HIP HOP LEGENDS OF 90s #7 - Gang Starr

dumar022 (70)in #hiphop • 7 years ago

If you put one of the greatest MCs and probably the best hip hop producer ever lived in a same room, the result would be Gang Starr. Nobody ever was special like Guru (RIP) was by his calmness and his dead serious voice and nobody, I mean nobody ever did or will ever do such things like DJ Premier. These two guys contributed to shape hip hop that we know today. I don't know for musicians that were more influential on fans or younger artists than Gang Starr! Let's remember how they sounded and if you hear for them for the first time, you won't regret if you click on "play" on some of videos below.

HIP HOP LEGENDS OF 90s

GANGSTARR

I belong to second generation of rappers and hip hop lovers in Croatia, so I was a child when these guys came on the world scene of hip hop. The first compilation that I had in my hands was a double CD called "Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr", in 1999. I was 14 at that time and they already made a lot of work for 10 years. Soon I couldn't live without them anymore. That special sound of Premier's beats and Guru's flow made an addict of me. That was the real "basement" sound, recycled from old vinyls, cut and massacred, put into raw beat the way only Premier knew.

Guru came from Boston and Premier from Texas. They met in 1989 and Guru was surprised with beats that he has heard from Premier. He called him to join to his crew, that already had a name "Gang Star". Not much later, they remained as the only members of it, Guru as MC and Premier as DJ and producer.

Their first album was "No More Mr. Nice Guy" from 1989. The best songs were "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "Manifest" and "2 Steps Ahead".

Their second album came in 1991 with great hits "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" and "Just to Get a Rap".

Third album "Daily Operation" was one of 100 best hip hop albums ever and it was released in 1992 with great songs "Ex Girl To Next Girl", "Take It Personal" and "B.Y.S.", a song that was later featured in game GTA: San Andreas.

After that, Guru released a solo album "Jazzmatazz Vol. 1" in 1993 and Premier worked on many beats for other famous rappers.

In 1994, Gang Starr come out with a new album "Hard to Earn" with great singles "Mass Appeal" and "Code of tha Streets".

Then Guru took some time to record "Jazzmatazz Vol. 2".

Next Gang Starr album "Moment of Truth" was released in 1998 and it was the best and the most successful Gang Starr album with 20 songs and each of those songs was perfect! "You Know My Steez", "Work", "Royalty", "Above the Clouds", "The Militia"...

In 1999 they release a compilation "Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr" with their older and some new songs.

In 2003 they release their last album "The Owners" with four singles: "Skills", "Rite Where U Stand", "Nice Girl, Wrong Place", and "Same Team, No Games".

After this, they probably argued and stopped to work together.

Guru recorded few albums by himself with other producers and they were not so successful and Gang Starr albums. He died of cancer in 2007. Premier continued to make perfect beats for many famous artists!