Gang Starr - Hard to Earn (17 tracks) +Album Reviews

I'm not a huge hip hop fan but....

07/05/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...this is definately my favorite hip hop album easily. Unlike most other rap records, this one is solid start to finish. No crap, just straight up real beats and lyrics. The Guru is one of the best and this album only proves his dedication and heart for the art of rap. DJ Premier???? what else can be said about him? He has the golden touch. Tasteful samples, and killer beats. This one will stay at the top of my collection for years to come. Gang Starr are the illist, by far."

Gang Starr(DJ Premiere+Guru)

Velada Carlisle | 01/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a ill all-around CD. YOu have to be a fan of true hip-hop to like it and its energy for rap is alive. Premiere,being my favorite producer anyway) drops dope beat for the 93 era, and Guru keeps the album even with his unique sense of mic presense. Guru has to be the most on-beat MC I've ever listened to. His flow goes so smooth and on top of that, his wordplay and rhyme skill never seem to fail.

My Top 5 tracks

1.DYWCK feat. Nice&Smooth(great feature)

2.Suckas Need Bodyguards

3.Mass Appeal

4.Blowin Up Ths Spot

5.ALONWAYTOGO"

"I'll burn out ya' eyeballs, and leave a note in braille." (

Velada Carlisle | 10/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Eric B & Rakim. EPMD. OutKast. Among them; Gang Starr.

A lot of great rap duos have come and gone in the past. At the beginning of the 1990's, Gang Starr established themselves as one of rap's elite duos with albums such as 1991's Step In The Arena, and 1992's Daily Operation. By 1994, DJ Premier had made a name for himself as one of the hottest producers on the east coast, and rightfully so. Somehow, Premo and Guru found time to record their 1994 LP Hard To Earn, another excellent Gang Starr LP.

After hearing the album intro, it's evident that Guru is "angrier" on Hard To Earn, and he kicks some more street lyrics on this album in his trademark monotone. Of course, you'll find a fair share of Guru's signature social commentary on tracks like Code of the Streets, and Tonz 'o' Gunz (the latter, by the way, is NOT glorifying gun violence, it's actually quite the opposite.) Guru also shines on battle tracks like Brainstorm; spitting with a different cadence than his norm creates ill results on this track. Overall, Guru would never be considered the G.O.A.T. emcee, but he was never a slouch on the mic in his Gang Starr days. A lot of people complain that his monotone delivery was weak, but it was a style that was truly his own, and it worked well most of the time over Premier's tracks.

Speaking of Premo, how is he doing on this album? The beats on Hard To Earn are some of Preem's illest; peep the beat on Mass Appeal if you somehow haven't heard it already, it's one of the illest rap tracks ever created, no question. Words From The Nutcracker is a solo by Melachi The Nutcracker (whack) of the Group Home, and it's only 1:28 long, but Premo cooks up an excellent beat that masks how weak the emcee on this track is, and then some. Hell, I wouldn't mind if Melachi rhymed for three more minutes, as long as it was over THIS beat, I'd be a happy man. F.A.L.A. combines some jazzy keys and a hard drum track to create yet another ill track. I could go on and on about how dope Premier's beats on this album are. The only track on the entire 17-track album that suffers from a not-too-great beat is Now You're Mine, but even the worst beat on the album is pretty decent. To be blunt, Premo's a genius behind the boards. His work on Hard To Earn isn't exactly the dopest of his career, but the tracks are consistently dope throughout.

Hard To Earn is without a doubt another quality Gang Starr LP, and although a few weak spots drag it down to a 4-star rating, it's still worth owning for classic tracks like Code Of The Streets, Brainstorm, Tonz 'o' Gunz, DWYCK, and Mass Appeal alone. Not a minute of whack material to be found on here, just 17-tracks of no-nonsense 90's hip-hop. Highly recommended.

Best Moments: Mass Appeal (favourite), Code of the Streets, Brainstorm, Tonz 'o' Gunz, DWYCK feat. Nice 'n' Smooth, F.A.L.A. feat. Big Shug."

"Classic GANG-STARR Material!"

"Old Skool" Ran-Dee | "Da' Bronx" | 09/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of GANG-STARR's best albums ever! In the midst of the NYC, Boom-Bap era, Gang-Starr drops a jewel on all feeble minded suckers and wages war against "fake MC's who always act hard, but won't walk the streets with out their body guards". In a time when every other MC was sounding either like either ONYX or DAS-EFX, Guru with his unique trademark monotone flow, let's all bitin'-ass MC's know that it's "MOSTLY THE VOICE" and stays true to his original style of MCing. On "Mass Appeal" he attacks the wave of "so-called" hard-core MC's selling out by making commercial, wack-ass, radio friendly songs. Side by side, Guru's lyrics are complimented by the beats of one of the "ILLEST" Hip-Hop producers to date, the one and only "DJ PREMIER". There are many classic tracks on this CD. From the classic "Dwyck" (feat. Nice & Smooth) to the Boom-Bappin' "Speak ya' Clout" (Feat. Jeru Da' Damaja & Lil'Dap) just to name a few. This IS straight up and down, NYC, Boom-Bap, East-Coast Hip-Hop at it's best! GANG-Starr wouldn't deliver anything less."

DOPE, ILL, PHAT, FIRE... (...running out of adjectives...)

E | 04/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...flash back to March 1994...the east coast was hot, and already being a few albums deep, Gangstarr releases "Hard To Earn," further solidifying their unpenetratable street cred.

I was only 11 or 12 when this album came out, and being from the south, I wasn't privy to the culture [of hip hop] yet, or the east coast sound. However, I do remember hearing "Mass Appeal," which caught mad burn on radio stations, even down south. I began my devout appreciation for Gangstarr exactly four years later in 1998 when they dropped "Moment of Truth" (which was consequently my first Gangstarr album, and I still bump it religiously to this day). Therefore, I had to go "back in time" and get schooled by the scholar (Guru).

How does one begin to write a Gangstarr review? Let's see: an ill emcee who's also a positive brother, the Guru, coupled with the celestial beatsmith DJ Premier. This equals an explosive combination, which is exactly what this album is: EXPLOSIVE. Even 10 years later after its initial release, "Hard To Earn" is an undisputable street classic.

One of my favorite joints is the sharp and off-balance fourth track, "Brainstorm." DJ Premier studied Computer Science at Prairie View A&M (in Texas), and the beat to the aforementioned song exhibits this fact: a hectic snare hit and cymbal crash, sprinkled by stuttering computer blips, and a backwards police siren lacing the background. Not to go unmentioned, Guru spits with a different cadence than usual and gets very lyrical - he's definately at his best on tracks like this one.

Or what about the phat piano riff that rides over Melachi's (mediocre) lyrics on "Words From the Nutcracker"? (Y'all know Melachi, the other half of Group Home with Lil Dap.) Or how about the infinitely DOPE cut "Aiiight Chill..."? On the aforementioned, Primo takes his answering machine messages (featuring some of your favorites in hip hop) that all end with the line "...aight, chill," and laces them with a dope ass drum beat. And then there's the sixteenth track, "F.A.L.A." - you'll find out what it stands for when you hear it. And I don't even have to tell you about "Mass Appeal"...I should stop it there; this review will easily turn into a paper outlining Gangstarr's seemingly flawless technique.

You need to cop this joint! And if you're like me and were still a young'n when this one dropped, you need to go back in time and do the math, yo! This album is STRAIGHT BUTTER."

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