Check out a tweet from Preem about a phone call here:

https://twitter.com/REALDJPREMIER/status/1174363897903616004

A new album with unheard verses is one the way for a FINAL Gang Starr LP. More info on the way soon!

Usually this would be a bad idea, but if there's anyone that can make a posthumous album not sound like one it's DJ Premier.

Edit: There's gonna be guests.....so who y'all want on it?

holy shit this could be boss.
really sad guru wasted those final years with that solar clown, this would be a nice final chapter.

Not the only one!
__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

If it happens, I'm copping on damn near every format

>Check out a tweet from Preem about a phone call here:
>
>https://twitter.com/REALDJPREMIER/status/1174363897903616004
>
>A new album with unheard verses is one the way for a FINAL
>Gang Starr LP. More info on the way soon!
>
>Usually this would be a bad idea, but if there's anyone that
>can make a posthumous album not sound like one it's DJ
>Premier.
>
>Edit: There's gonna be guests.....so who y'all want on it?



Jeru, Group Home, Big Shug & Afu Ra... Keep it GSF

then ill get my hopes up for this.

I know it's been a tough road to even think of releasing new Gang Starr tunes and even want to go ahead with a final album, especially with all the legal issues with Guru's family, Premier establishing himself with solid ground and forming his own record label, getting his own studio (after D&D/Headqcourterz closed down), building & mending relationships with past G.S. Foundation members & etc.

He probably had a ton of unreleased stuff sitting in the vault and unused accapppelas of Guru from others, this will be a solid effort cause Premier doesn't just put anything together until he feels it's done.

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the well known Gang Starr Foundation artists (Lil Dap, Melachi, Big Shug, Jeru, Afu-Ra, Freddie Foxxx, & Krumbsnatcha, The NYG'z), M.O.P., Teflon, Ed O G., as guests on this last G.S. album.

I'm in...maybe a track with GURU and Nas trading verses?

.

I heard about this rumor years ago. I have been hoping that it would be true one day. We do need one more Gangstarr album to end it right.

Assuming this is like The Big Picture where they will need guests to fill out the album, I would do this very strategically and logically:

MOP feature
OC & Jeru feature
Group Home feature
Big Shug and Freddie Foxx feature
Torae and Skyzoo feature
Nas and Jay-Z feature
Bun B and Scarface feature
Snoop and Kurupt feature
Jadakiss and Deck feature
Royce feature

Stick to the formula
Don’t try to bring in new MCs
Don’t make it too long

If that shit ain't done!!!!!


Can't wait.


werd.

https://twitter.com/REALDJPREMIER/status/1174709696558698498?s=19

There goes any excitement

to be honest gang starr has always (or towards the later albums) had some features that i wouldnt expect or be excited for. some work some dont.

ill wait to hear it before judging. im skeptical as a whole but if this album is dope then it will be a great surprise.

.

This is dope, you can tell the first and second verses from Guru were from two different takes but it's still fits like a glove, if this is any indication of how this last Gang Starr album will sound this this will be a solid album from beginning to end...as usual.

"Family And Loyalty ": https://beatmuzic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/gang-starr-ft-j-cole--family-and-loyalty.mp3

I’m feeling this...classic vibe and Cole doesn’t attempt any of his bullshit singing...quality!

>I’m feeling this...classic vibe and Cole doesn’t attempt any of his bullshit singing...quality!

I thought I would never experience a new Gangstarr single again. I'm cherishing this.

Why is Cole rapping so fast? I listened to this on Spotify this morning and was like “can Cole even hear the beat he’s rapping on?” Dude is rapping like he’s on coke. Preem should have made him do it again

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

whatever, he's fine on this (and thats from someone who really doesn't care for J.Cole)

I do imagine this record might be guest-heavy tho, just to compensate for limited guru verses - so I do hope preem was judicious with them generally speaking.

Guru did his chill monotone dope Guru thing ... then Cole came in on speed and I like jumped back from my speaker lol.


>Why is Cole rapping so fast? I listened to this on Spotify
>this morning and was like “can Cole even hear the beat
>he’s rapping on?” Dude is rapping like he’s on coke.
>Preem should have made him do it again
>
>Peace,
>
>Spirit (Alan)
>http://wutangbook.com

It also is probably a sign of the kinds of guests that will be on the album.

Those hoping for Jeru, etc will probably be extremely disappointed.

RIP Mighty GURU!!!!

as soon as the beat started i was in. great to hear guru and premier again. didnt mind j cole.

sorry for any doubt.

Definitely 2 different takes from Guru, but just hearing him spit on some GangStarr track (not just a Premier track) almost made my eye water. J. Cole was spitting a little fast at the beginning but settled in near the middle of his verse, so it wasn't overly egregious.

If there is enough material for a new album, I'd be happy hearing it. That said, I's worry it would sound more like Born Again

>Definitely 2 different takes from Guru, but just hearing him
>spit on some GangStarr track (not just a Premier track) almost
>made my eye water.
this instantly said gang starr. i think i was worried it would have a phryme sound to it but nah premier obviously knows what hes doing.

>If there is enough material for a new album, I'd be happy
>hearing it. That said, I's worry it would sound more like Born
>Again
i hope they dont try to stretch it out to more tracks then there is good material for. if its 8-12 great songs id be happy. j coles verse definitely too me to born again. like all the guests didnt really try to pretend they were originally part of the song. it was more like tribute verses. its weird but i guess it makes sense.

I think Guru & J. Cole were both nice on this. If this is any indication of what's coming, I'm hyped.

______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

classic Premo (one of the beats so beautiful, you could cry)
GURU rapping made my heart happy
Cole demolished his verse and it was topical.

wish he would have kept this for the Gang Starr album https://t.co/4V9Oj2H34h?amp=1

agreed...

>wish he would have kept this for the Gang Starr album

it doesnt have the primo punch that I want out of Gangs Starr records, personally

>it doesnt have the primo punch that I want out of Gangs Starr
>records, personally

I hear you, think it would make a good beat for a solemn tribute track though. Although we know Premier likes to cater his beats to who he is working for so hopefully there will be a lot of punchy Gang Starr records on the new one.

In Memory of pt.2 or something similar for this upcoming GangStarr album. SP1200 is right, a big waste of a beat.

