Chrysalis/Cool Tempo (1992)
It's no secret that in addition to poppy punk rock, I also love golden era 90s hip hop. I have several key pieces on vinyl, but the vast majority of my hip hop collection is on CDs that I bought when I was in high school. I'm trying to track down some more on vinyl, but a lot of it is out of print at collector prices. That's certainly not something I can swing right now, but as luck would have it, I managed to pick up a couple of Gang Starr records at a totally reasonable price.
Daily Operation was the first Gang Starr record I bought when I was younger. I'm pretty sure that I saw the video for "Take It Personal" on Yo MTV Raps and that let to me grabbing the CD. It remains one of my all time favorite rap albums. While it may not hit the highs of Hard To Earn, as a whole record, I think Daily Operation is stronger overall. At least there aren't any three minute long songs that's nothing but answering machine messages.
There's something magical about the way the Guru's smooth vocal delivery played over the beats that DJ Premier served up. There's always been a mix of hip hop, jazz and funk samples, but I don't think anyone filtered like Gang Starr to create such a unique sound that could never be replicated by anyone else. Pretty much every song on here is perfect and I'l glad to finally have the vinyl in my collection.
Gang Starr - "Take It Personal":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69PcbIxF-04
Gang Starr - " Ex Girl To Next Girl"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwSXfocnt48
No comments:
Post a Comment