Friday, 1 November 2019

Beyond Comprehension or wot?

Gang Starr ft. Jadakiss - Rite Where U Stand
(From The Ownerz album; 2003)



When that Beastie Boys-soundin' posthumous A Tribe Called Quest album dropped, a buncha dry-eared randos on the Rap Internet were quick to proclaim it Tribe's 4th best album. DJ Premier just released a posthumous Gangenstein MonStarr album and of course the same dry-eared randos are already claiming it's a better Gang Starr swansong than The Ownerz. Headz always wanna flip the script into a heartwarming happy ending, but factz is factz: real Guru & Primo songs will always be better than DJ Solar-era Guru offcut acapellas bolted onto bunglesome 2019 Primo beats which sound indistinguishable from their Statik Selektah knock-offs. There are no songs on this new Gang Starr album only glorified Pro Tools experiments relying on good-faith nostalgia, and an album containing guest verses from J. Cole and Talib Kweli can NEVER be better than The Ownerz. Never? NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!

Gang Starr - Sabotage
(From The Ownerz album; 2003)



Previously: Hard To Care.

22 comments:

  1. thank you for being the voice of reason

    haven't heard the album yet and probably won't for a while but when I heard guru rhyme world of rap with world of crap on the j cole single i knew what time it was

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  2. The Ownerz was much better than people give it credit for well not on the level of there 90's run the only really bad song on it was "Nice Girl Wrong Place".

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  3. The saddest thing about this album is that Primo having to buy a bunch of miserable Guru acapellas from his arch-nemesis Solar pretty much proves that there's no unreleased Gang Starr songs in the vaults 😕

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  4. ppl have been describing this like it was from the turn of the century vaults but this sounds far more believable ☹️

    Only ones these that turned out not entirely bad n creepy was the first tupac one n pimp daddys, which felt more like a tribute than a new album rly:
    https://youtu.be/nktWr2alW8k

    Worst one is that one entirely produced by eminem w an elton john feature or the bil L one.

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  5. ppl who dont like The Ownerz prob still write letters to the source

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  6. Always liked 'Deadly Habitz' too.
    The best bit on the new LP is when Freddie Foxx threatens Solar a couple of lines into his verse. Good old Freddie.

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  7. Yeah, Deadly Habitz is a jam 4 sure.

    And of course Who Got Gunz.

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  8. Bunglesome is a good word.

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  9. Actual factz, relax: the Primo & Casanova song from last year bodies anything on this new Gang Starr album.

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  10. Thinkin' about it, the best thing I can say about this album is that it makes me REALLY appreciate the work Primo did on those posthumous Big L tracks The Big Picture (Intro) and Platinum Plus. Them shits actually do sound like real songs rather than awkward cut & paste jobs.

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  11. Platinum Plus is amazing!!

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  12. Mind was blown when i copped on later they were, i think, radio freestyles

    The pete rock one wasnt bad either but you could tell more. Someone should just rip apart every big L accapella n make the good album he never got.

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  13. Them 2 Harlem's Finest freestyle albums > his 2 studio albums.

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  14. I think Flamboyant is prob the only fully good later L song. Size Em Ups cool but he rly shit the bed giving Ron Browz a career.

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  15. I like the Royce verse.

    Revisited moment of truth cos of this and still classic ofc, but the beats are the main reason. Sacreligious to suggest that the best bits in the last few legit gang Starr albums weren't Guru contributions? (Although I love his Betrayal verse/hook above almost anything else on them.)

    No shots though, R.I.P.

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  16. Gang Starr Guru was great. Like vintage Ice T his songwriting skills tend to get underrated nowadays.

    Work is my shit off Moment Of Truth. That's one of those songs which wasn't an actual single but has become an unofficial one.

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  17. I'd say if anything if gang Starr floundered in their later yrs its cos of primo, like the beats were at worst still cool but he got a bit routine. Guru killed moment of truth imo he's one of the goats

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  18. Like how many of gurus peers were still knocking em out lie that in the early 00s

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  19. the only Gangstarr albums i purchased with my own money were Full Clip and Ownerz, so it will always have a special place in my heart.

    that said "ppl who dont like The Ownerz prob still write letters to the source" is the funniest thing i've seen in a while

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