#27: Gang Starr — Step In The Arena (1991)
New York, NY — Chrysalis Records
What we got today, fellas, is the second of seven albums that came out of the meeting between the brilliant minds of Houston native DJ Premier and Boston’s own Guru (R.I.P. rest in power) in the hip-hop motherland of New York. Gang Starr is known and accepted as one of the greatest hip-hop acts of all time, and pioneers of jazz rap, and as far as I can tell this is where their particular sound was established. They would later go on to produce an incredible run of albums — 1998’s Moment Of Truth might be one of the best rap records ever made, period — before their unfortunate falling-out in 2003, seven years before Guru’s untimely passing, and this is where it really started. So, without further ado.
As any rap fan worth their salt will tell you, Premier’s considered one of the greatest beatmakers of all times, whose style is both incredibly influential and widespread, and also wholly original and unmistakable. Up to the task of keeping up with the early, still forming but already recognizable Preemo style, then, is Guru, who’d already been rapping for years and was by no means a newcomer to the game: his rapping is consistent, solid, remarkably skillful and clever at the same time. From a technical standpoint it’s very intricate and well-executed, with tight rhyme schemes and cohesive, well put together lyrics, yet amusing and clever with its sly punchlines and references. They go well over most of the beats, which all have their own personality and are distinctive enough while still working with each other in a coherent manner. One thing that isn’t too noticeable, but ends up furthering this cohesive feel all throughout is how pretty much every song has the traditional four-bar chorus replaced by a fully scratched section. It’s one of these little details that you don’t think a whole lot about at a first glance, but end up amounting to a lot throughout a whole record.
And talking about whole records, another thing that kind of slightly sets this apart is its general configuration. It’s not a long album, clocking in at fifty minutes in total, but the total number of tracks is eighteen, which is definitely above average. The thing is that the individual songs are consistently shorter than normal, very rarely going over four minutes. They are noticeably more straightforward and concise, with little structural variation and experimentation — their all-in bet is on Guru’s ability to steadily spit straight bars on Premier’s tight loops and scratches, with little to no further artifices and gimmicks. Preemo’s production, by the way, is precise: the beats, as stated, have a lot of personality and uniqueness, while still being discrete enough to potentialize and support Guru’s rapping without getting in the way. The rapping is well-executed, but, if I’m being honest, gets a little samey here and there. The monotonous delivery, however, is a most distinctive characteristic of Guru’s style, and I wouldn’t really say that it is a dealbreaker; rather, it’s just something that doesn’t sit that well with my personal preferences.
Guru is considered one of the greatest for a reason, and lyrically this is overall an impressive record. His rhyming isn’t as sleazy and loose, as he seems to consistently prefer a tighter, remarkably technical way of doing things — it doesn’t, however, seem forced or futile: it all comes so naturally that you don’t even consciously notice the many interweaved, competing rhyme schemes if you’re not paying close attention; nevertheless, they are there, working their effect into the part of your brain that’s responsible for processing sick beats and bouncy bops.
As stated, Gang Starr are some of the first and most important exponents of so-called jazz rap, that laid-back, mellow stuff with soulful chords and swinging drums. Now, this isn’t the jazziest you can get, as will soon be proven to us by acts such as Digable Planets, The Roots and A Tribe Called Quest, but the difference between this and most of what was going on at the time is crystal clear. The beats aren’t meant to pummel you in the face with thumping kicks and razor-sharp snares; rather, they set a pleasant groove upon which the raps ride more like a lazy sailboat rather than a speeding motorbike or a marching army.
Remember that stuff I said a few reviews ago about how you can roughly divide rap into two main aesthetic fields, that of bars and that of vibes? Well, it takes a special combination of minds to be able to succeed in both at once, and this is certainly one of rare occasions where that happens. Regardless if you’re paying close attention or just jamming it in the background, this record fully and consistently delivers at all moments. That is this record’s biggest overall strength, how steady it feels, but it does sometimes turn into a bit of a flaw if I’m being honest. The quality is always there, but that also makes it a little samey, a little too consistent at some stretches, to the point where it ends up being a disservice to the overall dramaticness and you almost wish for a subpar song to force you out of the pleasant yet monotonous haze it gets you in. This record, I daresay, is too consistent for its own good.
All in all, though, this is a thoroughly enjoyable album, with little drawbacks at all. Is it as polished and mature as some of their later works? No, not really. Does it stand up on its own, both in context and isolated from it? Absolutely, and I have no problems with affirming that this is one of the most technical, skillful and artistic displays of rapping we’ve seen so far, in both lyricism, technique and overall production.
Favorite tracks
Execution Of A Chump: Incredible beat, groovy and mellow but surprisingly complex when you listen closely to it. Guru maintains his high technical level here, while adding an intricately-narrated story about vengeance and life values.
Check The Technique: Opening one of the most aggressive tracks on this album with “you puny protozoa, you’re so minute you didn’t know the/ gang has been watchin’ but instead of just squashin’ you/ I’m scoopin’ you up out of the muck you wallow in” is a fucking power move if I’ve ever seen one. It’s a quarrelsome track through and through, but that doesn’t mean the complexity of the lyricism is harmed in any way.
As I Read My S.A: Another unbelievable beat by Premier, remarkably reminiscent of his later, more mature style, complete with intelligent gloating and impeccable rhyming, rapping and overall production through and through.
Precisely The Right Rhymes: Perhaps the most developed jazzy, boombappy song in this record, it lives up to its title by featuring some of the most incredibly intricately technical yet poetically agile rapping on this record, which is a feat on its own right.
Least favorite tracks
While there is a good handful of filler-y tracks on this that didn’t really catch my ear when compared to the most outstanding ones — Beyond Comprehension, Lovesick and Take A Rest come to mind — it would be unfair to say that any of them really rubbed me the wrong way enough to earn a spot among the least favorite category.
