The two didn't return with another Gang Starr album until four years later when they dropped Moment of Truth, a succinct comeback album that reaffirmed their status as one of New York's most thoughtful and artistic rap acts. You can sense the duo's frustration with the rap scene circa 1994. Given the subtly bitter tone of this album, it perhaps wasn't surprising then that Guru and Premier took some time to pursue solo opportunities after Hard to Earn. There isn't a song on the album that's a throwaway, and even the interludes are stunning. He's clearly at - or, at least, near - his best here. Yet, even though Hard to Earn is a bit short on such thoughtful moments, instead weighed down a bit with harsh attitude, it does offer some of DJ Premier's best productions ever. Songs such as "Suckas Need Bodyguards" and "Mass Appeal" take aim at unnamed peers, and other songs such as "ALONGWAYTOGO" similarly center on "whack crews." The best moments on Hard to Earn aren't these songs but instead "Code of the Streets" and "Tonz 'O' Gunz," two songs where Guru offers the type of social commentary that made Gang Starr so admirable in the first place. Yet this attitude pervades throughout Hard to Earn. Guru’s childhood friend Big Shug joins him on F.A.L.A., as the two trade rugged rhymes over delicate pianos.
Guru opens the album with a tough, dismissive spoken-word intro: "Yo, all you kids want to get on and sh*t/Just remember this/This sh*t ain't easy/If you ain't got it, you ain't got it, motherf*cker." While this sense of superiority is undoubtedly a long-running convention of not just East Coast rap but rap in general, you don't expect to hear it coming from Gang Starr, particularly with such a bitter tone. Download Gang Starr-Moment Of Truth-CD-FLAC-1998-DDAS INT for Free - Download Movies, TV Shows, Series, Ebooks, Games, Music, Tutorial, Software, and get subtitle. Hard To Earn served as the introduction to the Gang Starr Foundation, a collection of emcees that had rolled with the duo for years, some even before the group released their 1989 debut No More Mr. While those two classic albums garnered tremendous praise for their thoughtful lyrics and jazzy beats, Hard to Earn seems much more reactionary, especially its lyrics. Interesting fact: this was Gang Starr’s first album to carry the Parental Advisory warning sticker. Cole.Gang Starr came out hard on their 1994 album, Hard to Earn, an album notably different from its two predecessors: Step in the Arena (1991) and Daily Operation (1992). Complex ranked Hard to Earn in the 18 spot on their list of The Best Rap Albums of the 90s. The color album cover for the two-record set features a photo of the two members of the hip-hop duo on the front and a color group photo on the back cover with guest performers. In 2019, DJ Premier released One of the Best Yet, a compilation of unreleased Gang Starr songs featuring the likes of Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, and J. Offered is a Gang Starr Group Signed Hard to Earn album cover with four signatures and multiple inscriptions.Guru died in April 2010 after a battle with cancer.The group split up following the release of their 2003 album The Ownerz.The duo’s 1998 album Moment of Truth debuted atop Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.Gang Starr made their first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Mass Appeal,” off their 1994 album Hard to Earn.Bostonian Guru and Houston native DJ Premier were always an unlikely pair to achieve golden-age-icon. And Hard To Earn, the duo's fourth LP, is both its pivotal moment and just another typical chapter in a history that oscillates wildly between those two poles. The albums that followed-1991’s Step In the Arena and 1992’s Daily Operation-are widely regarded as hip-hop classics. At yet other times - perhaps most of the time - the Gang Starr saga is both at once.The duo released their debut album, No More Mr. Guru tapped Houston-born DJ Premier to form the new Gang Starr.In the spring of 1994, Gang Starr’s booming. They delivered three singles before breaking up in 1989. Ed Note: The following is an essay remembering Gang Starr's classic album Hard To Earn, which celebrates its 20th anniversary tomorrow, March 8. Performing under the name MC Keithy E., Guru formed the original incarnation of Gang Starr with DJ 1 2 B Down.HanSoul, Hard 2 Obtain, Hard II Kill, Hard Knocks, Hard Knox, Hardcore Montana.
Characterized by rapper Guru’s street-conscious lyrics and producer DJ Premier’s jazzy beats, the venerated East Coast duo Gang Starr were defining figures of hip-hop’s golden age. Gamilah Shabazz, Gamma, Gang Starr, Gangrene, Gangsta Bass Alliance.