Artist: Gang Starr Genre(s):
Rap: Hip-Hop
Other
Discography:
Mass Appeal: The Best of Gang Starr Year: 2006
Tracks: 20
Ownerz Year: 2003
Tracks: 19
Code of Streets Year: 2003
Tracks: 22
No More Mr. Nice Guy Year: 2001
Tracks: 17
Full Clip - A Decade Of Gang Starr (cd2) Year: 1999
Tracks: 17
Full Clip - A Decade Of Gang Starr (cd1) Year: 1999
Tracks: 16
Moment of Truth Year: 1998
Tracks: 20
Hard to Earn Year: 1994
Tracks: 17
Daily Operation Year: 1992
Tracks: 18
Step in the Arena Year: 1991
Tracks: 18
The near influential MC-and-DJ tandem of the nineties, Gang Starr plant new standards for East Coast belt with a mates of early-'90s touchstones,
Step in the Arena (1991) and
Daily Operation (1992), whose appeal has only if big over the decades. Beginning with these classic releases, both listeners and critics heaped mounds of kudos upon Guru and DJ Premier -- the other because of his socially conscious lyrics and no-nonsense stance, the latter because of his DJ-style beat-making and trashy sound. Following
Step in the Arena and
Daily Operation, Premier became unitary of New York's near demanded producers, crafting hits for the city's finest MCs, including the Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-Z, and KRS-One. Guru alike collaborated with plenty of well-known artists -- Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, N'Dea Davenport -- on his solo debut,
Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (1993), and its series of follow-ups. Following
Hard to Earn (1994) -- the duo's fourth Gang Starr quislingism overall -- Guru and Premier began focalisation primarily on their solo projects, reuniting infrequently --
to a fault infrequently, many fans mat -- for albums such as
Instant of Truth (1998) and
The Ownerz (2003). During this period of solo action, Gang Starr became more and more recognized as a standard, one that critics and hip-hop purists ofttimes cited as a color bearer for street smart, socially witting East Coast rap.
Guru (innate Keith Edward Elam on July 17, 1966, in Boston, MA) and Premier (born Christopher Edward Martin on March 21, 1966, in Houston, TX) began operative together in 1989. Guru had founded Gang Starr a duet eld earlier, in 1987, and had already conventional a working relationship with Wild Pitch Records. The partnership of Guru and Premier as Gang Starr lED to a formative debut album,
No More Mr. Nice Guy (1989), and its featured exclusive, "Words I Manifest." The DJ-spotlight rail "DJ Premier in Deep Concentration" is some other highlight of the album, which dog-tired geezerhood out of print. Between albums, in 1990, Guru and Premier contributed a vocal, "Malarky Thing," to the
Mo' Better Blues soundtrack. Gang Starr afterward stirred to Chrysalis Records for their second album,
Step in the Arena (1991), on which they perfected the coming of their debut, that is, a crude, hard-hitting jazz-rap production elan, complete with Premier's masterful DJ thinning, over which Guru's battle-rap-hardened yet smoothly delivered lyrics -- often thoughtful, crafty, and streetsmart -- get hold of trajectory. Gang Starr's one-third album,
Daily Operation (1992), furthered the duo's approach stylistically; widely considered an East Coast rap classic, it's arguably Guru and Premier's finest work, along with its forerunner.
