Nothing beats a classic rap record, and few MCs were dropping them on the regular quite like legendary ’90s rap duo Gang Starr. The group, consisting of Guru holding things down on the mic and DJ Premier handling the head-bumping production, dropped six albums in their career before calling it quits in 2003. While a reunion album was reportedly planned, unfortunately Guru passed away on April 19, 2010 before the project could be completed or properly executed overall. While the Hip-Hop community definitely took a blow due to the loss, the work they did create while recording together influenced the genre in ways that we’re still seeing today. One LP that specifically represents Gang Starr’s influential legacy is their third album Daily Operation, which celebrates its 27th anniversary today.
Chrysalis Records
Comprised of jazz-tinged samples and lyrics that illustrated life in the streets of New York City during the early ’90s, Daily Operation saw Gang Starr striding smoothly towards the legendary status that we now place the group in today. The project is East Coast inspired through and through, from recording the LP entirely at the dearly missed D&D Studios on West 37th Street in Midtown Manhattan all the way to lamenting about Brooklyn on the opening track “The Place We Dwell.” Other standout cuts include “I’m The Man,” featuring the sole credited cameos by Group Home member Lil Dap and Jeru the Damaja, “B.Y.S.” — cleverly abbreviated for “Bust Yo’ Shit” — and the lead single “Ex Girl to Next Girl” that gave us one of the most 90s-looking music video ever created.
The key to Gang Starr is that, while none of their albums ever crossed Top 5 status on the Billboard 200 — their highest placement happened in 1998 when Moment of Truth hit #6 — sales were never the thing that represented their affect on the game; the music always came first and foremost. Daily Operation received all sorts of critical acclaim nonetheless, and we even included it on our “100 Best Rap Albums” list for The Source‘s 100th issue (January 1998). So, while it only reached #65 on the Billboard 200 and faired slightly better on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at #14, those numbers mean nothing when compared to the slick verses, smooth-yet-rugged instrumentals and thought-provoking bars that still makes this album a certified classic almost three decades after its original release.
Give Daily Operation by Gang Starr a spin today to celebrate the album’s 27th anniversary, and also read our original review of the album from The Source Issue #33 (June 1992) below:
Whether you’re hanging in Coachella Valley or simply mourning the loss of Crenshaw’s fallen hero Nipsey Hussle like the rest of us, West Coast Rap is definitely being bumped at high volumes this weekend. That’s why we had to show some love to the Hayward homie Spice 1 on this lovely Sunday, which happens to fall on the 27th anniversary of his debut self-titled album.
Jive
Two years before appearing alongside MC Eiht and Scarface on our June ’94 cover (Issue #57), the rapper born Robert Lee Green Jr. delivered this banger for the Bay Area, which went on to reach way beyond his hood. The album was a big label follow-up to his well-received street EP Let It Be Known, which sold almost 100K in pure sales as an independent release. Once Jive came into the picture, the seven-song project was re-released and retitled as Spice 1, including five songs from the original project in addition to nine new ones. The switch up paid off, with the revamped version giving us the classic cut “Welcome to the Ghetto” and going on to sell almost half a million records.
The tracks on Spice 1 sound like quintessential G-Funk, translated through singles like “187 Proof” and the reggae-tinged “East Bay Gangster,” all the way to deep cuts like “Peace to My Nine” and the low-rider classic “City Streets.” It’s clear to see his style & delivery is inspired by the rap icon that discovered him — Spice 1 hails from Oakland’s The Dangerous Crew created by Too $hort — but the connection is less “flow biting” and more “of the same kin.” At the end of the day, it all just sounds like good gangsta rap.
The initial success of the album helped it rank in the top 20 of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at #14, later achieving gold certification by RIAA. “Welcome to the Ghetto” proved to be a hit as well, rising to #39 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart and also appearing on the Hot Rap Singles where it faired the best at #5. It ultimately marked a good start to a career that would go on to produce 12 studio albums and more than a handful of compilation LPs and collab albums, the latest being as recent as 2015 with his Bossolo-assisted project Thug Therapy.
We crowned him as one of the 115 greatest MCs from 1988 to 2003 for our 15th anniversary (Issue #167), and we stand by that sentiment as he rings in 27 years of his debut project. The Bay Area is home to an important sound and time in Hip-Hop, and Spice 1 helped cultivate that. Salute, king!
Happy 27th anniversary to Spice 1’s debut album! Let us know which tracks you’re bumping today by hitting us on Facebook and Twitter, and read the Spice 1 review we penned back in June 1992 for The Source Issue #33 below:
The second song Snoop Dogg ever released to the public may be his most iconic. “One-two-three-and to the fo’ / Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Dr. Dre is at the do’,” begins 1992’s “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang.” The first inhale of Dr. Dre’s Chronic presented a laid-back side of the Long Beach, California MC first heard on the menacing “Deep Cover” earlier that year.
