Gang Starr/Big L

I'm not the biggest expert on hip-hop, but I've always really liked Gang Starr (as well as the other solo and collaborative works of Guru and DJ Premier). Hard to Earn has staying power.

There's this track that I've always been really into by them. It's called "Work," off Moment of Truth. It may have been the first song I heard by them, I can't really remember. It just evokes memories of watching skate videos in my friend's basement after high school.
There are two versions of the song- the album release, and then another (sometimes referred to as a remix, which it is not, and sometimes as part 2) with a verse from the late Big L. In my opinion, a little Big L (get it?--------------------->) is never a bad thing. So hostile. He only released two albums before he was killed. I don't know if I've ever heard the first one, but The Big Picture has some great songs on it- Ebonics, Flamboyant, Holdin' It Down, Platinum Plus (produced by DJ Premier)...

I'm not sure where the part 2 version was released, but here it is, for your listening pleasure.

Gang Starr feat. Big L - Work Pt. 2

And also a Big L track from The Big Picture.

Big L - Holdin' It Down

DJ Shadow

I was/am a really big fan of the first two DJ Shadow albums Endtroducing... and Private Press.  These albums are heady trip-hop classics.  But I couldn't handle the left turn he took when he got into hyphy territory with The Outsider and the Bay Area EP.  Strangely enough, my favorite song in the entire DJ Shadow catalogue comes from "The Outsider".  "This Time I'm Gonna Try It My Way" is a funky soul masterpiece unlike anything else on the album.  It's more Marvin Gaye and less third-rate club banger.

When the single was released, a contest was held wherein people could submit music videos and the winner would get to choose from a selection of dead presidents.  The winning video is probably the best in quality, but I like this one for its simplicity:

A lot of them are on youtube and I encourage you to check out a few.  It's not like you can really get sick of the song...

Here's the track as well, for your aural enjoyment:

DJ Shadow - This Time I'm Gonna Try It My Way

Biz Markie

In honor of the new profile photo, I thought I'd offer up a little video from the Biz Mark hisself.



-Cole