slide in and out of that beat as he spits his raps.

Style-wise Guru has a lot in common with LL Cool J with his laid back style that feels like it is sitting back into the beat like it was a leather easy chair. On “Step in the Arena” Guru is never better, occasionally sitting forward to emphasize a particularly intricate series of rhymes, like someone chillin’ in your house who leans in to tell you a particularly interesting tale.

Guru spends most of the album boasting of his rap prowess, but he also takes time out for social commentary on songs like “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?” and “Just to Get a Rep.” Whatever he is rapping about, he constructs his rhymes with patience and a natural instinct. I’ve said on this blog many times that Rakim is my favourite rapper and I stand by that, but Guru is a close second.

DJ Premier keeps it incredibly simple, with a drum track and one or two samples at a time. It could be a vocal clip, it could be a bass riff or it could just be a sweet demonstration of scratching but he knows not to overdo it. There are lots of clever and innovative sound choices on “Step in the Arena” but Premier knows not to blow his whole arsenal at once. He spreads it out, sweet and smooth like strawberry jam.

I also appreciate how positive the message is on “Step in the Arena.” This is an album that puts down the materialism other rap artists are worshipping at this time. For Gang Starr, nice cars are nice, but they are just things. The important thing is strength of character. They take these positive messages and make them cool and interesting. Gang Starr teaches you lessons in a way that doesn’t feel like you are getting preached at. Like your big brother, they are good guys and they are cool, and you just want to be like them.

The production on the album is a bit fuzzy, but the songs are so good you easily forgive it and compensate by turning the stereo up a bit. Also, at 18 tracks it is a bit too long, including a few short musical ‘filler’ tracks that the record doesn’t benefit from. That said, there are still a solid 16 tracks on this album and when I searched for the ones I wanted to cut I could only find a couple of one minute filler tracks. These were so inoffensive that they don’t harm the record’s overall flow.

I didn’t want to give this album 5 stars because I haven’t rewarded Eric B. and Rakim with that honour yet, but I can’t find any songs I’d do without on this album. In terms of their total career, Eric B. and Rakim take the win, but I’m not denying Gang Starr props for this rap classic. Five stars it is.

Best tracks: Close enough to everything that I’ll just say everything.

CD Odyssey Disc 508: Gang Starr

Happy Saturday afternoon!  I’ve had a relaxed Saturday, starting with a friendly game of ultimate, then lunch out and now while Sheila naps I’m getting in another music review.  So here it is...

Disc 508 is…. Daily Operation

Artist: Gang Starr

Year of Release: 1992

What’s up with the Cover?  It would appear to be Guru and DJ Premier hanging out at their home office.  This picture is filled with all kinds of fun little details.  Along with the requisite cash, there’s a copy of what I think is “Message to the Black Man in America” by Elijah Muhammad, leader of a religious group in the U.S. called “Nation of Islam.” The other book looks like “the Bible of Gang Starr” based on its cover.  I think the portrait in the background is Malcolm X but I know very little about American history, so that’s just a guess.  A globe, a skull and a couple of typewriters round out the combination of business and activism that define the Gang Starr office space.

How I Came To Know It:  As I noted when I reviewed “Hard to Earn” back at Disc 382, my friend Casey introduced me to Guru’s solo work, and I discovered his stuff with Gang Starr from there.  “Daily Operation” is my most recent acquisition of Gang Starr’s music, and I’ve only had it for a year or so.

How It Stacks Up:  I now have four Gang Starr albums.  “Daily Operation” is good, but not great.  I’ll put it third out of four.

Rating:  3 stars

In their day, compact discs made listening to music so much more convenient, but they also provided artists the opportunity record twice as much music as had fit on vinyl.  More does not always mean better, and rap was particularly guilty of letting their albums get bloated.  This is what happened to “Daily Operation.”

“Daily Operation” clocks in at 53 minutes which is a bit long, but n terms of playing time, there are worse offenders.  The real problem is that there are eighteen tracks.  Too many tracks just makes it hard to get a proper feel for an album and sure enough, I had a hard time to get a feel for this one.

