Before I start writing about Gang Starr's fourth album, Hard To Earn, here's a line I lifted verbatim from my own write-up for Daily Operation, lest anybody think that my critique has been swayed by the comments of a handful of readers: "Ultimately, it would take the duo one more album to get everything mixed together right, but Daily Operation is the closest they've gotten thus far to what they are clearly capable of." (You see what I did there, with the bold text? Nice, right?)
Apparently, Hard To Earn wasn't very well received by critics and fans when it dropped in 1994, which I find hard to believe, but it is understandable: it garnered the duo a brand new breed of fan. Today, it's generally known as the disc that shifted the direction that DJ Premier and Guru were headed in, as it largely abandons the overt jazz influences present on No More Mr. Nice Guy, Step In The Arena, and Daily Operation, and replaces them with some hardcore shit, plainly said. True, the duo reinvented themselves at a time when all of the East Coast rap acts were on some thug posturing shit, but they managed to differentiate themselves from the norm, leaving jazz rap for the likes of Digable Planets and Us3 ("Cantaloop" is still my shit, though).
Alright, it should be blatantly obvious at this point that I like Hard To Earn more than the first three albums in Gang Starr's catalog, but it's about the journey, right? Also, I just realized, while I was writing this very sentence, that as of tomorrow, Hard To Earn will be celebrating its fifteenth-year anniversary. Since I'm sure that a lot of my two readers are younger than Hard To Earn, I'm now officially depressed. I'm sure I'll get over it, though.
Read on.
1. INTRO (THE FIRST STEP)
On the surface, it's your standard rap album intro, but if you listen closely, Guru prepares the listener for what they're in for: a completely different type of sound than what we've experienced for the past three albums. You've been warned, I suppose.
2. ALONGWAYTOGO
Right from the first song, Gang Starr establishes their place in the hip hop hall of fame. Lyrically, Guru sounds the same, but Primo takes his act to new heights. Bonus points for incorporating vocal samples from both Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (both from A Tribe Called Quest, although if you needed my reminder, you're a bit too far gone for me to help).
3. CODE OF THE STREETS
You can't even compare this song to the duo's back catalog, since this sounds as if it were created by completely different artists. Musically, this shit rocks; this was actually one of the beats that helped me distinguish the New York sound (even though Guru's from Boston) from everything else in the genre.
4. BRAINSTORM
A tonal shift, "Brainstorm" uses its drums to pollute your mind, while Guru spits some of his classic threats. The high energy beat and the "well, you could fuck with me, but it would be a mistake" lyricism mesh together beautifully. While it's short, it's still great, and if you listen closely, Guru's verse does not fade out before the song is finished, as I originally thought when I bought Hard To Earn.
5. TONZ 'O' GUNZ
After the fantastic one-two punch of "Code Of The Streets" and "Brainstorm", "Tonz 'O' Gunz" is pretty underwhelming. Beat-wise, Primo does alright, but Guru's monotone sounds more awkward than usual, drawing more negative attention than it should. Can't win them all.
6. THE PLANET
Pretty fucking bland. You know you skip this track, too.
7. AIIIGHT CHILL...
Really a simple interlude made up of Primo's voicemail messages. Overall, it's pretty skippable, but the first message by Nas makes God's Son sound as if he had never picked up a phone in his entire life up until that point, which is why it's pretty funny. DJ Mister Cee's final message also mentions Jeru The Damaja and Group Home, which is a nice lead-in to...
8. SPEAK YA CLOUT (FEAT JERU THE DAMAJA & LIL' DAP)
Fucking light years beyond "I'm The Man", the other Gang Starr track to feature Jeru and Lil' Dap (from Group Home). Jeru rips his beat to pieces, and then defecates over the remains. Dap sounds as decent as he possibly can (over DJ Premier production, that isn't very hard for him to do), and Guru makes sure to not have the weakest beat this time around, which helps him close out the track in excellent fashion.
