Audio By Carbonatix
Gang Starr is something of an institution, the last remaining link to the glorious, so-called “golden age of hip-hop” in the late Eighties. Unlike their peers who have been forced to record for independents and chase after a gradually shrinking audience, Guru (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal) and DJ Premier are still in the hunt for mainstream acclaim, stubbornly holding court in the rap community despite a sound that’s years removed from the overheated chants of Southern crunk and thugcore’s array of discofied bells and whistles. Five years in the making, their recent The Ownerz wasn’t as innovative as past efforts. But it’s a good album nevertheless, representative of standards that have made them near-deities to fans who claim “the real hip-hop” and respected elders to new jacks who have long since unashamedly sold out to the pop market, but haven’t forgotten where the music came from.