Introspective song with a video that forces you to focus on the music because there is literally almost nothing happening onscreen. In an ADD world, that was a particularly bold choice to basically have a one take almost completely static closeup of someone’s face for the duration. The smile at the end was the payoff. Also the lyrics were top notch and the sung hook worked well with the pianos in the track.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

I miss Guru

even though I would’ve preferred a Jazzmatazz album over a Gang Starr one, this will definitely suffice.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

I had a huge smile on my face...but, at the same time, it sucked. R.I.P. Baldhead Slick

Maannnnnn...good to hear the brothers voice again...

proper justice.

Not sure what this even means....

Because obviously there have been MANY MCs to do a Primo beat justice.

So hyped for this

I would like to hear Jeru, Big Shug, Group Home, Bumpy Knuckles, MOP, MC Eiht, Evidence, Royce, Deck, Scarface

Just listened to this Sway interview, and Preemo says it's just a single and doesn't say there's an album coming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kihakmdJbfs

The way he says it kinda sounds like he's winking at the same time, and that little video with the Nas voicemail, he says "album".

How he was talking about that extra vocal though didn't come off like there was a lot to choose from.
Do you think there's a full record on the way?

and tell people about it that day

I'm let down that the single is a one off because an album of 12 or 14 tracks of unheard verses from Guru would be dope.

The single showed to me that Premier is capable of pulling an album like that off (not that there was any real reason to doubt him).

I'm hoping against facts that an album comes out.

in addition to producing a part of it, he's well fit for it especially considering this is Guru we're talking about

I was more referring to the critique that the quality of Premier's beats has fallen off. To be honest, I fell in this camp for some time. But after the Phryme albums, he's shown that he's still got heat, at least to me.

Premier's knowledge of music is so extensive that I wouldn't see a reason why he couldn't put together a great project.

but I fell you though, he showed out in a major way on Prhyme. Check Combat Jack (RIP)'s interview on them if you haven't heard it. Adrian Younge himself said on some songs Primo's chops confused even him

But had that resurgence in 2014-2015 (PRhyme like you said, and a bunch of other stray works) and has mostly stayed on point since.

But yea he produced a couple joints on The Big Picture. The "Intro" being by far the best of the bunch and one of my favorite Primo beats ever.

>I'm let down that the single is a one off because an album of
>12 or 14 tracks of unheard verses from Guru would be dope.

like a single off a record
but if you're literally just doing a one-off gangstarr song??
there is NO NEEEEED for cole to be up on that shit. if you need a feature it should have been family (shug, foxxx, somebody)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=39&v=iMsdzxuldQM

Love seeing the GURU footage.


werd.

...listening to it the second time, Cole's verse sounds better. Maybe it's because I watched him do it with the rapper hands/stage presence thing going LOL

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

Liked his verse way better watching him perform it....

makes me miss videos....


werd.

feels good to hear....sounds like that good Gang Starr that I miss...


how'd we get so far away from this sound!??

seeing Preem taking Guru's son through the hood like that had me a little misty..

Gangstarr was an epic group

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skeEvDh48Y4

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3ua_JghSNH/?hl=en

Everything about this song feels right. I definitely wish I had an extra verse, but yeah, this is dope.

https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/gang-starr-announce-stacked-new-album-with-bad-name-new-song.1984876.html


__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

line ups look dope:

1) The Sure Shot (Intro)
2) Lights Out (Feat. M.O.P.)
3) Bad Name
4) Hit Man (Feat. Q-Tip)
5) What’s Real (Feat. Group Home & Royce 5’9″)
6) Keith Casim Elam (Interlude)
7) From A Distance (Feat. Jeru The Damaja)
8) Family And Loyalty (Feat. J. Cole)
9) Get Together (Feat. Ne-Yo & Nitty Scott)
10) NYGz/GS 183rd (Interlude)
11) So Many Rappers
12) Business Or Art (Feat. Talib Kweli)
13) Bring It Back Here
14) One Of The Best Yet (Big Shug Interlude)’
15) Take Flight (Militia, Pt. 4) (Feat. Big Shug & Freddie Foxxx0
16) Bless the Mic


werd.

Hyped for this...

__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

I knew I wanted a Gang Starr album for Christmas but I didn't know I was getting it for Halloween

im not even fucking around with this
not listening to the 2nd single he dropped last night
not listening to anything else that may drop between now and then
not gonna download the leak
gonna listen to this straight thru, for the first time, with my A1 gang starr fan homie and a thick ass swisher that weekend.
what a fucking gift.

Whatever happened to that fuckin clown anyway ? Wasn't he supposed to blow up any day now, a decade ago ?

we shouldn't even mention that fucks name in here

i ended up watching the hot 97 interview after lol

cant wait to hear this. line up looks great.

I hope that Nas message is at least the intro lol

When I saw that track list and I listened to Bad News, I feel like I have so much energy right now. Like a part of me was resurrected.

This and Black Moon, man this is a amazing time right now.

I like that the Times gets to uncover bigger albums before anyone else.

I forgot all about the Premier sneaking into a hospital and the supposed last words note. Solar is a true scumbag...

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/arts/music/gang-starr-album.html

this is all im allowed to read:

Fans Were Surprised to Get More Gang Starr. They Almost Didn’t.
The rap duo’s last album was released in 2003. After the death of its M.C., Guru, and an ongoing dispute between the producers DJ Premier and DJ Solar, a posthumous release is on the way.

The last time DJ Premier saw Guru, his partner in the influential 1980s and ’90s rap group Gang Starr, it was March 2010. Gang Starr hadn’t dropped an album in seven years, and the duo had stopped communicating entirely. But the time to make amends had come too late: The 48-year-old rapper was in a medically induced coma at Good Samaritan Hospital in Rockland County, N.Y., living out his last days with multiple myeloma, a rare form of cancer.

...my bad


The last time DJ Premier saw Guru, his partner in the influential 1980s and ’90s rap group Gang Starr, it was March 2010. Gang Starr hadn’t dropped an album in seven years, and the duo had stopped communicating entirely. But the time to make amends had come too late: The 48-year-old rapper was in a medically induced coma at Good Samaritan Hospital in Rockland County, N.Y., living out his last days with multiple myeloma, a rare form of cancer.

