RGANG STARR GANG STARR GANG STAR GANG STARR GANG STARR GANG STA
OR A ROCK GROUP TO HAVE A TENTH
anniversary album is impressive, but not unusual.
But for a rap group it's as rare as a Puff Daddy
song without a jacked beat. Considering that
the first recorded rap song, "King Tim III," was put on
wax only twenty years ago, for Gang Starr to put out
a ten-year retrospective and for it to be dope from
start to finish is almost unheard of. DJ Premier is
internationally known as one of the best beat-makers
in the business, but it's mostly the voice of Guru that
does the talking for the duo, so sit back and take
heed to the words that he manifests on the reasons
ests on the reasons
behind Gang Stars's mass appeal.
Full Clip is in stores now and
you're on tour with Rage
Against the Machine; what's
coming up after that?
I'm finishing up a solo under-
ground compilation for my Ill
Kid label called Bald-head Slick
and the Clique. It's me and a
bunch of fellow MCs from the
underground in New York on
down to Florida. There are old-
school cats like Craig G, Mikey D,
and Ice-T, and DJ Premier did a
track for me, but I've also got
Alchemist, 8-Off, a kid named
Adam West, and a lot of new,
young producers. It's like the first
Ill Kid compilation, but hotter to
the fourth power. I've also
recently signed a deal to do
Jazzmatazz, Volume 3 and I've
completed two of those
tracks. On that project I'll
be working with people
like Premier, the
Neptunes, DJ Scratch,
Sade, Les Nubiennes,
Isaac Hayes, Herbie
Hancock, D'Angelo,
Maxwell, that sort
of vibe. That
should come out
towards the fall,
but before that
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there's gonna be Gang Starr's
2000 album, in June.
Full Clip spans ten years of
classic cuts, but is there one
song that you think captures
the essence of Gang Starr?
Probably "Full Clip," because
it's just hard. It's got the scratch-
es on the hook which is our
trademark, the minimal, melodic,
hard type of beat style that
Premier does, and my monotone
flow on top that, kicking ill,
streetwise lyrics that have to do
with the dues we've paid. "Full
Clip" summarizes everything,
but I'm in love with everything
on the album. I have flashbacks
about my career with each song,
from the different eras, from
when I first came to New York in
came to New York
1984 to now.
Through all of those different
eras, the Gang Starr formula
has remained the same.
We just evolve and push each
other. I adapt my flow and
Premier adapts his beats to the
times we're living in. Of course, I
can't rightly rhyme in the same
old-school style because nobody
would want to listen to me, and
I've got a lot to say. That's the
difference between me and a lot
of old-school rappers who are
stuck in that era. We stay up on
the new shit. I've got a lot of
young MCs in my clique, so I
vibe with them. Premier is the
same way. He listens to the way
a lot of kids bite his stuff. We're
always coming out with ill, new
ways to flip shit.
Do you have any tour stories
from the different eras?
What was the illest show
you ever did?
As far as shows, you've gotta
mention Arsenio, because he's
not on the air anymore. We got
to do "Mass Appeal" live on
R GANGSTARR GAN
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there, that was a highlight for me.
The Vibe Seminar, when we per-
formed in Orlando in front of
20,000 people-that was hot.
This tour right now is hot. The
shows we did in England at the
big venues in Europe and tours
in Japan. The Apollo in '91 or '92
with Public Enemy and Eric B
and Rakim was classic.
After all this time and albums,
do you still consider your-
selves an underground group?
We're the kings of the under-
ground, self-proclaimed. Part of
the reason I still see us as an
underground group is because
we still don't have a platinum
plaque. But all this industry shit
and labeling people as gangsta
rap or down-south rap or what-
ever doesn't really matter. What
matters is if your shit is hot. A lot
of those labels come from peo-
ple who aren't even in the cul-
ture, so who's to say what's
underground and what's not?
There are people, the hip-
hop nerds and scholars,
who will argue about the
underground all day and
make accusations, like on
Mos Def's album where he
calls people out for doing a
song with Limp Bizkit. Now
you guys are opening for
Rage Against the Machine.
How do you react to stuff
like that?
ou react to stuff
You know what?
Muthafuckas don't know
what it's like to survive in
this game yet. Mos Def
about
saying that
Method Man is mad
stupid, because his
album is all back-
pack music; that
shit is hardcore, so
it's all relative.
That's just corny;
it's characteristic of a lot of
cats who just want to put
somebody down in order to
benefit themselves. That's
wack, and I don't feed into.
that. Mos Def is dope, but he
can't be saying shit about
Method Man, because Method
Man has been dope. I don't
even listen to stuff like that.
Bridging the gap, like us opening
for Rage, or Mobb Deep open-
ing for Limp Bizkit, is nothing
new; I mean, Run-DMC did
that way back in the day, and
they've got Kid Rock and Fred
why even get it? Bootlegging is
wack. But in terms of bridging
the gap, it's all good, because it's
actually like staking a claim.
Like Premier doing that track for
Limp Bizkit and Red and Meth,
that's dope.
Does it also keep you from
getting pigeonholed?
Red and eth
I've never had a problem
with that; that's why I did.
Jazzmatazz, and I took a big
risk doing it. If I could do
Jazzmatazz and still come
back and rhyme on Gang
Starr shit and get props, then
Jazzmatazz who have never
even heard a Gang Starr
track. Number one it's a
means of survival, because I
have to make a living off this.
I'm not gonna sell out, but I
will show my versatility.
How do you walk that line
between selling out and
staying versatile?
It's gotta be something that
you feel comfortable doing.
You can tell if somebody's
doing something that's not
comfortable just to get over,
because they look stupid
the basis, and the basis of it
all is Gang Starr. The other
things are just different
aspects and offshoots.
What do you see as your
future in this? How much
longer do you think you can
stay relevant?
R
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Well, we've got to do two
more records for Virgin, so at
least that long. But I want to
do it until I die, and that
doesn't seem like anytime
soon. I'm still hungry; I still
didn't get what I came to get
out of this game, so I'm
'WE'RE THE KINGS OF
THE UNDERGROUND"
Durst on their new album. Look
at Beastie Boys. They still got
an award from MTV for best
hip-hop video, even though
that's some crossover shit. It's a
different type of hip-hop, but
it's still hip-hop. At the end of
the day, it's supposed to be
broad and vast, and you don't
I'm doing it. One of the rea-
sons I did that project was to
take the labels off of Gang
Starr, like people calling us
jazz-rap. I don't even know
what jazz-rap is. There really
are different crowds; there
are people who listen to
when they're doing it. If you
see me perform Jazzmatazz it
looks fly. I don't have a look
on my face like, "I don't know
why I'm doing this, but I'm
doing it." I have pride in it, so
it comes across like that. The
most important thing to me is
have to listen to everything if GANG STARR GA
you don't like everything. Now,
the Internet is opening things
up even more. The problem
with the Internet, though, is
that there's a lot of bootlegging.
There are some Gang Starr
bootlegs that we're tracking
down from Europe that are
actually old demos, just
lyrics that I already did
with different beats.
That's flattery for you
though, isn't it?
Yeah, but it's not the
real. Unless it's official,
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gonna milk it. A lot of old-
school cats are mad because
they didn't get what they
were supposed to get, but I'm
not. I'd rather just put out hot
shit and make them give it to
me now.
Do you have an ultimate goal
that you're trying to achieve?
I want to do things like the
rest of these cats are doing-
entrepeneurial things. I
wanna cut out the mid-
dleman, own all my
masters, things like
that. If I were to
sell the same
amount I of
records on my
own label that I
sell on some-
else's
label I'd be
one
rich as hell.
-True 54
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