djfilthyrich
All Star
25th Anniversary tribute mix exploring the making of this classic, with Interviews/OG Samples/ Blends/Remixes
Sometimes great art is created when times are tough, and 'Moment Of Truth' is a prime example. Facing the adversity of Guru's pending court case, lost loved ones, alcoholism and in-fights, they poured that energy into their most personal & emotional album. To come off of a 4 year hiatus and drop a 20 track classic (with no skips!!!) on top of all that is mind-blowing.
I like how Premier's production reflected both the highs & the lows....especially the moody cuts like Moment Of Truth, Next Time, In Memory Of, and Betrayal. I love a grimy Preemo beat as much as the next guy, but when he starts to get into his soul bag too?!?!
The sample selection on this one was crazy....trying to recreate some of his chops/flips on this mix gave me a whole new appreciation for what he did on the album.
Link:
Preemo gives a track-by-track breakdown to Wax Poetics:
“You Know My Steez”
For one, we always knew how to pick our singles, and we’ve always presented what we wanted to the label rather than the other way around. Sometimes they tell you what they are feelin’ or what they’re not, but at least with our structure, we’ve always had some say, and they trusted us and it worked. So we picked “You Know My Steez,” “Royalty,” and “The Militia” to roll out the album.
We always had a list of ideas that Guru wrote down and was in charge of, and we’d tack it to the wall of the studio. And we’d just randomly go. We don’t say, “Let’s do the club hit today,” or “Let’s do the single today.” We just come in and do what we feel. If there wasn’t a title yet—Guru would have parentheses next to each track number with our notes with a description. With this one, the notes said this would be the single.
I already had the idea of what I wanted to do with the Grandmaster Flash “Flash It to the Beat” sample. Showbiz used it on a skit for Runaway Slave. We used to all hang out—me, Showbiz, Large Pro, Pete Rock, Diamond D; we saw each other all the time. We were cool and shared what records we used. So I wanted to do my own interpretation of it after hearing how Showbiz used it. And the lyrics on the hook are obviously from GZA’s “Shadowboxing.” It just always stood out to me. I was really happy I finally got the chance to use it.
“Robin Hood Theory”
This is actually the first song we recorded for the album. It’s the first one I already had that beat looped as it is. I used to drive around bumping this beat for months. [laughs] It’s a subtle beat, it’s more quiet, the drums are not heavy, and there isn’t a hard snare. I just love this beat. When I played it for Guru, he loved it. And this isn’t one of those beats I would present for any artist I was working on a song with. It’s not a dope beat for a hard single—it’s an amazing beat for when you’re working closely with someone and they know how to construct themselves around it. It was the definitely the right song to go on after “You Know My Steez.” I’ve been sequencing every one of our albums since day one. I’m used to sequencing. I sequenced all the Gang Starr records. I mean, I sequenced Illmatic.
“Work”
This was actually done for the movie Caught Up, so it was already a finished record. We really liked it and wanted to add it onto the album. So we pushed for it, and after the film was released, they granted us rights to put it on this project. We had to wait for a certain time frame for the movie to have been out. I felt like it set the album up perfectly soundwise, as well as the direction of the following songs.
“Royalty (ft. K-Ci & JoJo)”
Obviously, Moment of Truth was very feature-heavy, because at the time, that was beginning to be the new thing. Before, Guru and I never really had outside collaborators besides those who were already in the inner circle—our team, the guys you heard on Daily Operation or Hard to Earn. Guru said that he wanted someone that had equivalent success as us with singing skills to work on this album.
So the label finally connected us through the phone and the first thing K-Ci and JoJo said was, like, “We don’t want to do an R&B-type beat, or a popular loop, and just have us sing on it. Make a Gang Starr track and have us on it.” So I already thought that was real cool of them, and we connected right away. Most people would’ve just had them sing over some shyt and make it work. But I think with this it actually sounds like a Gang Starr track.
Sometimes great art is created when times are tough, and 'Moment Of Truth' is a prime example. Facing the adversity of Guru's pending court case, lost loved ones, alcoholism and in-fights, they poured that energy into their most personal & emotional album. To come off of a 4 year hiatus and drop a 20 track classic (with no skips!!!) on top of all that is mind-blowing.
I like how Premier's production reflected both the highs & the lows....especially the moody cuts like Moment Of Truth, Next Time, In Memory Of, and Betrayal. I love a grimy Preemo beat as much as the next guy, but when he starts to get into his soul bag too?!?!
The sample selection on this one was crazy....trying to recreate some of his chops/flips on this mix gave me a whole new appreciation for what he did on the album.
Link:
Preemo gives a track-by-track breakdown to Wax Poetics:
“You Know My Steez”
For one, we always knew how to pick our singles, and we’ve always presented what we wanted to the label rather than the other way around. Sometimes they tell you what they are feelin’ or what they’re not, but at least with our structure, we’ve always had some say, and they trusted us and it worked. So we picked “You Know My Steez,” “Royalty,” and “The Militia” to roll out the album.
We always had a list of ideas that Guru wrote down and was in charge of, and we’d tack it to the wall of the studio. And we’d just randomly go. We don’t say, “Let’s do the club hit today,” or “Let’s do the single today.” We just come in and do what we feel. If there wasn’t a title yet—Guru would have parentheses next to each track number with our notes with a description. With this one, the notes said this would be the single.
I already had the idea of what I wanted to do with the Grandmaster Flash “Flash It to the Beat” sample. Showbiz used it on a skit for Runaway Slave. We used to all hang out—me, Showbiz, Large Pro, Pete Rock, Diamond D; we saw each other all the time. We were cool and shared what records we used. So I wanted to do my own interpretation of it after hearing how Showbiz used it. And the lyrics on the hook are obviously from GZA’s “Shadowboxing.” It just always stood out to me. I was really happy I finally got the chance to use it.
“Robin Hood Theory”
This is actually the first song we recorded for the album. It’s the first one I already had that beat looped as it is. I used to drive around bumping this beat for months. [laughs] It’s a subtle beat, it’s more quiet, the drums are not heavy, and there isn’t a hard snare. I just love this beat. When I played it for Guru, he loved it. And this isn’t one of those beats I would present for any artist I was working on a song with. It’s not a dope beat for a hard single—it’s an amazing beat for when you’re working closely with someone and they know how to construct themselves around it. It was the definitely the right song to go on after “You Know My Steez.” I’ve been sequencing every one of our albums since day one. I’m used to sequencing. I sequenced all the Gang Starr records. I mean, I sequenced Illmatic.
“Work”
This was actually done for the movie Caught Up, so it was already a finished record. We really liked it and wanted to add it onto the album. So we pushed for it, and after the film was released, they granted us rights to put it on this project. We had to wait for a certain time frame for the movie to have been out. I felt like it set the album up perfectly soundwise, as well as the direction of the following songs.
“Royalty (ft. K-Ci & JoJo)”
Obviously, Moment of Truth was very feature-heavy, because at the time, that was beginning to be the new thing. Before, Guru and I never really had outside collaborators besides those who were already in the inner circle—our team, the guys you heard on Daily Operation or Hard to Earn. Guru said that he wanted someone that had equivalent success as us with singing skills to work on this album.
So the label finally connected us through the phone and the first thing K-Ci and JoJo said was, like, “We don’t want to do an R&B-type beat, or a popular loop, and just have us sing on it. Make a Gang Starr track and have us on it.” So I already thought that was real cool of them, and we connected right away. Most people would’ve just had them sing over some shyt and make it work. But I think with this it actually sounds like a Gang Starr track.
