The best producers ever: Ski, Pete Rock, Jam Master Jay, many others and then there's DJ Premier. I've honestly never heard a bad song produced by Preemo, and he's produced at least 500 songs... and I've probably heard 100 at minimum. And not enough can be said about his monotone partner, who made lyricism street and gritty. Even though everyone names Wu as an influence, no one really mentions Gang Starr... who probably influenced your favorite rappers (maybe not Wayne and company). But Camp Lo owes much of their success to the jazz rap pioneers, as does Ski who has made his name as the second coming of DJ Premier. Interestingly, Guru and Preemo have both gone their separate ways, but are still active in hip-hop. Guru has been silent for a while... but DJ Premier is hard at work with my fucking boy TERMANOLOGY, check the kid out people. But now to bring it back to 1998, and for the heads who know their album history... I'll quote Cool J: "Don't Call It A Comeback"...
The Good:
1. You Know My Steez- This song is on the top of a short fucking list named "Best Album Intro's Ever". This was a single? HOW!?!?!
2. Robin Hood Theory- The lyrics are fucking murder, but the beat is much to subtle to emphasize what Guru's saying.
3. Work- All the hipster-hop artists nowadays freestyle over this instrumental. For good reason, this track is fucking awesome.
4. Royalty- Why didn't these guys sell millions? Still a mystery to me... I wish this song was two and a half minutes... but it's 5 minutes... still it's beautiful.
5. Above The Clouds- Appropriately named, as repetitively as I say this... it's true: You just do not hear shit like this anymore. And it's a damn shame...
6. JFK 2 LAX- Just a chill track... Premier laces this track with a beautiful vocal sample. And Guru's storytelling is commendable... I'm loving the lyricism.
8. Moment Of Truth- The topic at hand is pretty lame... and this track flip flops from weak to decent. Not surprising for a track the album was named after or vice versa.
9. B.I. Vs. Friendship- Let me get this off my chest... as gimmicky as M.O.P. is they were the first ones to come out with their sound. (which is why I am willing to listen to them) That being said, they sound pretty good... well as good as two screaming maniacs can sound over a jazzy Premier beat. Now Guru...
10. The Militia- This instrumental is fucking awesome. Big Shug is fucking awesome. Guru is fucking awesome. Freddie Foxxx is a different story.
11. The Rep Grows Bigga- Why? Why? Why? For those with patience, you will suffer through a minute and a half long interlude... but you will be rewarded with a good track equipped with insane sampling jobs by Primo.
12. What I'm Here 4- Let's just say my neck hurts from involuntarily nodding it after repeating this track 15 times.
13. She Knows What She Wantz- A completely different vibe, but I love this song. Not enough can be said about DJ Premier's ability to perfectly simulate a vibe with his instrumentals. And Guru well he delivers like always.
14. New York Strait Talk- Average, maybe below average... still better than most rapper's best.
15. My Advice 2 You- My advice to Gang Starr: Come back and make another album right fucking now. This track is a dream that you don't wake up(and don't want to) from until you hear...
16. Make Em Pay- Another amazing track, if you ever download this album, it will probably be your introduction to Krumbsnatcha... and it's quite the introduction.
18. Betrayal- It's hilarious how accommodating Gang Starr is to Scarface on this track. Slow beat, slow flow... still a great track. Check the attention to detail in the storytelling too... not too many people do that. The hook is amazing, I'm surprised it hasn't been sampled, and Scarface gets on his "I Saw A Man Die" shit.
19. Next Time- The chorus SUCKS!! but the rest rocks.
And sadly (in contrast to most albums) we're done. I can honestly say that this album is not just a good listen, it's a fucking Tony The Tiger great listen. All the way through... it's real hip hop that don't stop... at all... for one second... of one nanosecond.
0-20: Terrible listening experience
21-40: Maybe one good song
41-60: A few good songs
61-80: Half are good songs, half are weak
81-100: Great listening experience, almost all are great songs
Remember "Illmatic", I said no album would ever top it... as good as this album is it's no "Illmatic", I give it a 92. And everyone young, old, musically deaf or gifted... pick this shit up. And you hip hop heads listen to Primo's instrumentals one more time before you decide not to give my boy Termanology a chance (would he really fuck with lame cats)? The download for ya ass:
What Part of Download Now Didn't You Understand
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