9. DWYCK (FEAT NICE & SMOOTH)
"DWYCK" is often billed as one of the finest posse cuts ever created, which is a bit odd, as Nice & Smooth aren't technically a part of Gang Starr's "posse". However, the results are undeniable: the music is good, the beat is simple and effective, and the three emcees rip shit in quite an infectious manner.
10. WORDS FROM THE NUTCRACKER (FEAT MELACHI THE NUTCRACKER)
The Herb to Lil' Dap's Peaches finally puts in an appearance. The other guy from Group Home sounds simultaneously shitty and decent over Primo production. Hey, at least it's short?
11. MASS APPEAL
Every time this song plays, an angel gets its wings.
12. BLOWIN' UP THE SPOT
Takes the momentum created by "Mass Appeal" and tosses it into an incinerator. Not to say that the song itself is garbage (it isn't), but it's not even close to the heights Primo and Guru have reached on Hard To Earn. The hell is with this sequencing?
13. SUCKAS NEED BODYGUARDS
Guru doesn't sound very convincing over this beat (he's trying too hard), but if you take his performance as an impression of a more aggressive rapper, it works just fine. You'll be paying more attention to Primo's brilliant beat, anyway. I did like how an uncredited Melachi the Nutcracker throws in an "I hate" before reciting his hook.
14. NOW YOU'RE MINE
This one's good, but not great. It might have easily been the best song on Step In The Arena, but it cannot compare to what else we've witnessed (with our ears!) on Hard To Earn.
15. MOSTLY THE VOICE
On that same line of thinking, this song sounds like an outtake from Daily Operation. Pass.
16. F.A.L.A. (FEAT BIG SHUG)
Gang Starr Foundation affiliate Big Shug, who I've always kind of liked, makes his debut over some sparse piano keys and heavy drums. Guru blows his guest out of the fucking park, true, but the duo sounds great together.
17. COMIN' FOR DATAZZ
Sounds alright, but it fades into the background, unlike the best tracks on Hard To Earn. I barely even noticed that the album was over until I started wondering why there was no music coming from the speaker.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Now that's more like it! Hard To Earn completely changes your perception of what a Gang Starr album could do, with a fresh new sound that comes off as both a natural extension of the jazzy boom-bap that Primo had perfected over the past three albums, and as the polar opposite of that very sound, all at once. Guru's lyricism hasn't elevated one bit, but that's a good thing in this case, since he was always decent, and too much of a change can cause your head to explode. Hard To Earn is Primo's day in the sun, though, not because every single beat is fantastic (they're not all winners), but because expanding his sound was the very best thing he could have ever done for his career.
BUY OR BURN? Yes, alright, fine, I recommend you buy this album. Buy three copies and give one to your significant other and one to your parents. Share this shit with anybody that will listen. But I still say that Daily Operation was disappointing, and you're not going to change my mind.
BEST TRACKS: "Mass Appeal"; "F.A.L.A."; "Suckas Need Bodyguards"; "Speak Ya Clout"; "DWYCK"; "Code Of The Streets"; "Brainstorm"
-Max
RELATED POSTS:
More Gang Starr goodness can be found here.
Apparently, Hard To Earn wasn't very well received by critics and fans when it dropped in 1994, which I find hard to believe, but it is understandable: it garnered the duo a brand new breed of fan. Today, it's generally known as the disc that shifted the direction that DJ Premier and Guru were headed in, as it largely abandons the overt jazz influences present on No More Mr. Nice Guy, Step In The Arena, and Daily Operation, and replaces them with some hardcore shit, plainly said. True, the duo reinvented themselves at a time when all of the East Coast rap acts were on some thug posturing shit, but they managed to differentiate themselves from the norm, leaving jazz rap for the likes of Digable Planets and Us3 ("Cantaloop" is still my shit, though).
Alright, it should be blatantly obvious at this point that I like Hard To Earn more than the first three albums in Gang Starr's catalog, but it's about the journey, right? Also, I just realized, while I was writing this very sentence, that as of tomorrow, Hard To Earn will be celebrating its fifteenth-year anniversary. Since I'm sure that a lot of my two readers are younger than Hard To Earn, I'm now officially depressed. I'm sure I'll get over it, though.
