A very positive reaction ✊🏾! Back when mainstream hip hop was more about knowledge of self instead of exploitation of self. Positivity was a single of off Gang Starr's 1989 album: No More Mr Nice Guy. The song was written by GURU (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal) and produced by DJ Premier. It reached #19 on the Billboard Rap chart. Gang Starr was hip hop duo consisting of Texas producer Chris Martin (DJ Premier) and Boston rapper Keith Elam (GURU). For the entirety of their group association they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003 and are considered one of the best MC/Producer duos in hip hop history. They are recognized for being one of the pioneers of jazz rap. Gang Starr, as a group, have released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, thirty-one singles, one promotional single and nine music videos. Gang Starr Group Origins 🧐: The original Gang Starr group was founded in Morehouse College by three friends from Boston, Massachusetts: GURU (then known as MC Keithy E) who was planned to be a rapper/singer, Big Shug as the main MC and DJ Suave D (Big Shug's younger brother Dana) as their DJ. After Big Shug was imprisoned, Suave D quit the group, leaving Guru to enlist the services of MC Damo D-Ski and DJ 1, 2 B-Down (also known as Mike Dee) with various producers such as Donald D, JV Johnson and The 45 King helping out. Their earliest recordings were in 1986 where they made various demos. In 1987 and 1988 Gang Starr released three 12" vinyl singles on Wild Pitch Records. Group Breakup And Partnering With DJ Premier 😎: In 1989, the group split for the second time and the only member willing to continue under the name was GURU. He got in touch with Houston, Texas native DJ Premier (then known as Waxmaster C) who sent him a beat tape, which GURU liked. He invited DJ Premier to join Gang Starr, relocate with him to Brooklyn and in that same year they released their first single "Words I Manifest" along with the album No More Mr. Nice Guy (1989). In 1990, the group was signed to the Chrysalis record label by then A&R director Duff Marlowe, a former DJ and Los Angeles Times rap music critic. The label offered GURU and DJ Premier unlimited artistic license and major-label distribution worldwide, a platform the group used to become one of the most influential hip hop acts of that decade. During their career Gang Starr helped pioneer the New York City hardcore hip hop sound. The Gang Starr catalog, especially Step in the Arena (1991), Daily Operation (1992), Hard To Earn (1994) and Moment of Truth (1998) are well respected among underground rap fans and critics. Their track "Jazz Thing" was featured on the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1990 film Mo' Better Blues. Gang Starr provided a track, "Battle", for the soundtrack of the 2002 movie 8 Mile. After several albums and tours, in late 2002 DJ Premier left Europe to go back to the United States. Once again GURU was faced with continuing alone and became involved in a European tour in 2003-04 with an alternate DJ. In 2006, GURU indicated in several interviews that Gang Starr, as a group, had reached its career end in the music industry. GURU's Death 🙏🏾: In February of 2010 GURU suffered a heart attack, went into a coma, and subsequently passed away on April 19, 2010. DJ Solar, a long-time collaborator of GURU, said GURU chose not to go public with the diagnosis of myeloma that was made in 2000. GURU appeared to have fallen out with DJ Premier seven years prior to his death and did "not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name, likeness, events, tributes, etc." There is speculation that the letter was not written by GURU, but was composed by DJ Solar. The validity of the statement was questioned by GURU's family and his contemporaries as well as the questionable financial motives of DJ Solar to imply such a thing. GURU And DJ Premier Outside Projects 🤓: GURU has his own separate jazz/hip hop album series: Guru's Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 (1993), Guru's Jazzmatazz Vol. 2: The New Reality (1995),Guru's Jazzmatazz Vol. 3: Streetsoul (2000) & Guru's Jazzmatazz Vol. 4: The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger: Back To The Future (2007). GURU worked with Jazz and music legends like Donald Byrd, N'Dea Davenport, Roy Ayers Chaka Khan, Ramsey Lewis, Branford Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Mica Paris, Lonnie Liston Smith, Ronny Jordan, Me'Shell Ndegéocello, Amel Larrieux, Erykah Badu, Craig David, Jamiroquai and more on his Jazzmatazz projects. GURU also released the solo albums: Baldhead Slick & da Click (2001), Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures (2005) & Guru 8.0: Lost And Found (2009). DJ Premier has released his own albums outside of the group: DJ Premier Presents Get Used To Us (2010), Kolexxxion with Bumpy Knuckles (2012), PRhyme with Royce da 5'9 (2014), PRhyme 2 with Royce da 5'9 (2018) & Hip Hop 50: Vol. 1 (2022). DJ Premier has produced beats/songs for many artists including: Rakim, KRS-ONE, MC Lyte, Big Daddy Kane, Nas, AZ, Bahamadia, Janet Jackson, Big L, Canibus, Jay Z, Mos Def, Ice T, Common, Jeru The Damaja, Christina Aguilera, Limp Bizkit, Group Home, D'Angelo, Lord Finesse, Dilated Peoples, The Lox, Fat Joe, J Cole, Kanye West, Mobb Deep, The Lady of Rage, M.O.P., Ludacris, Eminem, The Notorious B.I.G., Royce Da 5'9, Kool G Rap, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Heavy D, Neneh Cherry and many more. Some good Gang Starr - GURU songs 🎶: Royalty, Mass Appeal, Moment Of Truth, Above The Clouds, Just To Get A Rep, Step In The Arena, Ex Girl To Next Girl, Who's Gonna Take The Weight?, DWYCK, Check The Technique, Soliloquy Of Chaos, Skillz, Jazz Music, Take It Personal, Manifest, Lovesick, B.I. vs Friendship, JFK 2 LAX, Words I Manifest (Remix), You Know My Steez, Full Clip, Jazz Thing, 1/2 & 1/2, All For The Cash, Gotta Get Over (Taking Loot), Code Of The Streets, B.Y.S., I'm The Man, No More Mr Nice Guy, The Militia, Same Team No Games, Take A Rest, Suckas Need Bodyguards, Work, Rite Where You Stand, Nice Girl Wrong Place, Loungin', Robin Hood Theory, Watch What You Say & Discipline.
Back when rap was all about positivity and gaining knowledge. So many people only remember rap for it's use of profanity, violence, and exploitation of women. So when you mention that rap wasn't always like that, people are either surprised, or willfully denounce that it ever existed.
When positivity was at the forefront in HIp Hop Classic rip GIfted Unlimited Rhymes Universal🙏 truly missed. Check out: Skills Mass appeal Dwyck You know my steez Above the clouds Code of the streets Doe in advance Royalty and many more GURu - feel the music Look to the sun Trust me Illest man Living in this world Lookin through the darkness Rest in paragraph king🙏
Here some my favorite Gangstarr songs: - Full Clip - Above the clouds - Next Time - You know my steez - Royalty - Ex to the next girl - Just get a rep - Mass appeal - The Remainz - Feat. MOP: 1 2 & 1 2 Some my favorite Guru song from Jazzmatazz album, specially volume 2 is Lost Souls and Medicine.