“His eyes were open, fluttering,” DJ Premier, 53, said in an interview this month at HeadQCourterz Studios in Queens, a space stuffed with platinum and gold plaques inside the sprawling production complex that houses the “Sesame Street” set. “I just looked at him: This should not be you.” He remembered placing a Gang Starr shirt on his friend’s chest and telling him, “I love you, man. Anything happens to you, I’ll make sure your family’s good. I’ll never let you down. We’re Gang Starr forever.”

Guru, born Keith Elam, formed Gang Starr with friends from Boston in the late 1980s; when the rest of the group split, he relocated to New York and teamed with DJ Premier, a gifted producer from Texas. From 1989 to 2003 the pair released six critically acclaimed albums that showcased Guru’s slick baritone gliding over Premier’s hardened beats. Their songs “DWYCK,” “Mass Appeal” and “You Know My Steez” became hip-hop staples, and the two musicians thrived separately, too: Guru with his jazz-rap fusion series “Jazzmatazz,” and Premier as an in-demand producer for the Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and Nas.

After a period of drift sparked by tensions over alcohol, money and credit, the duo had lost touch. And when Guru died just weeks after Premier’s hospital visit, the chances of new Gang Starr music appeared to have died along with him — at least until this past September, when “Family and Loyalty,” the first Gang Starr song in 16 years, was released (it included previously unheard Guru verses and a feature from J. Cole). On Friday, a full-length LP titled “One of the Best Yet” will arrive. It is potentially the first of two posthumous Gang Starr albums, which have taken nearly a decade to bring to life

“Everything we’re doing is really for him, to keep his legacy alive,” said Guru’s son, KC Elam, who was 9 when his father died.

The journey to new Gang Starr music has been complicated by years of legal battles and conflicting personal accounts. And it’s not over yet.

It began with a letter Guru was said to have written on his deathbed that removed Premier from his legacy. “I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death,” it read in part.

For years, there were questions about its authenticity, and the letter remained a point of contention. In lieu of a will, it was the only document that expressed Guru’s last wishes, and it highly praised John Mosher, known as DJ Solar, a producer he’d met in 2001 when Gang Starr was working on “The Ownerz,” its sixth and final LP. By then the group was already splintering. Guru’s drinking, long an issue, had become problematic.

“He was a functioning alcoholic,” said the rapper Big Shug, a Gang Starr affiliate who helped Guru start the group. “He definitely had an issue.” Shug said that Premier’s rising profile as an A-list producer formed a wedge between the duo. “Guru always felt like he discovered Premier,” he said. “He might have felt that Premier owed him more.”

In a phone interview from his attorney’s office in Nyack, N.Y., Solar, 56, said that Guru had many issues with Premier: He said Guru believed Premier was involved when Guru was robbed and pistol-whipped in 1999; and that he was shorted money and credit by the group’s managers and accountants. “It’s no secret within the industry that Guru felt abused, he felt ripped off,” Solar said.

“It’s really unfortunate that after all these years that guy is still making things up,” DJ Premier said. “We didn’t even know him back then and didn’t meet him until years later. Since then, he has systematically tried to tarnish the Gang Starr legacy and diminish everything that Guru and I built.”

In 2005, after Gang Starr was dropped by Virgin Records, Guru and Solar launched a record label together, 7 Grand Records. Solar said their friendship was swift and genuine: “We met in Harlem and we became fast friends.”

Despite the cold war between Premier and Guru, few in hip-hop believed that the classic Gang Starr lineup was over forever.

“When Guru passed, everyone was trying to figure out what happened,” said Fab 5 Freddy, who directed some of Gang Starr’s early music videos and returned for the “Family and Loyalty” clip.
The situation was confused further by odd developments during Guru’s hospitalization.

Someone posted misleading information about Guru’s condition on his Twitter account while he was reportedly in a coma. Premier said he had to sneak into the hospital to say goodbye, bribing a hospital worker who wanted the producer to listen to his demo tape. “I’ll sign you,” Premier said he told him. (Solar said, “I never, at any time, stopped Premier or his sister, or brother, or anybody in the family from seeing Guru.”)

After Guru’s death, Solar and Guru’s family battled over his estate. Guru’s oncologist testified in court that the rapper had never awakened from his coma and would have been incapable of writing the deathbed letter. In 2014, a Rockland County judge ruled against Solar, giving control of the rapper’s estate to Guru’s family, forcing Solar to cease all business pertaining to Guru and Gang Starr, and ordering him to pay back nearly $170,000 in checks, withdrawals, royalties and life insurance payouts that had been misappropriated. But that wasn’t all the family was after.

“I knew if Solar had any recordings that Guru had made, those would be important to get also,” Mark Levinsohn, the Elam family’s attorney, said in an interview.
Premier was convinced there were unreleased vocals in the vault. “I knew there had to be material out there that was sitting on, I could just feel it,” he said. “Guru’s like Tupac. He just records and records and records. I felt like it was a rescue mission.”

Premier and Solar weren’t on speaking terms, and the case was wrapped up in appeal. But in 2016, Premier received word that Solar was ready to sell. “Whatever the ransom’s going to be, I’ll pay for it,” he said he remembered thinking.

According to Premier, the parties settled on a figure in exchange for 30 unreleased recordings and made a deal. “Some of them had two verses, some of them had a verse, some of them just had a hook and then faded,” Premier said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, there’s enough to do something.’” He took the tracks and started to rework them into the songs that appear on “One of the Best Yet.”

According to Solar, there was “no valid agreement,” and he sees the songs being released this week as essentially stolen from him. “These are songs that me and Guru wrote together,” he said. Solar contends that the recordings, made between 2005 and 2009, were intended for a Gang Starr album — a reunion project featuring production from Premier, himself and other producers. He said he handed over Guru’s vocals because “I believed this was going to be a healing process,” and he didn’t expect his production contributions to be erased. He said he plans to take legal action unless his name is added to the album’s credits, and after that, he’d like to reconnect with Guru’s son. “I’m always for healing,” he said.

DJ Premier’s manager Ian Schwartzman responded in a statement: “These are baseless and outrageous accusations and they absolutely have no merit. I suggest he reference the legal agreement he signed.” (The New York Times has reviewed a notarized document signed by Solar in 2017 that states he is not a songwriter, producer or performer on the master recordings.)

