Gang Starr - Hard to Earn

€ 22

$ 25

€ 22 Sold For

Feb 20, 2018 Sold Date

Jan 25, 2018 Start Date

1 Number Of Bids

Switzerland Country Of Seller

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Description

Allgemein

Artikel Name: Hard to Earn
Genre: Rap Produkt Typ: LP (Vinyl) Label: Virgin Titelanzahl: 17

Trackliste LP - 1

1. Gang Starr - (The First Step) 2. Gang Starr - Alongwaytogo 3. Gang Starr - Code of the Streets 4. Gang Starr - Brainstorm 5. Gang Starr - Tonz 'O' Gunz 6. Gang Starr - Planet 7. Gang Starr - Aiiight Chill... 8. Gang Starr - Speak Ya Clout 9. Gang Starr - Dwyck

Trackliste LP - 2

10. Gang Starr - Words From the Nutcracker 11. Gang Starr - Mass Appeal 12. Gang Starr - Blowin' Up the Spot 13. Gang Starr - Suckas Need Bodyguards 14. Gang Starr - Now You're Mine 15. Gang Starr - Mostly Tha Voice 16. Gang Starr - F.A.L.A. 17. Gang Starr - Comin' for Datazz

Beschreibung

Gang Starr came out hard on their 1994 album, Hard to Earn, an album notably different from its two predecessors: Step in the Arena (1991) and Daily Operation (1992). While those two classic albums garnered tremendous praise for their thoughtful lyrics and jazzy beats, Hard to Earn seems much more reactionary, especially its lyrics. Guru opens the album with a tough, dismissive spoken-word intro: "Yo, all you kids want to get on and sh*t/Just remember this/This sh*t ain't easy/If you ain't got it, you ain't got it, motherf*cker." While this sense of superiority is undoubtedly a long-running convention of not just East Coast rap but rap in general, you don't expect to hear it coming from Gang Starr, particularly with such a bitter tone. Yet this attitude pervades throughout Hard to Earn. Songs such as "Suckas Need Bodyguards" and "Mass Appeal" take aim at unnamed peers, and other songs such as "ALONGWAYTOGO" similarly center on "whack crews." The best moments on Hard to Earn aren't these songs but instead "Code of the Streets" and "Tonz 'O' Gunz," two songs where Guru offers the type of social commentary that made Gang Starr so admirable in the first place. Yet, even though Hard to Earn is a bit short on such thoughtful moments, instead weighed down a bit with harsh attitude, it does offer some of DJ Premier's best productions ever. He's clearly at -- or, at least, near -- his best here. There isn't a song on the album that's a throwaway, and even the interludes are stunning. Given the subtly bitter tone of this album, it perhaps wasn't surprising then that Guru and Premier took some time to pursue solo opportunities after Hard to Earn. You can sense the duo's frustration with the rap scene circa 1994. The two didn't return with another Gang Starr album until four years later when they dropped Moment of Truth, a succinct comeback album that reaffirmed their status as one of New York's most thoughtful and artistic rap acts. [Hard to Earn was released on LP in 2014.] ~ Jason Birchmeier

Jason Birchmeier