Gangstarr - Step In The Arena (January 15, 1991)

After the mild success of their debut album, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Keith Elam and Chris Martin, who run their lawnmower repair service as Guru and DJ Premier of Gangstarr, were encouraged to release a sophomore effort, Step In The Arena, two years later. They kept the ingredients and measurements the same in the kitchen; only a couple of spices were added, which resulted in an album that sounds like a natural sequel, one that picks up immediately after the first movie ended, such as Friday The 13th Part 2 and Hostel Part II (which sucked, by the way).

Fans of the crew's more recent output will still find themselves shocked at the overall sound of Step In The Arena. Primo hadn't yet perfected the boom-bap that he is best known for today (well, that, and his recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies). I chalk that up to Primo still getting used to living in Boston after being born and raised in Houston, TX; climate changes are a motherfucker. Guru also doesn't sound quite as confrontational as he does today, but he's getting there: he starts to get a tad bit more boastful on Step In The Arena, which makes sense, since all you need is a taste of success to think that you're better than the next guy. Guru would prove his worth as an emcee with Gangstarr's follow-up discs.

Step In The Arena sold moderately well for an album with no obvious radio singles (although some of these songs had to play on the airwaves, I suppose). Fans of No More Mr. Nice Guy certainly snatched it up, but I don't believe that it broke through to other listeners, those who like their hip hop street with a side of love for the ladies. Guru and Primo never adhered to the generic hip hop album blueprint anyway, but I thought it would be appropriate for me to give fair warning before we start listening.

Ready?

1. NAME TAG
A short introductory track, one which doesn't stick around long enough to piss me off. Nice!
2. STEP IN THE ARENA
Whenever I hear that vocal sample repeating "Step up!", I'm always reminded of 2Pac's "I Get Around". This song sounds like an outtake from the No More Mr. Nice Guy sessions, with a tiny bit more hood thrown in for good measure.

3. FORM OF INTELLECT
Guru's overconfidence is on full display here, from the title down to the verses presented. However, overconfidence is a prerequisite to being a rapper in the first place, so his contribution's okay. Primo's beat is, surprisingly, pretty damn dull.

4. EXECUTION OF A CHUMP (NO MORE MR. NICE GUY PT. 2)
You may listen to this disc waiting for Primo to discover his trademark boom-bap sound. Sorry, you two, but his growth as a producer was a natural (and long) process.

5. WHO'S GONNA TAKE THE WEIGHT?
The epitome of the jazzy style that Guru and Premier were still shooting for at the time. This still sounds pretty good today, although I fear the high-pitched sounds will attract dogs to your speakers.

6. BEYOND COMPREHENSION
I'm liking the lyrics, but the beat leaves a lot to be desired. I appreciate that it's just one long verse, though; makes the song seem shorter somehow.

7. CHECK THE TECHNIQUE
This song is pretty fucking awesome. The sampled strings that Primo slices and dices into the instrumental are just the icing on a delicious cake of some sort, possibly yellow cake with chocolate frosting, carried by your girl and a porn actress, who just so happen to be making out with each other while delivering the dessert.

8. LOVESICK
What comes off at first as a tale about Guru being head over heels in love with an unrequited love quickly shifts gears to Keithy E's perspective of a man who is too self-absorbed in his own shit to notice that he's completely neglecting his girl. Pretty good idea for a song, and Primo's beat rocks.

9. HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW
When I hear this song, all I can hear in my head is Lo Fidelity Allstars's "Battleflag", thanks to the same sample being utilized in both tracks. That doesn't mean this song is unmemorable, though: far from it. Guru sounds surprisingly menacing over this simple instrumental.

10. GAME PLAN
Just a short interlude at the halfway mark.

11. TAKE A REST
I know that Guru was trying to establish himself as an artist on these first two Gangstarr albums, but you know what may have spiced up the proceedings? A guest star. Big Shug, who was actually part of Gangstarr before leaving the crew right when they exploded on the scene, would sound pretty good trading verses with Keithy E here.

12. WHAT YOU WANT THIS TIME?
Not bad. I like how Primo chops up the sound of a phone ringing at the very beginning.

13. STREET MINISTRY
A one-verse interlude that sounds as pleasant as waves brushing up on the coastline.

14. JUST TO GET A REP
This is one of Guru and Premier's classic tracks for good reason: this is just the perfect marriage of beats and rhymes. If you've followed Gangstarr at all, you've already heard this song, so I won't write any more about it.

15. SAY YOUR PRAYERS
Another one-verse interlude, but this one is barely decent.

16. AS I READ MY S-A
I just listened to this track twice, and I can't remember anything about it.

17. PRECISELY THE RIGHT RHYMES
Not the most energetic beat in Primo's catalog. Even Guru's lyrics seem to be slower that usual, but that's just a trick of the mind.

18. THE MEANING OF A NAME
A quicker-paced ending to the album than you would expect. For some reason, I could only hear Us3's "Cantaloop" while this track played, but I assume that this song was merely the influence of that corny-ass track (which, honestly, I still like today).

FINAL THOUGHTS: Step In The Arena is No More Mr. Nice Guy Pt. 2, but with a slightly richer palette of beats and fully realized rhymes from Guru. The jazzy influences from their debut have only become more overt, and the scratches and drums that Primo is known for now only appear in sparse cameos. If you can look past that, there are a handful of songs that can stand up with their entire body of work, but as an album, Step In The Arena doesn't consistently work, since a lot of the songs blend into each other.

BUY OR BURN? I would recommend a burn, since most of these songs sound alike anyway. Guru and Premier were still finding their way, though, so they're allowed some missteps on their journey. For diehard fans only.

-Max

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