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