Premier said he spent 18 months locked down at HeadQCourterz, retrofitting new production for his old partner’s rhymes. When he arrived at the studio each day, he’d perform a sage-burning ritual over an urn containing some of his friend’s ashes. “So many things surrounded him at the end, it was a good way to clear all the evil energy,” he said.

He added that Guru’s spirit guided the creative process: “I know what a Gang Starr album that’s done is supposed to sound like. I know what he would like.”

The album is a 16-track-long journey through the group’s different sonic periods. In addition to J. Cole, the guest list includes Talib Kweli, Royce da 5’9” and Q-Tip, as well as longtime affiliates M.O.P., Big Shug and Jeru the Damaja.

News of the album’s release has longtime fans excited. “It’s a joy to hear Guru’s voice,” said the actor Jonah Hill, who listened to Gang Starr’s music while writing his 2018 film “Mid90s.” Nas, one of the group’s New York contemporaries, said he would have hoped the duo could have reconciled by now. “When a group that started in ’89 puts out a record today, there’s a history lesson to learn,” he said. “For us to have this, it makes us kind of wonder what would it be like to see Premier and Guru today, onstage, live.”
For Premier, the process of making the album was an emotional journey that offered something rare: “I’ve been wanting this closure for a long time,” he said. “And I feel like this album does it.”

>>> . It is potentially the first of two posthumous Gang Starr album


Hold up... TWO albums?????

that it will be a Jazzmatazz record.

Primo can use his Badder Band with featured musicians and vocalists

>After Guru’s death, Solar and Guru’s family battled over
>his estate. Guru’s oncologist testified in court that the
>rapper had never awakened from his coma and would have been
>incapable of writing the deathbed letter. In 2014, a Rockland
>County judge ruled against Solar, giving control of the
>rapper’s estate to Guru’s family, forcing Solar to cease
>all business pertaining to Guru and Gang Starr, and ordering
>him to pay back nearly $170,000 in checks, withdrawals,
>royalties and life insurance payouts that had been
>misappropriated. But that wasn’t all the family was after.

pesky thing that, the testimony of people under oath in court.

Solar was straight bullshitting his way over Guru's affairs when he was in a coma, and got caught on it by the doctor.

I lost my father the same year Guru died and it was a lot of the same themes going on afterwards, that listening to DJ Premier's account of things on QLS a couple years back brought ALL those feelings back.

Even when Freddie Foxx mentioned it on "Bumpy And Premier" from the KOLEXXXION album as a no-names-named aside I just nodded knowingly.

#FuckSolar now and forever.

>Solar is a true scumbag...

How is this ole “superproducer” have unheard vocals and not release them on his own since they were “partners?”

because this album would’ve sprung a leak by now!!!!

Nah’ mean... lol

gonna have an old school listening party

>because this album would’ve sprung a leak by now!!!!

......

Goddamn. Not a feeling I thought I'd ever have again.

Group Home is on the hook of another cut the features Royce 5'9. I'm still checking the album out right now.

A wise man once said fuck what a wise man said...

oh shit Group Home on this Royce track. Damn, I needed this album.

JUST put this on

Strong AF way to open an album

going right into the M.O.P

Best track on the whole album IMO. I love that beat so much and it was just the perfect opener.

that’s the s**t (c) GURU

I'm not even thinking about work today.

Not saying Gang Starr can't rock over sung hooks.

Not even saying Ne-Yo isn't talented.

But the dude style is wild moist for boom-bap Primo beats.

Didn't enjoy his spot too much.
______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

When I first heard Zonin had this feeling while listening to it. I get that same feeling when I'm listening to Bless The Mic and I just want to listen to it over and over.

It's probably the shortest Gang Starr album, but that's understandable under the circumstance.

Favorite tracks,
Bad Name
So Many Rappers
Take Flight(Militia Pt. 4)
Bless The Mic

this joint is fantastic and reminds me a lot of tribe's farewell album

>this joint is fantastic and reminds me a lot of tribe's
>farewell album

I was running those two albums (and Little Brother's latest) mostly on vacation.

That Tribe album is a lot better than I remember. Mostly because of how Phife fits in and still sounds like "Phife"

>That Tribe album is a lot better than I remember.

IMO that album was perfect from day 1.

So far Tribe and Gangstarr have come back with solid sendoff albums. All I need now is Outkast and Blackstar. One more for the culture, fellas

Edit: Kweli should have spent more time on his verse. Still not a fan of how Cole flowed on Family and Loyalty either.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

>Edit: Kweli should have spent more time on his verse.

you'd think, knowing what this is, every feature on here would really want to raise the bar

...and i kinda scoffed at the idea of him being on the LP when i read the tracklisting

one of the best punchlines he had in a while "there ain't no yelp reviews for goons, nigga"

It took him a couple bars to pick it up but I thought he finished strong.

Wasn't a fan of Q-Tip just doing the hook on Hit Man, and it kinda sounded stupid the first couple of times with the sound effects.

Thought MOP came hard though. Also thought Group Home's contribution would have been bigger.

If anyone needed to work a little harder it was maybe Nitty Scott. Then again that song in general is one of the lower points of the album.

We really don't need Ne-Yo on a Gangstarr album, ever.
______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

>Still not a fan of how Cole flowed on Family and Loyalty either.
>

just take cole out or replace him. his verse isnt bad but it kind of clashes with the feel of it.

...before wanting to get to the next joint ...what a treat this album is RIP Mighty Guru!

Man I hit that rewind at least 20 times!!!!

After my first go round with the album, I listed to it for like ten minutes
______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

Just the volume of good music from those two...One of the best yet indeed

Give part of the proceeds to Guru’s kids, just like the album

MOP
Freddie Foxx
Jeru
Group Home

Have surprise guests do their classic cameo verses in different cities (Nice n Smooth, Deck, etc)

Could be like the Okayplayer tour

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

Spotify only has the edited version!! Nope, I'm gonna need all the Gangstarr I can get with no interruptions.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4VxyKgulAGSpJwhIJjgiJr?si=eP0qHtZuTRqfHUhXzfOkKg

>https://open.spotify.com/album/4VxyKgulAGSpJwhIJjgiJr?si=eP0qHtZuTRqfHUhXzfOkKg

Your link brought it up the explicit version on my computer.