Read on.
1. INTRO (THE FIRST STEP)
On the surface, it's your standard rap album intro, but if you listen closely, Guru prepares the listener for what they're in for: a completely different type of sound than what we've experienced for the past three albums. You've been warned, I suppose.
2. ALONGWAYTOGO
Right from the first song, Gang Starr establishes their place in the hip hop hall of fame. Lyrically, Guru sounds the same, but Primo takes his act to new heights. Bonus points for incorporating vocal samples from both Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (both from A Tribe Called Quest, although if you needed my reminder, you're a bit too far gone for me to help).
3. CODE OF THE STREETS
You can't even compare this song to the duo's back catalog, since this sounds as if it were created by completely different artists. Musically, this shit rocks; this was actually one of the beats that helped me distinguish the New York sound (even though Guru's from Boston) from everything else in the genre.
4. BRAINSTORM
A tonal shift, "Brainstorm" uses its drums to pollute your mind, while Guru spits some of his classic threats. The high energy beat and the "well, you could fuck with me, but it would be a mistake" lyricism mesh together beautifully. While it's short, it's still great, and if you listen closely, Guru's verse does not fade out before the song is finished, as I originally thought when I bought Hard To Earn.
5. TONZ 'O' GUNZ
After the fantastic one-two punch of "Code Of The Streets" and "Brainstorm", "Tonz 'O' Gunz" is pretty underwhelming. Beat-wise, Primo does alright, but Guru's monotone sounds more awkward than usual, drawing more negative attention than it should. Can't win them all.
6. THE PLANET
Pretty fucking bland. You know you skip this track, too.
7. AIIIGHT CHILL...
Really a simple interlude made up of Primo's voicemail messages. Overall, it's pretty skippable, but the first message by Nas makes God's Son sound as if he had never picked up a phone in his entire life up until that point, which is why it's pretty funny. DJ Mister Cee's final message also mentions Jeru The Damaja and Group Home, which is a nice lead-in to...
8. SPEAK YA CLOUT (FEAT JERU THE DAMAJA & LIL' DAP)
Fucking light years beyond "I'm The Man", the other Gang Starr track to feature Jeru and Lil' Dap (from Group Home). Jeru rips his beat to pieces, and then defecates over the remains. Dap sounds as decent as he possibly can (over DJ Premier production, that isn't very hard for him to do), and Guru makes sure to not have the weakest beat this time around, which helps him close out the track in excellent fashion.
9. DWYCK (FEAT NICE & SMOOTH)
"DWYCK" is often billed as one of the finest posse cuts ever created, which is a bit odd, as Nice & Smooth aren't technically a part of Gang Starr's "posse". However, the results are undeniable: the music is good, the beat is simple and effective, and the three emcees rip shit in quite an infectious manner.
10. WORDS FROM THE NUTCRACKER (FEAT MELACHI THE NUTCRACKER)
The Herb to Lil' Dap's Peaches finally puts in an appearance. The other guy from Group Home sounds simultaneously shitty and decent over Primo production. Hey, at least it's short?
11. MASS APPEAL
Every time this song plays, an angel gets its wings.
12. BLOWIN' UP THE SPOT
Takes the momentum created by "Mass Appeal" and tosses it into an incinerator. Not to say that the song itself is garbage (it isn't), but it's not even close to the heights Primo and Guru have reached on Hard To Earn. The hell is with this sequencing?
13. SUCKAS NEED BODYGUARDS
Guru doesn't sound very convincing over this beat (he's trying too hard), but if you take his performance as an impression of a more aggressive rapper, it works just fine. You'll be paying more attention to Primo's brilliant beat, anyway. I did like how an uncredited Melachi the Nutcracker throws in an "I hate" before reciting his hook.
14. NOW YOU'RE MINE
This one's good, but not great. It might have easily been the best song on Step In The Arena, but it cannot compare to what else we've witnessed (with our ears!) on Hard To Earn.
