Gang Starr

On their sixth album, Gang Starr rail against the system with razor sharp rhymes and more venomous wit than a twenty-something New York rock critic. At times the music almost reinvents hip-hop, pumping out beats like a machine while still keeping the grooves smooth. Snoop Dogg fans will dig his "In This Life" cameo.

More than a decade ago, gang Starr helped define underground rap as a brainy,
jazz-inflected antidote to the growing commercialism and thuggishness of mainstream
hip-hop. The Ownerz, their seventh album, reflects what DJ Premier and Guru have
learned in the years since - namely, that hooks and big beats don't necessarily indicate
selling out. Premier's understated funk is still a bit hook-deficient, but the simple... More >