Hip Hop Needs More Artists Like Gangstarr

[Counter Racist Male]

Guru was underrated as a producer as well.

Guru produce this track.



I always like this track even though it's not highly rated by most people.

 

[I Really Mean It]

fat joe when he wants can go in. i remember the big L track. fat joe got big L. (got a bunch of those like dre getting pac on california love)



dont mean to deter your thread, but on a good day. i dont even have jayz in my top 20 MC's i like to rock with regularly.

guru and them got a catalogue of ill shyt too.

Classic track, helped by the beat by Preme. L killed this, though.

 

[King Poetic]

The biggest thing I give Guru and Premier credit for,, they stayed New York

meaning they never change their style like many other rappers to fit into the whole death row gangster image like many others tried to do because that became the wave of the 90s

 

[prince_peoples]

Hated them as a kid, love them as an adult

 

[TEH]

Almost all 90’s rappers did this ... you would rarely hear a street album without knowledge sprinkled in - even NWA did that to a lesser extent ...

 

[Black_Panther_JS]

Artist like G Herbo and Vince Staples are "street conscious" but both of them were gang members so they also have some real demonic music

 

[QU Hectic]

The greatness of this song

 

[Carolina Slim]

Bar from Skillz

It's the, true enliven with a youthful vengeance
And I'm a judge rap is your ass give you a crucial sentence
You need at least twelve jewels to practice
Your too enthusiastic male groupie b*stard
Still tryin to convince us some more
Pretendin your raw that's what you need a minister for
Again it's the law got you up against the wall
We the gulliest fukk it then it's us against why'all
Mic skills type grills like I'm Michael Jill
Like when he write for the pill is how I stay for the ill
Slide off kid, and let a grown man finesse it
We bold and impressive that old manifest shyt
Some new product from a known team
nikkas know me, and you can bet they know Preme
So here we go for your stereo
And you could tell that it's real when you hear me go hear me go
Top rank point blank we vital
Spit flows rip shows peep the recital
(Skills) Now, you feel it when we drop those
Hot beats stop phoes killin shyt we got those
(Skills) It's, the music that the street love
Each thug, is now reppin this with deep love
(Skills) Gang Starr duelin again rulin again
Watch as we do it again

 

[Carolina Slim]

From Full Clip: The bolded parts had me like

So if you stand in my way, I'm gonna have to spray
Learn that if you come against me son you're gonna have to pray
Since back in the day I held the weight and kept my head up
They wanna see the God catch an L it's all a set up
I give no man or thing power over me
Why these nikkas so jealous and looking sour, over me?
I'm bolder G, I'm like impossible to stop
I'm like that nikka in the ring with you, impossible to drop
I'm like two magazines fully loaded to your one
Plus I ain't gonna quit spitting til you're done
Plus, more than ever I got my whole shyt together
More than a decade of hits that'll live forever
Catching rep off my name, you're bound to fry
Know how many nikkas that I know is down to die
We never fail, and we ain't never been frail
You nikkas talk crime, but you scared of jail

Attacking like a slick Apache, lyrics are trigger happy
Blowing back your wig piece just for the way you're looking at me
Cock back, blaow, I hit you up right now
I don't know why so many of y'all wanna be thugs anyhow
Face the consequence of your childish nonsense
I could make your head explode just by my lyrical content
Get you in my scope and metaphorically snipe ya
I never liked ya, I gas that ass and then ignite ya
The flame thrower, make your peeps afraid to know ya
How many times I told ya, play your position small soldier
My heart is colder, makes me wanna resort to violence
Stop beating me in the head son, nah, I'm not buying it
I'm ready to blast, ready to surpass and harass
I'm ready to flip, yeah I'm ready to dip with all the cash
I hold my chrome steady, with a tight grip
So watch your dome already cause this one might hit

 

[TEH]

Artist like G Herbo and Vince Staples are "street conscious" but both of them were gang members so they also have some real demonic music

Yeah Vince Staples owns this lane in the current era - severely underrated artist and this thread is proof that a lot of people never listened to him ...