15. MOSTLY THE VOICE
On that same line of thinking, this song sounds like an outtake from Daily Operation. Pass.
16. F.A.L.A. (FEAT BIG SHUG)
Gang Starr Foundation affiliate Big Shug, who I've always kind of liked, makes his debut over some sparse piano keys and heavy drums. Guru blows his guest out of the fucking park, true, but the duo sounds great together.
17. COMIN' FOR DATAZZ
Sounds alright, but it fades into the background, unlike the best tracks on Hard To Earn. I barely even noticed that the album was over until I started wondering why there was no music coming from the speaker.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Now that's more like it! Hard To Earn completely changes your perception of what a Gang Starr album could do, with a fresh new sound that comes off as both a natural extension of the jazzy boom-bap that Primo had perfected over the past three albums, and as the polar opposite of that very sound, all at once. Guru's lyricism hasn't elevated one bit, but that's a good thing in this case, since he was always decent, and too much of a change can cause your head to explode. Hard To Earn is Primo's day in the sun, though, not because every single beat is fantastic (they're not all winners), but because expanding his sound was the very best thing he could have ever done for his career.
BUY OR BURN? Yes, alright, fine, I recommend you buy this album. Buy three copies and give one to your significant other and one to your parents. Share this shit with anybody that will listen. But I still say that Daily Operation was disappointing, and you're not going to change my mind.
BEST TRACKS: "Mass Appeal"; "F.A.L.A."; "Suckas Need Bodyguards"; "Speak Ya Clout"; "DWYCK"; "Code Of The Streets"; "Brainstorm"
-Max
RELATED POSTS:
More Gang Starr goodness can be found here.
On "Mass Appeal:"
ReplyDelete"Every time this song plays, an angel gets its wings." - Max
Man, that made me laugh super hard! Haha! Great review.
Ironically I prefer all the bits you deem boring. But yeah good read. NOW YOU'RE MINE has the best jazz riff i've ever heard.
ReplyDelete" Now that's more like it!"
ReplyDeleteExactly... this album is just wonderful. All Gang Starr fans waited for this turn into more hardcore and snappin' beats. The whole album is great, all tracks are fine and unique.
Your review is on point Max, except for "Words from the nutcracker". This track is hard and dope, Melanchi doesn't sound shitty. He just sounds young...
Maybe one of the top 5 albums of all tim IMO.
ReplyDeleteLoved the review
One of the top 10 albums of all time! Good review Max
ReplyDeleteGreat album, but you're writing style has fallen off
ReplyDeleteWhere the entertainment ?
Nice Review! Not enuff can be said about how good a year '94 was for Hip Hop. When you gonna get around to reviewing Madvillain?
ReplyDeleteone of my faves as well, although some of the tracks you say are weak i don't agree with. this is one album i can listen to from start to finish with out pressing fast forward. just a matter of opinion i guess.
ReplyDeleteyeah this album is one of their best work, i paid 12 bucks and when i bought it, the songs caught my attention
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see someone talk about real hip-hop in today's sad times. You know you can't forget Moment of Truth it's a classic!!
ReplyDeleteBasically on of the best reviews you've done. Analyses of sound shifting are worthy of serious periodics, and the best part of it that it's ALL true. Get an extra credit for this.
ReplyDeleteBut I thought you might bash DWYCK for being an old song on a new album. Never appreciated it, and here among this musical bliss it sounds like shit.
And come on, Guru's performance on Suckas... is clearly his best on the album! Breaking off usual monotonous shit with aggressive flow. It fucking rocks!
Other than this, review is just great (the way Illmatic review should have been done ;))
A New York album that can compete - sonically - with the West Coast. Utter brilliance.
ReplyDeleteNow You're Mine is also "old song a new album", it was released on a 2 Deep 12" in 1992. DWYCK also 1992/
ReplyDeleteStill album is banging
Motherfucker, "suckas need bodyguards" is a CLASSIC!!!
ReplyDeleteNow You're Mine IS old. Still hot though