Gang Starr "Hard To Earn"

Posted on 01.5.1996

Gang Starr
Album : Hard to Earn
Release Date : March 8, 1994
Label : Capitol

Review :

On "ALONGWAYTOGO," the second track from Gang Starr’s Hard to Earn, rapper Guru draws a line in the sand between the "counterfeit" and the "legit" and challenges the listener, "If you don’t know what you’re doing, how the hell can you be real ?" He goes on to explain that being "real" means walking the streets with a pistol in your belt and no bodyguards, ready to rumble when you don’t get your "props." What he never bothers to explain is why this macho "Shaft" fantasy is more real than earning a business degree at Morehouse College and becoming a jazz fan (which is what Guru did in his earlier life as Keith Elam). Outflanked on the hip-hop/jazz front by Digable Planets and Us3, Gang Starr try to reestablish their hardcore credentials with an album that finds Guru rapping about sucker MCs and pistol-packing homeboys while Premier loops funky but repetitive beats behind him.

Customer Review :
"Gang Starr are of the most unbeatable groups in hip-hop. With a solid MC (Guru) and a solid DJ/producer (DJ Premier), you are almost unstoppable. Gang Starr also are one of the few groups who maintain a hardcore sound without resorting to gun talk, etc. While Hard To Earn is not as good as Step In The Arena or Daily Operation, it is still a great album. Guru is on point on this one as he criticizes MC’s who claim they are hard when really their hard image is fake ("Suckas Need Bodyguards"), denounces the usage of guns ("Tonz O Gunz"), and rips the mic ("DWYCK"). Premier’s porduction is not as good as some of his other work, but it is good. All in all, Hard To Earn is a must own for any Gang Starr fan. To the people who reviewed above, Hard TO Earn does not promote violence or guns. "Tonz O Gunz" is an anti-firearm song and "Suckas Need Bodyguards" just put down the MC’s "who always act hard but won’t walk the streets without their bodyguards." Many MC’s claim they are tough and violent when in reality they are not and this song criticizes those MC’s who produce a negative image that is fake. "

Track Listings :

1. Intro (The First Step)
2. ALONGWAYTOGO
3. Code of the Streets
4. Brainstorm
5. Tonz ’o’ Gunz
6. Planet
7. Aiiight Chill...
8. Speak Ya Clout
9. DWYCK
10. Words From the Nutcracker
11. Mass Appeal
12. Blowin’ up the Spot
13. Suckas Need Bodyguards
14. Now You’re Mine
15. Mostly tha Voice
16. F.A.L.A.
17. Comin’ for Datazz