But on my phone, I clicked on the album from the list in New Releases. That one only played the edited version.

So I went to their artist page and clicked on the album from there. Still just the edited one. I'll keep checking tho.

> Spotify only has the edited version!!

Now what am I gonna do on my ride home. You just ruined my day. Goddamnit.

*************************************

Fuck aliens

-Warriorpoet415

#2dopebrothersandastackofwax

https://www.instagram.com/bobgeorge87

https://www.instagram.com/thirtythree.three/

I don't even see the edited version. weird

are just flawless on every level


also Royce fucking SNAPPED

Preem blowin' weed, he a master on the chords/
I'm a student of the rap and spewin' passion on the chorus/
While the smoke is in the air it feel like voodoos on the floor/
Cuz we got the actual ashes of Guru on the boards/
He sittin' right inside a urn in the session/
Lookin' down from heaven at Gangstarr's current progression/
Earnin' successes his legacy get treated like folk themes/
Movin' forward then let his children eat off the proceeds....

maaaaaaan listen

Will sit with it over the weekend and give my full thoughts on it next week. Posthumus releases are always tricky, and this one is no exception. When the vocals were recorded is a question that sticks in the back of my mind on a number of tracks, for better and worse. But hearing Guru over Premier beats is worth any less than stellar track, and when it all comes together (as it does on a number of tracks for different reasons) it's enough to bring a fan to tears.

Still the sure shot, and it's like that.

head nodding bangers for dayz ....




werd.

wow, preemo really delivered on this. every track is a banger. the one with tip might be my least fav, he didnt sound right. preemo is wrong for teasing us with bring it back here. probably my favorite track and its under a minute lol get together is also another of my favorites and its the one track i was meh on based on the track list. the beat is probably my favorite type of gang starr beat. i need to get up on nitty scott.

going in for a second listen.

>preemo is wrong for teasing us with bring it back here.
>probably my favorite track and its under a minute lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFY_dSg85TE
really cant figure out what it's doing on this album, given that everything else is "new" material from Guru

he was saying some of the tracks he got were dated before guru would have been working with that scum. i guess he didnt check that when he was looking to buy them. im guessing someone brought up that this verse was already used before when the album came out and hes looking into others as well.

but also tells me Preemo ain't never really ever listen to Guru's solo album lolol
it was the opening track!! And this was out BEFORE the gangstarr breakup

i think on the breakfast club he made it a point to say he had a great dj memory lol and i think in most interviews he keeps saying he was always involved in solo guru projects. i guess he could be involved in doing a track or two without really paying much attention to the whole project.

it would be good to hear him address the track directly.

in fairness Preemo produced 1/19 tracks on there
and it came out between MoT and Ownerz, which is when that relationship started to strain (it seems)
so im just playing (kinda) in giving him a hard time about it
I just happened to recognize that verse as soon as i heard it, but there probly aren't too many verses on that record that I could actually say that about

Doesn't add too much more than the NYT article but it's much more of Premo's own words and is still a nice read.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dj-premier-gang-starr-one-of-the-best-yet-interview-906153/

DJ Premier Has a Lot to Say About Gang Starr’s First New Album in 16 Years
After the 2010 death of rapper Guru and a contentious legal battle, the revered producer is finally ready to revive the Gang Starr name with new album One of the Best Yet

By JASON NEWMAN

Gang Starr's DJ Premier tells us about the long road to releasing the group's new album 'One of the Best Yet' nine years after Guru's death.

The 2010 death of Guru, the rapper who created indelible tracks like “DWYCK” and “Mass Appeal” as half of pioneering 1990s hip-hop group Gang Starr, seemed to both cement and finalize the group’s legacy. The group hadn’t released an album since 2003’s The Ownerz and, in subsequent years, saw a falling out between Guru and his producer, the long-revered DJ Premier, over everything from ego to the rapper’s problems with alcohol.

Still, Guru remained prolific in the years following The Ownerz. “He was always known to record all the time,” DJ Premier tells Rolling Stone. “So that’s what made me start going, ‘Man I know there’s got to be a lot of unreleased stuff that exists.’”

Those unreleased vocals form the bedrock of One of the Best Yet, Gang Starr’s recently released first album in 16 years, which also features appearances from Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, J. Cole, M.O.P., and Royce Da 5’9″, among others. Premier’s ownership of Guru’s vocal tracks comes after a years-long battle with John Mosher, a producer known as DJ Solar who befriended Guru in 2001 and battled with the rapper’s family in court over unreleased material following his death. (In 2014, a judge ruled against Mosher, allowing Guru’s family to control Guru’s estate.)

In 2016, Mosher sold 30 unreleased Guru vocal tracks to Premier for an undisclosed sum, laying the groundwork for One of the Best Yet. The album sounds like a time capsule: a record that could’ve been released immediately after the Ownerz or any subsequent year. It’s a new gift for fans of Premier’s boom-bap production that dominated the sample-heavy, New York-centric strain of hip-hop that peaked in the mid-to-late 1990s.

For the past 18 months, Premier has been crafting beats in his Queens, New York, studio with Guru’s ashes sitting 24 hours a day on the recording console. (“We got the actual ashes of Guru on the boards,” Royce da 5’9″ rhymes on One of the Best Yet track “What’s Real.” “He’s sitting right inside an urn in the session/Lookin’ down from heaven at Gang Starr’s current progression.”)

“They’re all brand new,” he says. “I didn’t have beats sitting outside that I matched to his vocals. I wouldn’t want to do that.” The superproducer spoke to Rolling Stone about his long, circuitous road to finishing the album.

It still sounds odd, in a good way, to hear about a “new” Gang Starr album in 2019.

Oh, man. That was one of the best things I ever heard or say to people because I know the impact that Guru and I had on the world. And I’ve always – just as a fan myself — have wanted another Gang Starr album to exist just because I know our process and what we had as far as the unreleased material.

But it’s also mainly for his son, who he loved a lot. You always hear about the family that left money behind and riches for the children to live off of. And the first thing that crossed my mind once he was gone was, “Damn, man, we got to make sure his son is straight.” And I didn’t care if and I hadn’t spoken in a long time. I feel like we spoke when I went to the hospital. Even though he was in a coma, I know he heard me.