 

[The_Hillsta]

One thing about Gangstarr that I appreciate is how the group straddled the line between street and conscious rap, mixing a NY bred gangster vibe with reflective and contemplative rhymes about the consequences of that life. Their music was the perfect blend of gangsterism, pro-blackness and consciousness. That mix no longer exists nowadays. You either have pure and unadulterated gangsterism or consciousness that comes across as preachy and patronizing.

Just to get a rep. Mass Appeal. Code of the Streets. Moment of Truth.

I feel like THIS is what our children are missing. Street dudes with a conscience. We need more music like this, if we mean to speak their language in a way that uplifts them. Maybe Kendrick is the closest we have? He tends to insert street shyt into his otherwise conscious lyricism, but I don't think Kendrick comes across as convincingly street the way Guru and Preme did.

"Land is power so give me 40 acres, let's see how far I can take ya,,,,original, invicible, that's how I'm lookin at it, I use my rhymes like a glock automatic, any means necessary I'm goin all, out before the rains bring the nuclear fallout...So let me ask you is it too late??? AYO, WHO'S GONNA TAKE THE WEIGHT?!!!??!!"



Like, this shyt was really gettin pumped on the radio in my city at the time....

WE, US, the streets used to dictate to radio and video what fed the masses. The powers that be didn't realize how powerful that socially conscious code was in the music at a time where it became popular and we was all pumpin it. In my city it didn't mater what part of the country it was comin from from. If it was funky, had soul, had a message and WE was feelin it, radio and video was pumpin that shyt. Radio execs were makin bread, we didn't give a fukk, this is hat was hot in the streets and at the time and you are gonna play OUR shyt.

Not just Gangstarr...Cube, PE, X-Clan, Brand Nubian, Paris, The Coup, Tribe, Da Lenchmob...Wasn't all socially conscious music but a VARIETY of styles and sounds where NONE of that shyt just meshed together. Beautiful, black, our code, struggle, rage, and havin a good time....Nationwide. Grew up in that era, from junior high to college we was fed. That's why a lotta of us older heads go so hard on this site because we've witnessed that change in real time and as time goes on younger cats will see the same thing in their genre of music.

 

[Mike the Executioner]

I'm always ready for a Gang Starr appreciation thread.

OP hit the nail on the head. That's one thing about Gang Starr that made them special: They were relatable. They didn't try to come off as if they knew everything and they didn't try to prove to you that they were hardcore street dudes. Guru was like that guy sitting on the porch who's seen everything, made some bad decisions in life that he regrets and he's trying to tell you not to make those same bad decisions. There's nothing you've been through that he hasn't.

Another thing that made Gang Starr special was how well they adjusted to each era of hip hop. No two albums sounded alike. Every project they came out captured that specific time period. You can see the difference in Premier's beats and Guru's flow/delivery on each album. Even the one that came out a few months ago sounds like what a Gang Starr album would sound like in 2019, despite Guru being dead.

They're up there with the best groups of all-time. Both Guru and Premier are top five in their fields (rapping and producing).

 

[MR. Conclusion]

Imo Premier didnt come in his own Intel the moment of truth. That's when his production went from decent to legendary.

Type of mumbo jumbo is this?

 

[Dafunkdoc_Unlimited]

Do NOT smoke a blunt and listen to this track.​

Your mind will wander......​

​

​

 

[Wiseborn]

Gangster was an acquired taste. They were purest that didn't have much commercial success. I remember my cousin from down south used to hate them. Im a huge fan though.

This nikkas don't want to think, and I'm not saying that the rapper was the most lyrical (he was nice not not the best) but they talked about a lot of normal shyt that anyone could relate to.

Now most mainstream rap is a corny ass stereotype of what a Black Man is.