There have been years since I’ve grabbed my Gang Starr cds off of the shelf and just listened to the duo. I remember when the group fell apart. I always thought that if DJ Premier had worked on Jazzmatazz the albums would have been much better, but the music industry is difficult to navigate. Guru has been dead since 2010. It’s been almost a decade, which coincides with one of the best projects released by Gang Starr A Decade of Hits. I remember when I first heard I Manifest. I had just gained knowledge of self and was devouring books on Malcolm X and here comes this emcee who looks like Malcolm telling me that I could speak into existence the life I wanted. It would take me years to truly understand his words, but Gang Starr became a group I could rely on to educate and entertain. It was tough seeing the fracture, but it’s beautiful watching this video. J. Cole could exist at anytime of Hip-Hop. His verse is ridiculous. While you can hear the chops and edits in Guru’s verses, it doesn’t matter. This feels classic and the representation of jewels being dropped in the video, perfect.