Beginning in 1993, Guru and Premier began operative singly. Guru's debut album,
Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (1993), took the alleged jazz-rap panache to a new floor, featuring malarky musicians such as Lonnie Liston Smith, Branford Marsalis, Ronny Jordan, Donald Byrd, and Roy Ayers, along with guest vocalists such as N'Dea Davenport (of the Brand New Heavies) and MC Solaar (of French rap renown). Meanwhile, Premier produced captain Hicks tracks for KRS-One's solo debut,
Repay of the Boom Bap (1993); furthermore, in 1994 he proceeded to get three tracks for Nas' debut,
Illmatic ("N.Y. State of Mind," "Computer storage Lane [Sittin' in da Park]," "Represent"); iI for the Notorious B.I.G.'s debut,
Ready to Die ("Unbelievable," an unreleased remix of "Machine Gun Funk"); fin for the self-titled debut of Branford Marsalis' Buckshot LeFonque project; the integrality of Jeru the Damaja's debut,
The Sun Rises in the East; and besides a handful of remixes for versatile artists. Amid all of this activity, Guru and Premier set up clock time to record their fourth album,
Hard to Earn (1994), which was more than hardcore-fashioned -- as was the panache at the time, in the wake up of Death Row's rising -- than yesteryear Gang Starr albums and, likewise different past efforts, featured guest rappers. The track record album spawned the duo's biggest strike to date, "People Appeal," their number one to break the Billboard Hot hundred singles chart (peaking at number 67).
Following
Hard to Earn, Guru and Premier resumed their solo activity. Guru released
Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality (1995) and a various-artists digest,
Guru Presents Ill Kid Records (1995), piece Premier produced the bulk of
Livin' Proof (1995), the debut of Gang Starr affiliates Group Home (a twosome comprised of Lil' Dap and Melachi the Nutcracker, wHO both had been featured on
Hard to Earn). Also in 1995, Premier produced terzetto tracks on
KRS-One, the rapper's second solo album; and iI tracks on
Hold It Down, the one-third album by Das EFX; as well as miscellaneous remixes and one-off productions. While Guru remained more or less nonoperational during 1996-1997, cathartic no solo albums, Premier stayed busy, producing the entirety of Jeru the Damaja's second album,
Wrath of the Math (1996); basketball team tracks on Bahamadia's debut,
Kollage (1996); six on M.O.P.'s second album,
Fire Squad (1996); trey on Jay-Z's debut,
Fairish Doubt (1996) ("D'evils," "Friend or Foe," "Add It On"); one on Nas' second album,
It Was Written (1996) ("I Gave You Power"); deuce on Jay-Z's second album,
In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997) ("A Million & One Questions," "Friend or Foe '98"); deuce on the Notorious B.I.G.'s second album,
Spirit After Death (1997) ("Kick in the Door," "Ten-spot Crack Commandments"); four-spot on O.C.'s second album,
Jewelz (1997); iI on Rakim's solo debut,
The eighteenth Letter (1997); two on the Lady of Rage's debut,
Necessary Roughness (1997); and more.
In 1998, after foursome days 'tween albums, Gang Starr returned with
Bit of Truth, their number one album to chart number unmatchable (on the R&B/Hip-Hop album chart, that is; it peaked at number six overall, still their c. H. Best display commercially to date).
Consequence of Truth was a significant deviation from past times Gang Starr efforts, selfsame much contemporary in style; for example, the album features numerous guests (Inspectah Deck, Scarface, G. Dep, K-Ci & JoJo, M.O.P.) and eager little trace of the duo's jazz-rap beginnings. The lead individual, "You Know My Steez," became the second Gang Starr strike to break into the Billboard Hot one C chart (peaking at telephone number 76). A double-disc retrospective,
Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr (1999), after marked the duo's ten-year anniversary. In the age that followed, Guru and Premier continued to direction on their have work. Guru continued his
Jazzmatazz series, beginning with a third base volume,
Streetsoul, in 2000; he also released solo rap albums, root with
Baldhead RPLC338% & da Click (2001). Premier continued his product activity, working with superstars such as Jay-Z, Nas, and Common, as well as underground rappers such as Royce da 5'9, Termanology, and NYG'z; he even dabbled in mainstream pop, nearly notably working extensively with Christina Aguilera on her double-disc album
Second to Basics (2006). As for Gang Starr, Guru and Premier did reunify for
The Ownerz (2003), a historied return to grade, but the reunion proved short-lived, departure back-catalog collections such as
Mass Appeal: The Best of Gang Starr (2006) to fill the void.
Amy Poehler's 'Baby Mama' Drama