That said, Gang Starr have loads of talent.  DJ Premier chooses his samples well, and around this time the band was getting into sampling a lot of jazz licks along with the usual James Brown and other rap artists.  The biggest problem with jazz in its natural environment is that a lick  may start out pleasant but it usually ends up noodling off into self-referential smugness.  Caged in a sample, these licks are much more enjoyable.  I’d rather listen to a sax solo looped in a four minute Gang Starr song than that same jazz musician taking eight to ten minutes of  my life so he can demonstrate that he’s very proficient on his instrument.

Guru’s raps are creative and his phrasing his clever and pulls you naturally with and through the beat.  The guest rappers ’Lil Dap and Jeru the Damaja who appear on “I’m the Man” are great too, and add good variety to the ear.

As with “Hard to Earn” a lot of the raps on “Daily Operation” are about the most time-honoured rap topic of “I can rap better than you.”  “Flip the Script,” and “No Shame in My Game” are both excellent examples of this topic delivered with innovative rhymes, creative New York rhythms and catchy beats.

Some of my favourite put-downs on the album include this from “Flip the Script”:

“Your capabilities fall short

So imma gonna treat you like a dwarf

On a basketball court.”

And this from “No Shame In My Game”:

“I like to catch a buzz cuz I get into the beats more

MCs are washed up like dead fish on the seashore.”

In addition, the boys gets a bit more political, giving props to the Nation of Islam (remember the book from “What’s Up With the Cover”) and call out what they perceive as systemic faults in America in “Conspiracy.”

In terms of samples, there are some inspired choices, including horns from Caesar Frazier’s “Funk it Up” in “Ex Girl to the Next Girl” a song about a crazy ex-girlfriend that Guru is telling to please leave him along (in the song she is unhappy he’s got a new girlfriend and is trying to…er… ‘funk it up’?  I also dig the piano sample in “B.Y.S.” from Sugar Billy Garner’s “I Got Some.”  I’d never heard of either Caesar Frazier or Sugar Billy Garner but after hearing the samples, I want to know more.  If you wonder about how you feel about the practice of sampling, there are two reasons why it is a good thing.

This album feels like a transition in style from the more traditional early rap of 1991’s “Step in the Arena” and 1994’s “Hard to Earn.”  Like a lot of transitional albums, it doesn’t hit on all cylinders, but it hits on most.  If this record had been 12 to 14 tracks it could easily be a four star effort, but the extra content diminishes the overall experience, so I went with three.

Shame-filled admission:  In my last Gang Starr review, I referred to LL Cool J as a west coast rapper, which I think sums up just how much I know about rap (not much).  That error was so heinous that I’ve gone and corrected it, but since I’m an honest fellow, I’m coming clean on it now.  Consider this both 'oops' and 'sorry' rolled into one.

Best tracks:  Flip the Script, Ex Girl to the Next Girl, I’m The Man, No Shame In My Game, The Illest Brother, B.Y.S., Take Two and Pass

CD Odyssey Disc 382: Gang Starr

Today is my anniversary! 15 years ago today, Sheila and I got married. Since then it has been a hell of a ride, and through thick and thin, you're still my best friend, beautiful. Here's to another wonderful 15 years, and more besides.

For a day of celebration, I've been remarkably busy day running errands, but none more important than getting Inigo to the vet (again) to have fluid drained from his chest. His 'idiopathic chylothorax' continues unabated, which is a fancy way of saying his chest cavity continues to slowly fill with fluid (chylothorax) and we don't know why (idiopathic).

What I do know, is that it is time to educate myself on this thing and see if anything can be done. I've done some research and discovered that in many clinical trials something called rutin, which is a natural substance derived from flowers, helps halt and even reverse this sickness. So, with his chest again empty, and the vet's blessing to add rutin to his other medication, I'm off to try to save him again. Here's hoping.

In the meantime, there is always music, and today's disc for review.

Disc 382 is...Hard To Earn

Artist: Gang Starr

Year of Release: 1994

What's Up With the Cover?: A pretty typical late eighties/early nineties rap album cover. The two members of Gang Starr (rapper Guru and DJ Premier) put on their best 'we cool' pose. While hardly exciting, this is what I expect to find in a rap cover, so I've got not complaints.