Did you feel a personal responsibility to take care of his family?

Absolutely. It’s the right thing to do. I’ve been doing it for family members and the same thing when it came to Guru. Through this group, I had a very successful life and my career continues to ride. The way died was really fucked up and tragic. I got to witness him in the hospital not awake. I went to court a few times and my attorney proved that all the copyrights were still in existence and our contract was still active. wish that was supposed to be carried out was, “Make sure my son gets all the stuff and that he’s the heir to my legacy.” That should be the first and foremost thing that should’ve happened and no one has done that but me and my team.

You performed a sage-burning ritual every day in the studio with Guru’s ashes. What did that entail and why was that important to you?

I’m a very spiritual guy. I believe in karma; what you do will come back. The majority of my life is spent doing nothing but godly things, especially when it comes to dealing with other people. My intentions were to make sure that the blessings come from not only Guru’s spirit, but just from the godly energy that I put out every day. I just said, “I’m going to take some sage being that it is known to ward off evil energy.”

Once we got the vocals, the first thing I needed to do is bless the room. So I took out his ashes and I did a clockwise circle around the ashes where the smoke billows around it three times. Then I do it counter-clockwise three times. Then I do top to bottom and side to side three times. Then I kiss the bag . Then I let the smoke from some incense billow all around the until it’s engulfed in smoke and I feel that’s Guru taking all the energy in to give back to us. Then I put the bag against the picture that I have on the console and I let the smoke billow in front of his face and my face, but I hold the bag to the frame so that it’s actually touching it.

And then I just say, “Keep that bad shit away from us.” Then I do clockwise around the picture, counter-clockwise around the picture, and then I billow the smoke one more time, kiss it and put it back in the bag. That’s my everyday. It takes five minutes; I do it the same every time.

Without the interplay between you and Guru in the studio, how different was it putting this album together versus past Gang Starr works? Did you try to emulate your process in the past, or did you purposely go about it in a new way?

No, I totally emulated it, like the same way we always did it: 100 percent. I go in with that attitude that he’s in the room and that we’re doing it the way that we’ve always done our formula. The only difference this time is he always wrote to my tracks; this time, I had to write to his vocals. The formula never changed and it always worked for us. So I wanted that same approach to happen with this process.

“The first time I heard … I was getting goosebumps and my hairs were standing up.”

What was your initial reaction to hearing that his unreleased vocals existed?

Once I knew these are vocals that no one out there, including myself, was familiar with, my brain was already like, “Wooooo, man, if I can get my hands on this …” This was a hope, a wish and a dream. taking some of the old songs and reworking them just so we can have something new. And it’s like, no, I’m not doing that because I’m just not with that shit. I wanted it to be where it’s like, “I ain’t never heard these rhymes before.” All the posthumous projects people have put out sound salvaged. I didn’t want it to sound like a salvaged album; I wanted it to sound like a brand-new album. I didn’t want it to sound like I’m just fighting to save these vocals just because there’s nothing else out there that I can work with.

Emotionally, what was it like the first time you heard the vocals?

The first time I heard them, I sat with a lawyer present to make sure they weren’t lyrics that I had heard before. Cause if they were, I already was like, “It’s not what I want.” It had to be a new Gang Starr album. I needed to know that this shit really has hooks and verses before I invest in purchasing all of this stuff. I was getting goosebumps and my hairs were standing up. The first song I did was “Bless the Mic,” and I was so nervous. I kept hesitating like, “Man, I’m not ready to do this shit.” It was almost scary for me, but in a good way. Once I , I was ready to go full throttle.

Can you talk about the first time you spoke to Solar about this project?

Naw, we never did. Everything went through my management and my lawyer. The last time we talked was 2004.

“It took a lot of spirituality to keep me calm and focused on this shit happening.”

You used the heavily loaded word “ransom” in a recent interview to describe paying for the vocals. You only hear that word in kidnappings or hijackings.

100 percent. That’s definitely right. That’s what it felt like just to finally close on getting them. I know how much value it is in giving this to the fans, and I know the fans want me to do it. I came to rescue . We were going to call the album The Rescue, but I was like, “Nah, I don’t need to throw no jabs. Everybody know how real I keep it.” For all the ones that hate me, it’s because they can’t get my love because they’re full of shit.

My main focus was the excitement as a fan even though I’m in the group. Also the fans getting another album that’s produced by me because that’s what they want and that’s what they deserve. And then thirdly is that his son eats off of this because he was nine years old .

DJ Solar claimed the songs were stolen from him. What’s your response to that?

Hilarious . You can’t get away with stuff like that when you’re on the level that I am. My name is too big to even get away with something of that magnitude without being in trouble. Maybe if I was an unknown guy that no one knew and I did all this shit you can’t really find because I’m under the radar. Maybe. But not when you’re DJ Premier. How in the hell can I do that and get away with it? There’s no possible fucking way.

Does it concern you when he says he plans to take legal action unless his name is added to the album’s credits?

No. Do whatever you want. We did everything by the book. All the paperwork’s legit. We’re not thieves. We don’t have a history of doing shit to anyone. So do whatever you want to do. We’re not here to fucking railroad anybody. We’re here to make sure everything is legitimately sealed to make sure that the fans get their part, the family get their part. And at the end of the day, what was fairly done was fairly done.

So it’s fair to say there’ll be no names added to the credits.
Oh, hell yes. You’re correct.

Are you worried that the dispute with Solar will overshadow the music?

Never. The fans have their own conclusions on how they feel and the fans were not happy ever with all the stuff that was going on prior to passing.

Have you thought about how you may present the new material live? Would you ever consider a hologram?

I would never, ever do a hologram. It’s too blasphemous. We have over 700 hours of footage from 1989 all the way up to 2004. Since we have so much live footage, now you have devices where we can strip down the music and just have his vocals present and sync him to playing live with my band or my turntables and it’ll be his own voice and you get to watch him move. We just tested it out a little bit, but we need to perfect it.

How would you sum up the last three years in three words?

Emotional. Exciting. Spiritual. It took a lot of spirituality to keep me calm and focused on this shit happening. I knew how much it was going to take of my soul to make this thing really sound like what is expected of a Gang Starr album.

