Gang Starr was my favorite rap group. They were the best hip-hop duo, period. Others had bigger impacts (Run-DMC and OutKast, perhaps) but Guru and Premier were better for longer. Their second, third and fourth albums were landmarks but their last two albums were probably, front-to-back, their strongest. And it was never just about the beats. I didn’t know what a producer did when I bought Step In The Arena. I just dug the whole package, and the focal point of it all was Guru. Only those too dim to pick up on the wisdom the man was dispensing in his lyrics ever griped about his allegedly monotone delivery. I can’t say I spent any time with his post-Gang Starr/Solar-era output, but I never found any song I did hear with him on it to be dull. Read the rest of this entry »