![]() The Hits (“Mass Appeal”, “Skills”, “DWYCK”, “Full Clip”, “You Know My Steez”) Listen to the best Gang Starr tracks on Apple Music or Spotify. Once again, the rapper from Boston and the producer/DJ from Texas, reminded the world of how they shaped the sound of rap in New York and around the world. Premier pieced together new Gang Starr songs with unreleased Guru vocals for 2019’s One of the Best Yet. ![]() Still, Guru and Premier’s synergy was so strong that death couldn’t erode it. The duo split after The Ownerz, but Guru passed away before they were able to reconnect. Though Gang Starr never went platinum, the gems on the three-album run that was Daily Operation (1992), Hard to Earn (1994), and Moment of Truth (1998) weigh more than any number of plaques. Guru’s voice always cut through, his lyrics becoming wiser each outing. Primo’s range expanded with every album, from the quasi demo that was 1989’s No More Mr. Together, Guru and Premier were the platonic ideal of the rap duo, taking the foundational DJ-rapper template and elevating their unique formula for new eras. Premier punctuated his beats with scratching so fluid, precise, and in-sync you sometimes questioned whether he was doing it at all. The drums slammed like subway doors, and the samples oscillated between gritty and regal. He alchemized fragments to create a universe that brought you to ground level in New York and levitated above it. DJ Premier provided the score to Guru’s narratives, his beats groundbreaking collages of soul, jazz, funk, and more all sourced from the deepest crates. Guru’s voice and lyrics were only half of the equation. Even when he addressed his frustrations, he aimed to uplift. He just didn’t suffer fools, disrespect, or fake MC’s with bodyguards. On Gang Starr’s best songs, he was not preachy or pedantic. The combination of Guru’s voice and subject matter made him sound as though he was holding court on the corner. Black people were royalty and revolutionaries in his verses, to be respected in body and mind even if society and the government violated one and poisoned the other. Secure in his knowledge of self, he wanted to impart his hard-earned wisdom to the next generation. The lack of modulation lent gravity to every word, made him sound both serious and mellow. Resonant and captivating, Gang Starr’s late frontman possessed an unmistakable monotone.
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