Hard to Earn [LP] in Bloomington, MN

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,
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
, particularly with such a bitter tone. Yet this attitude pervades throughout
. 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
aren't these songs but instead
"Code of the Streets"
"Tonz 'O' Gunz,"
two songs where
offers the type of social commentary that made
so admirable in the first place. Yet, even though
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
Premier
took some time to pursue solo opportunities after
. You can sense the duo's frustration with the
scene circa 1994. The two didn't return with another
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
acts. ~ Jason Birchmeier