How I Came To Know It: Many years ago, my buddy Casey put me on to a guy named Guru who did an album called Jazzmatazz, which was a fusion of his rap with jazz musicians. I loved it, and later found out that Guru was also one half of the rap act Gang Starr, a critically acclaimed rap act from New York. Intrigued, I purchased an early record of theirs called "Get In The Arena" and loved it. "Hard To Earn" was just me drilling through their collection - in this case based on a recommendation from the knowledgeable staff of Ditch Records.

How It Stacks Up: I currently have three Gang Starr albums, with plans to get more (they have six total). Of the three that I have, I'd say "Hard To Earn" is second, or right in the middle.

Rating: 3 stars

A little over two years ago, Guru died of cancer, and rap lost one of its great artists, largely unknown outside of its own community. It was while reading the resulting obituaries that I learned that he hadn't always just been Guru, but was once one half of the critically acclaimed Gang Starr. Digging through Gang Starr's music has been a great and recent pleasure ever since.

"Hard To Earn" is a rap album that features my favourite rap subject: rappers bragging about how awesome they rap. This album came out in 1994, when a lot of rap was moving into 'harder' subjects, but for me the "I rap better than you" is still the grand daddy of all rap subjects.

In terms of style, "Hard To Earn" is focused on laying down very soulful grooves - nothing terribly complex, but very well-paired with Guru's smooth delivery. Guru has a calm, relaxed tone that never seems rushed - he reminds me of L.L. Cool J. I like them both, and have never felt a need to choose between the two.

Guru's phrasing is probably his greatest strength, his ability to roll concepts through the end of a line while always staying in the groove. There are a number of tracks where sections are delivered by guest rappers, some of which are great. In particular Smooth B (from the rap duo "Nice & Smooth") does some amazing work on "DWYCK" including:

"Smooth, I drop jewels like paraphernalia
I'm infallible, not into failure
Like a rhinoceros, my speed is prosperous
And pure knowledge expands from my esophagus."

However, Smooth B's mastery was the exception, and I mostly preferred Guru's stylings to any of the the guest stars on the record. And no, I have no idea what DWYCK stands for.

DJ Premier is like a good drummer, keeping a steady beat that Guru can play with, and then occasionally delivering some high quality scratching. Like a guitar solo, a good scratch shows skill, fits in with the flow of the song, and doesn't go on too long - Premier delivers on all three.

As a rap aside, I enjoyed hearing Guru repeatedly referring to his modest height (5'8"), usually in the context of making it clear it hasn't kept him from being popular with the ladies - usually the ladies of his opponents in a rap battle. Quoting any of these would be lost without being able to hear the rhythm and cadence of the music. Also, most occurrences involve some crude imagery - note Tipper Gore's warning label on the cover.

Overall, this record was so much fun I kept it in my player a couple of extra days, and probably gave it three or four listens, simply because it was a great record to walk to and from work with. I was tempted to give it four stars, but a couple things resulted in it falling short.

First, the album has 17 tracks. Long time readers will know that I believe there are very few reasons to have more than 14 songs on a single album. "Hard To Earn" is composed of short songs, with most under four minutes, so it isn't overall length. It is just that with that many songs, it is the equivalent of watching TV with someone who keeps clicking through the channels - it gets hard to focus and enjoy on one thing. There are easily 12 songs worth keeping on this album, but if Gang Starr had dropped the other five, they'd be a lot easier to individually recall.

One of the tracks, "Aiiight Chill" is just a series of messages on DJ Premier's answering machine. Yes, this song is subtly clever, as Premier shows the natural rap cadence of normal speech by pairing it with an evolving drum beat. It also has the added historical value of demonstrating that in 1994 everyone in Gang Starr's circle of friends signed of a message with "Aiiight Chill." I tried it earlier tonight, and it felt like a pretty cool way to end a message. As a song it just came across as overly clever, and not musically interesting enough.

Apart from these minor problems, "Hard To Earn" is a high quality rap record, which gets better and better with repeat listens. Although relatively new to my collection, I have a feeling it is going to get worked into the musical rotation many times in the coming years. Guru may no longer be with us, but his rap genius will always be with us.

Best Tracks: Tonz 'O' Gunz, Speak Ya Clout, DWYCK, Blowin' Up The Spot, Mostly The Voice