“G Thang” has become a time-piece. It conjures images of lowriders, and indo’ smoke, barbeques, and looking over one’s shoulder at the light. With a would-be mogul behind the wheel of the track and the dark purple ’64 Impala in its equally iconic video, it is how folks remember G-Funk. While the genesis of G-Funk is up for debate, the song that many believe best exemplifies the sub-genre of Rap is not. The song was a grand introduction for Snoopy, who would show the world how an MC did it Doggystyle less than one year later.
“[Dr. Dre’s beat] ain’t what I wrote “‘G’ Thang’ off of,” reveals Snoop. “I wrote it off [this other beat].” Snoop mimics the bassline of the track. Host Questlove points out that it’s Southside Movement’s “I’ve Been Watching You” (embedded below),” Snoop confirms, “That’s the beat [Dr. Dre] gave me. I took it [over to] my cousin’s [in Long Beach], and I wrote the whole “‘G’ Thang” song to that. [I] came back to [SOLAR] Studios, and bust that sh*t off that for [Dr. Dre].” At 3:00 in the audio clip, Snoop demonstrates his flow in the beat. Quest’ and Phonte provide some improvised background vocals.
At the top of the clip, Questlove also points out to Snoop that Dre sampled his late parents’ (Lee and Jacqui Andrews) vocals for another element of the finished song. Congress Alley’s 1973 cut “Are You Looking” is used. Quest’ demonstrates, and Snoop knows exactly what he is referring to.
Elsewhere in the full conversation, Snoop details The D.O.C.’s input on “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang.” At 25:00 mins, he says that the Dallas, Texas Rap legend suggested the “like this, that, and this” famous part of the hook. Snoop says that The Chronic sessions yielded approximately 25 songs; Dre used 16. The rapper says his favorite cut that was not used is a song called “Hoe Hopper.” Snoop also says that until the late 2000s, he made approximately 15% of his tour revenue, because his ensemble stage shows employed 30 people at a time. Last month, his Doggystyle debut turned 25 years old.
#BonusBeat: The record containing the sample that Snoop Dogg wrote his iconic verse to:
The second song Snoop Dogg ever released to the public may be his most iconic. “One-two-three-and to the fo’ / Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Dr. Dre is at the do’,” begins 1992’s “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang.” The first inhale of Dr. Dre’s Chronic presented a laid-back side of the Long Beach, California MC first heard on the menacing “Deep Cover” earlier that year.
“G Thang” has become a time-piece. It conjures images of lowriders, and indo’ smoke, barbeques, and looking over one’s shoulder at the light. With a would-be mogul behind the wheel of the track and the dark purple ’64 Impala in its equally iconic video, it is how folks remember G-Funk. While the genesis of G-Funk is up for debate, the song that many believe best exemplifies the sub-genre of Rap is not. The song was a grand introduction for Snoopy, who would show the world how an MC did it Doggystyle less than one year later.
“[Dr. Dre’s beat] ain’t what I wrote “‘G’ Thang’ off of,” reveals Snoop. “I wrote it off [this other beat].” Snoop mimics the bassline of the track. Host Questlove points out that it’s Southside Movement’s “I’ve Been Watching You” (embedded below),” Snoop confirms, “That’s the beat [Dr. Dre] gave me. I took it [over to] my cousin’s [in Long Beach], and I wrote the whole “‘G’ Thang” song to that. [I] came back to [SOLAR] Studios, and bust that sh*t off that for [Dr. Dre].” At 3:00 in the audio clip, Snoop demonstrates his flow in the beat. Quest’ and Phonte provide some improvised background vocals.
At the top of the clip, Questlove also points out to Snoop that Dre sampled his late parents’ (Lee and Jacqui Andrews) vocals for another element of the finished song. Congress Alley’s 1973 cut “Are You Looking” is used. Quest’ demonstrates, and Snoop knows exactly what he is referring to.
Elsewhere in the full conversation, Snoop details The D.O.C.’s input on “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang.” At 25:00 mins, he says that the Dallas, Texas Rap legend suggested the “like this, that, and this” famous part of the hook. Snoop says that The Chronic sessions yielded approximately 25 songs; Dre used 16. The rapper says his favorite cut that was not used is a song called “Hoe Hopper.” Snoop also says that until the late 2000s, he made approximately 15% of his tour revenue, because his ensemble stage shows employed 30 people at a time. Last month, his Doggystyle debut turned 25 years old.
