Keith Edward Elam,better known by his stage name Guru,was an American rapper,record producer and actor. He was a member of the hip hop duo Gang Starr,along with DJ Premier. He was born in Boston,Massachusetts.
Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo,consisting of Houston-born record producer DJ Premier and Boston,Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association,they were based in Brooklyn,New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003,and are considered one of the best MC-and-producer duos in hip hop history. They are recognized for being one of the pioneers of jazz rap. Some of their top hits include "Mass Appeal","Take It Personal","Moment of Truth","Full Clip" and "Above The Clouds".
Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music,as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre,that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present,paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation:trumpet,double bass,etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest,Digable Planets,De La Soul,Gang Starr,The Roots,Jungle Brothers,and Dream Warriors.
No More Mr. Nice Guy is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Gang Starr. The album was released on April 22,1989. It peaked at #83 on the Billboard R&B chart. The song "Positivity" peaked at #19 on the Billboard rap chart.
Jazzmatazz,Volume 1:An Experimental Fusion of Hip-Hop and Jazz,is the debut solo studio album by American hip hop recording artist Guru. It was released on May 18,1993,by Chrysalis Records. Recording sessions took place at D&D Studios in New York. Production was handled by Guru himself,who also served as executive producer together with Duff Marlowe and Patrick Moxey.
Christopher Edward Martin,known professionally as DJ Premier,is an American DJ and record producer. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr—alongside the rapper Guru—and presently forms half of the hip hop duo PRhyme,together with Royce da 5'9".
Daily Operation is the third studio album by American hip hop duo Gang Starr. It was released by Chrysalis Records on May 5,1992. It peaked at number 65 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Nice &Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes. The duo released four albums between 1989 and 1997.
M.O.P. is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. After years of mostly underground success,they gained more mainstream recognition in 2000 with the song "Ante Up",which would become their biggest hit. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premier and is part of the Gang Starr Foundation. Fame sometimes produces under the moniker Fizzy Womack,and has produced tracks on every M.O.P. release since 1996's Firing Squad,as well as work for other artists including Kool G Rap,Teflon and Wu-Tang Clan.
Mecca and the Soul Brother is the 1992 debut album from hip-hop duo Pete Rock &CL Smooth. The album contains their best known song,"They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)". Mecca and the Soul Brother has been widely acclaimed as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. The album was mostly produced by Pete Rock and executive produced by DJ Eddie F of Heavy D &the Boyz.
The following list contains songs produced,co-produced or remixed by hip-hop producer DJ Premier.
Step in the Arena is the second studio album by hip hop duo Gang Starr,printed as a 1990 release,and commercially released on January 15,1991. In 2007,it was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by IGN. HipHopDX called it "the album that cemented Gang Starr as a timeless tag team."
Hard to Earn is the fourth studio album by American hip hop duo Gang Starr. It was released on March 8,1994,by Chrysalis and EMI Records in North America. The album featured the singles "Dwyck","Mass Appeal",and "Code of the Streets". Guest appearances on the album include Group Home,Jeru the Damaja,and Big Shug. At the time,all were part of the Gang Starr Foundation,which made the album a stepping-stone for future DJ Premier-helmed projects by Group Home and Jeru. Hard to Earn received acclaim and commercial success upon release.
Mass Appeal:The Best of Gang Starr is a greatest hits album by hip hop duo Gang Starr released by Virgin/EMI Records on December 26,2006. It is named after the popular Gang Starr song "Mass Appeal," which is one of the eighteen tracks on the album. The limited-edition version of this album contains two bonus tracks on the first disc and a bonus disc with 11 music videos in DVD format. The music videos range are taken from all Gang Starr albums excluding No More Mr. Nice Guy and are arranged in chronological order. The tracks on disc one are not arranged in chronological order but are taken from every Gang Starr album. Mass Appeal:Best of Gang Starr differs from the group's first greatest hits compilation,Full Clip:A Decade of Gang Starr,because it contains a bonus disc of music videos and it contains tracks from The Ownerz. Also,there are no previously unreleased tracks on Mass Appeal excluding the two bonus tracks,which appeared on the Japanese version of The Ownerz.
Cary Guy,better known as Big Shug,is an American rapper from Boston,Massachusetts,a co-founder of Gang Starr and a member of the Gang Starr Foundation collective.
"Mass Appeal" is a song by American hip hop group Gang Starr,released on February 8,1994 as the second single from their fourth studio album Hard to Earn. The song reached #67 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #42 on the Billboard R&B chart. It was also featured on the soundtrack of the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.
American hip hop duo Gang Starr have released seven studio albums,two compilation albums,thirty-one singles,one promotional single and nine music videos.
"You Know My Steez" is a song by American hip hop duo Gang Starr,released on November 18,1997 as the lead single from their fifth studio album Moment of Truth (1998). It samples "Drowning in the Sea of Love" by Joe Simon,"Flash It to the Beat" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,"B Side Wins Again" by Public Enemy,"Real Hip-Hop" by Das EFX,"Shadowboxin'" by GZA featuring Method Man and "Usual Suspect" by Big Noyd featuring Prodigy.
One of the Best Yet is the seventh and final studio album by American hip hop duo Gang Starr,released on November 1,2019. The album features previously unreleased and posthumous vocals from Guru,who died nine years prior to the album's release. The album features guest appearances from J. Cole,Royce da 5'9",Talib Kweli,M.O.P.,and Q-Tip,among others.
"Code of the Streets" is a song by American hip hop duo Gang Starr from their fourth studio album Hard to Earn (1994). It was released as the third single from the album on May 17,1994. It samples "Little Green Apples" by Monk Higgins,"Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss and "Word From Our Sponsor" by Boogie Down Productions.
