Monday April 19, 2010 the Hip-Hop community suffered a major loss. GURU lost his life after a battle with cancer. I will pay tribute to this legendary genius by honoring him with the Artist of the Week.
Gang Starr is a Hip-Hop duo of GURU & DJ Premier. The combination of Premier’s production with GURU’s flow and smooth delivery made this group one of Hip-Hop’s finest. Although GURU is from Boston and Premier from Houston, together they molded the Brooklyn Hip-Hop sound. DJ Premier was voted as one of the Top 5 Greatest Producers in Hop-Hop History by Source Magazine. GURU’s laid-back, elevator flow was one of the most distinctive in the game.
What made this group so great? In the early 90’s, Hip-Hop was becoming very commercial. Young MC, Vanilla Ice, Onyx, MC Hammer really placed a black eye on the Hip-Hop game. Although you may laugh at those names, they paved the way for all the commercial rap that you hear today on the radio. GURU really stayed true to the genre of Hip-Hop. They also started incorporating a lot of live instrumentation in their music. Heavy sampling was a must at Hip-Hop infancy, but Premier was so revolutuionary in his vision for music. Influential Hip-Hop drummer/producer/DJ Questlove of The Roots sites Gang Starr as one of his influences.
In 1989, Gang Starr came onto the scene with their debut album, “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Songs like “Manifest” and “Positivity” were staples on this album. The debut album was not the greatest and it really showed the raw talents of each, but they weren’t quite there yet, but that would soon change. Then came 1991. While Vanilla Ice & MC Hammer ruled the music charts, Gang Starr put out the defining Hip-Hop album “Step Into The Arena.” If you do anything, listen to the title track off this album, simply amazing. This album embodied all the essential elements of Hip_hop at its roots.
In 1992, Gang Starr took it to another level, incorporating a more social movement in their music. Black Power and social awareness were the topics addressed. “2 Deep” and “Take It Persnal” really embodied what the album was about. Source Magazine named this album one of the Best 100 Hip-Hop Albums. ”Nough Said! In 1994, Gang Starr released their last great album. Admittedly, this was their last great, but they still released 2 more sub-standard albums. In 1994, Rap was out o control on mainstream radio. While many “true” rap artists were “selling out,” Gang Starr remained tru to the underground. Their best and most well-known track, “Mass Appeal” was released on this album.
Sadly enough, this band will never re-unite. They will never capture that NY Hip-Hop sound. As Hip-Hop loses its place and becomes so commercial, it was always refreshing to know that TRUE old-school artists like GURU, KRS-One, Rakim were still influencing the underground acts of today like The Vizionaries & 2Mex. GURU will be missed, but fortunately, he eft a long legacy of music for use to enjoy for the rest of our lives! So lower your windows and crack up your radio, and let “Mass Appeal” blare out your lowered windows!
Top 5 Songs
1. Mass Appeal
2. DWYCK
4. 2 Deep
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