Backspin: Gang Starr — Moment of Truth (1998)
Growing pains and knowing gains. (91/100)
Triumph defines identity, but adversity forges character.
By 1998, hip-hop’s identity as the mouthpiece of a generation and the embodiment of a modern American dream was well established. In the preceding quarter century, the culture and its art forms had gone from powered by bootleg electricity from New York City street lights to powering the billion dollar industry at the epicenter of global pop culture.
As often comes with outsized success, hip-hop’s character was strenuously tested during its meteoric ascension in the mid and late ’90s. Feuds erupted between regions, record labels, and stylistic niches. Increasingly formulaic corporate machinations had many original devotees questioning hip-hop’s future, even as new found fans propelled the latest releases to unprecedented commercial success.
It was an inflection point of reckoning that just so happened to coincide with a pivotal period of reflection for Gang Starr’s Guru and DJ Premier. Nine years after their debut, both veterans found themselves in the eye of a storm, feeling betrayed by the culture they helped define.
Guru had recently pled guilty to a 1996 charge for carrying a handgun onto a flight to Los Angeles, no doubt a precautionary…