Does this album bring you any closure?
Yeah, the closure for me is to get an album out after all this bullshit that makes everybody ignore anything in the past of his final days of living physically. I knew it would come. I felt it.

Haha.

If Primo could make verses that were obviously made on other beats not sound so obvious....and Premier really did.

All the features did a good job probably except Ne-Yo (the song needed a sung hook...but I'm not sure off top who would've fit better on it...Trey maybe?)

Bad Name sounds like an Apollo Brown beat, that's not a bad thing tho.

Nitty killed it tho....she needs more attention for her bars but I figure because she fine and doesn't hide it people don't check for her pen.

Anytime I Tip is on a song and doesn't spit a verse it's disappointing....but considering the song it makes sense.

Curious how much material Primo got for another album? Didn't seem like there was a ton of material from the NYT article, then again perhaps Preem got other material in the tuck besides the Solar stuff.

>Curious how much material Primo got for another album? Didn't
>seem like there was a ton of material from the NYT article,
>then again perhaps Preem got other material in the tuck
>besides the Solar stuff.


maybe this is why the record is so short... gotta save enough for the final one??? i'm good with whatever Preem is doing, he never failed us yet.

> i'm good with whatever Preem is doing,
>he never failed us yet.

I got 4 tracks in earlier tonite and this shit is perfect. Can't wait to start over tomorrow and hear the rest. Very reminiscent of the feelings I had hearing the Tribe album 3 years ago.

he said not everything was gold but he took the not up to par ones and used them for choruses and stuff

id be shocked if he didnt have his own stash of Guru's vocal's as well
anything from the MoT or Ownerz sessions would fit in with the posthumous work i imagine

Jeru back on a Premo beat? OMG!

I didn’t know Jeru was on this. Nearly lost my mind when I heard his verse! I’m glad that they were able to set aside past differences to make this happen.

...and this project, to know what Primo went through to make this happen, only elevates Primo's already untouchable, legendary legacy...

been marathoning the album.... new favorite track the more I listen.

Bless the Mic is such as dope outro track...

and unlike many, I dig the Q-tip track... and did so on first listen.



werd.

Wasn't really excited after first listen. But I can't stop.

This is a real treat for the fans.

tried drake first
then kendrick
after they werent available went with cole?

https://www.complex.com/music/2019/11/dj-premier-interview-gang-starr-one-of-the-best-yet
The first song I recorded was "Bless The Mic." The second song was "Bad Name," and that one really grabbed me right away. Then I did "Family and Loyalty." Once I did that, I was like, "This needs a guest. Who do I get?" My manager's bringing up Drake, because I had just done "Sandra's Rose." I reached out to Drake. 40 told me he was getting ready to do the Scorpion tour, so it was going to be really hectic unless I could wait until after the tour was over. I was like, "Nah, I don't want to wait that long." So I thought about Kendrick Lamar. I reached out to them, they said the same thing—he's really starting this new album and in that zone, so doing anything outside that right now might be a little hectic.

Then I texted J. Cole and said, "Hey man, I want to send you something. It's a secret Gang Starr album." I texted him the song, and he hit me back within five minutes and said, "Bro, I got the chills right now." He said, "Oh my God, I've got to be on this. I just need a little time to have some family stuff. I'm about to have another child." He kept his word. After his second son was born, he sent me the vocals over.

"TO ALL THE GUESTS THAT CAME THROUGH
IMMEDIATELY ON THIS ALBUM AS SOON
AS I MADE A CALL :"

can i say that drake and kenny are certifiable idiots to pass up being on this record tho?
i mean, im glad that drake passed - i actually like him a lot, but i wouldn't have wanted him on this album.
Kendrick would have murdered that track tho

drake would have been asked last summer right?

kendrick??? i have a feeling he asked and waited but kendrick just never came back to it for whatever reason. this is a still unreleased kendrick album he was working on right? so maybe hes stuck in that mode or in some rut.

he waited on cole so he wasnt trying to have it immediately but he wasnt going to keep waiting forever.

out of the three i somehow think drake would have fit the track the best in their natural style but i really would not have been excited to see him as a feature. kendrick no doubt would of killed it and i think he would have been able to do a verse that fit the track great.

kind of weird for premier to say this, what i had previously read was he considered drake and kendrick but chose cole. seemed like cole was happy that premier went to him and now premier is like eh you werent our first choice lol

im trying to think what other rappers are on their level (of current relevance) that would have fit the track better.

>im trying to think what other rappers are on their level (of
>current relevance) that would have fit the track better.

rapping about phife, instead of doing that odd hook (which i dont mind. its just...odd)

but that are relevant to todays generation???? i dont know
i would have liked if nas was on it. maybe jay would have fit both elements or still being relevant and being a good fit.

in the complex piece he mentions that qtip just had throat surgery so thats why he only did the hook and his voice sounded like that. ive liked the track more on repeat listens.

would have been a nice nod to both the younger generation and still keeping it boom bap
the cole verse is all god tho - it actually grown on me a lot

No disrespect to Joey, but fuck that pandering-ass shit.

It would've been cool to hear Drake on it, because he's a good writer and would've had some interesting lyrics, plus he's a genre-transcendent megastar who's rooted in hip hop. But hearing J.Cole on there saying shit like "look at the youth like a precious pebble".... FOH. Proof that the standard of modern lyricists is a major step backwards from the golden age.

Pitchfork's review mentioned that some of the themes/lyrics are outdated. No fucking shit, dude. They were recorded 10+ years ago, and the type of shit people rap about nowadays is entirely different.

I certainly don't generally prefer people rapping about rap, and talking about the rap game in their lyrics...

But Guru's clarity in expressing his point on "So Many Rappers" is timeless rap.

"Bad Name," "So Many Rappers," and "Militia 4" are the clear highlights for me.

>No disrespect to Joey, but fuck that pandering-ass shit.
>
>It would've been cool to hear Drake on it, because he's a good
>writer and would've had some interesting lyrics, plus he's a
>genre-transcendent megastar who's rooted in hip hop. But
>hearing J.Cole on there saying shit like "look at the youth
>like a precious pebble".... FOH. Proof that the standard of
>modern lyricists is a major step backwards from the golden
>age.
>


I agree Joey would have been pandering. Same for Drake though. And Cole. And even Kendrick, who is by far the best artist out of the four I just typed.

