not that MOT is poo-poo, far from it. It's the textbook "back from a several year layoff" album.

but Hard To Earn came in the middle of a "F.U." period in music. You could argue that Moment of Truth did, as in 1998, hip-hop was in the midst of a pop-chart dominating, "we really don't hate you, radio" period, and a lot of that album seems to stand firmly to the left of it. But it wasn't as "F.U." as Hard To Earn was.

That album actually shocked me when I heard it the first time. Chilling beats, Guru just cussin' and sounding mad... I remember getting this and LETHAL INJECTION the same day. I took the latter back, and kept this one.

HTE was part of a group of albums that I felt were a direct response to the increasingly slick, accessible sounds of the post-Chronic rap world. I think (New York) rappers put their best efforts out artistically when they were slighted in the mainstream. This album is no different.

I mean, the lead single was "Mass Appeal", a song that basically called out that kind of rap. Probably one of their best known songs.