I'd argue that Drake would be *extra* pandering because...well, because its fucking Drake. Dude is more of a pop star than a rapper.

No way a Drake feature would be less pandering than Joey or Cole. At that point, fuck it put Gamino or go all in for the young crowd and put Young Thug on it.

All of it is pandering.

No matter who the artist is, I think its pretty transparent cash grab to put a *current* artist on a posthumous release, when they never even met or are even cut from the same cloth/era in any way.

That's why I was so surprised so many were cool with Cole on it.

As a Pac fan, I've lived through this for shit...going on 20 years now. It bugged me then and it bugs me now. Don't put fucking Drake on a Gangstarr record. Don't put fucking Eminem on a Biggie song. Don't put fucking Trick Daddy or Eminem on a Pac song.

Get people who at least sort of new these guys, or at the very least *may* have worked with them back in the day.

It doesn’t surprise me that they used Cole, nor who the other artists that Preem reached out to before him. Working in the past with Face, Snoop, and Kiss makes these features more plausible. Not just the Gang Starr records, but Guru was already working with popular acts on Jazzmatazz. All in all the project turned out fine and it is not out of place with the rest of the Gang Starr collection.

i dont know if that word means what y'all think it means lol

pandering would be working with someone that doesn't fit with you at all, just to get access to their fanbase.

so yes, massive stars like kendrick and joey, COULD be seen as pandering features

but joey isn't some massively well known artist, and he's the youthful extension of hte boom bap sound that preemo is a cornerstone of. PLEASE explain to me how in the world a joey feature = some sort of pandering move.

I mean pandering to a younger demographic.

Joey didn't start rapping until around the time Guru passed.

Joey's market is small enough that considering it to be a motivational factor of asking him to feature is laughable
and i dont take the hardline that some of y'all take where guests on posthumous albums should be contemporaries of the artist.

You can "pander" to 2 people.

I'm not taking any position in this particular argument but I'd at least like to see it argued in good faith and honestly lol.


>Joey's market is small enough that considering it to be a
>motivational factor of asking him to feature is laughable
>and i dont take the hardline that some of y'all take where
>guests on posthumous albums should be contemporaries of the
>artist.

>You can "pander" to 2 people.

but in the context of this discussion, no one is gonna accuse a musician of "pandering" if they went out of their way to get a feature specifically to appeal to 2 people

Drake will undoubtedly go down as one of the most successful rappers of all time, and that is with a lot of sacrifice made with regards to his potential to be considered and listed as one of the best rappity rap rappers of all time.

For Drake to have appeared on this Gang Starr album with a fire jewel-dropping verse that fit alongside one of Guru's... that would've been a huge victory for Drake's resume as a great rappity rap rapper. You know, that real hip hop. lol

Sorta like when everyone was really excited when 2 Chainz killed his verse on De La's last album. A lot of rappity rap ass people just assumed that 2 Chainz couldn't actually rap, just because of what he wants for his birthday or whatever.

He's got his reputation as being a pop star, but he could've come on with a fire verse that was something to cement his credibility in the rap world--especially among old-ass Gang Starr fans like me. That's not to say that Drake needs anything, but it would've been a cool flex for people who like to shit on Drake and say he's not a good rapper. He absolutely is.

To have had Joey Badass would've been pandering to quote-unquote younger rap fans, which is irrelevant on a Gang Starr album. He's also relatively obscure compared to J. Cole.

All I'm saying is that It would've been nice for the one heavy-hitting newer name on the album to have been someone who could deliver a great verse. Royce definitely came through.

but alright

https://www.sohh.com/dj-premier-accused-of-jacking-guru-song-for-new-gang-starr-album-hes-trying-to-make-money-off-a-song-he-knows-was-stolen/

they just took this article down, but some cat named Fong Sai U is accusing preemo of not caring that Solar sold him a song that actually belonged to Fong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_uUojRPN-o

i still have the article on my phone - ill swipe it from mobile...

DJ PREMIER ACCUSED OF JACKING GURU SONG FOR NEW GANG STARR ALBUM: “HE’S TRYING TO MAKE MONEY OFF A SONG HE KNOWS WAS STOLEN”
Cyrus LanghorneNovember 20, 2019 5:35 pm
EXCLUSIVENEWSNEWS FLASH

Rap pioneer DJ Premier has some explaining to do. East Coast hip-hop artist Fong Sai U has accused the iconic producer of using one of his songs for an unauthorized Gang Starr song off the newly released One of the Best Yet album.

According to the hip-hop veteran, Premo illegally purchased Fong’s “What’s Real” 2015 song from an outside source, kept the title and hook for this year’s Gang Starr project.

“ Solar sold DJ Premier my song with Guru – ‘What’s Real’ – a song that I previously put out in 2015 on my Ballads of a Massacre album and own the rights for. Between 2000 and 2001 me and Guru worked a lot. I produced “OG Talk” on 2001’s Baldhead Slick & da Click album under my other alias Divine. The only other person that was around was Phat Gary, Guru’s road manager at the time. That f*ck boy Solar wasn’t in the picture until 2005 after alerting DJ Premier of the situation. He made a BS offer instead of owning up to his mistake. He let devil Solar pull a fast one on him again. The sad part about all this is Solar is still out here causing confusion.” (SOHH)

Fong Sai also shared deep words to the memory of his late collaborator and said Premo has to ultimately rectify the situation.

“I wish Guru could just rest but what’s right is right and wrong is wrong and DJ Premier is trying to make money off a song he know was stolen and to keep promoting the album like he has no idea he stole a song and changed the beat. That hook is my concept. The majority of what Guru is spitting, mine. This is Guru before he became sober and a lot of times it was hard for him to pen sh*t because of the alcohol but that’s my brother and the only one that gave my production a chance so in my eyes he can do no wrong. But Premier has to make it right. Period. That very was very sentimental to me because that’s a memory that can’t be replaced.” (SOHH)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOV5_hZL6A

I didn't even know about the original version, apparently it was a bonus track on the instrumental version of OOTBY that came out a few months ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0eMCMuVYmk