Hard to Earn

Hard To Earn
Studio album by Gang Starr
Released	March 8, 1994 (US)
Recorded	1992–93 D&D Studios (New York, New York)
Genre	East Coast Hip Hop,[1] Hardcore Hip Hop [1]
Length	58:57
Label	Chrysalis/EMI Records 7243 8 28435 2 8 F2-28435
Producer	DJ Premier (Producer) Guru (Co-producer)
Gang Starr chronology
Daily Operation (1992) Hard To Earn (1994) Moment of Truth (1998)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
RapReviews	[3]
Robert Christgau	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
The Source	[6]

Hard to Earn is the fourth album from the hip hop duo Gang Starr. It was released in March 1994 and featured the singles "Mass Appeal", "DWYCK" and "Code of the Streets". Musically the album is constructed around a harder, more stripped-down sound that is distinctively less melodic than the duo's previous work.

Guest appearances on the album come from Group Home, Jeru The Damaja, and Big Shug. At the time, all were part of the Gang Starr Foundation, which made the album a stepping-stone for future DJ Premier-helmed projects by Group Home and Jeru. The single "DWYCK" also featured hip hop duo Nice & Smooth.

Hard to Earn is also the duo's first album to carry the "Parental Advisory" label.

Track listing

Charts

Singles chart positions

Samples

• "DWYCK"
  • "Hey Jude" by Clarence Wheeler and The Enforcers
  • "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss
  • "Bumpin' Bus Stop" by Thunder and Lightning
  • "Side One" by Redd Foxx
  • "Funky for You" by Nice & Smooth
  • "No Bones in Ice Cream" by Nice & Smooth
• "Aiiight Chill"
  • "Love and Happiness" by Monty Alexander
• "ALONGWAYTOGO"
  • "Snow Creatures" by Quincy Jones
  • "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss
  • "Just Us" by Richard Pryor
  • "Check the Rhime" by A Tribe Called Quest
• "Blowin' Up the Spot"
  • "I'm the Man" by Gang Starr
• "Brainstorm"
  • "Community Auditions Theme" by Dave Maynard
• "Code of the Streets"
  • "Little Green Apples" by Monk Higgins
  • "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss
• "Comin' for Datazz"
  • "Blind Alley" by The Emotions
  • "Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse)" by Run-DMC
• "F.A.L.A."
  • "Get Up and Dance" by Freedom
  • "Hard Like a Criminal" by Das EFX
• "Intro (The First Step)"
  • "Scarlet Woman" by Weather Report
• "Mass Appeal"
  • "Horizon Drive" by Vic Juris
  • "Raw" by Big Daddy Kane
  • "You're a Customer" by EPMD
  • "Pass Da Mic" by Da Youngsta's
• "Mostly Tha Voice"
  • "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" by James Brown
  • "Hey! Last Minute" by The Meters
  • "Bam Bam" by Sister Nancy
  • "You Gots to Chill" by EPMD
• "Now You're Mine"
  • "RockBox" by Run DMC
• "Speak Ya Clout"
  • "Up Against the Wall" by Quincy Jones
  • "Cucumber Slumber" by Weather Report
  • "Shack Up" by Banbarra
  • "Funk It Up" by Caesar Frazier
  • "I'm the Man" by Gang Starr
• "Suckas Need Bodyguards"
  • "Put Your Love (In My Tender Care)" by The Fatback Band
  • "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
• "The Planet"
  • "The Cuckoo" by Taj Mahal
  • "Holy War (Live)" by Divine Force
  • "Lyte as a Rock" by MC Lyte
  • "The Place Where We Dwell" by Gang Starr
• "Tonz 'O' Gunz"
  • "Fire & Fury Grass Roots Speech (Side One)" by Malcolm X
  • "Breakthrough" by Isaac Hayes
  • "Just to Get a Rep" by Gang Starr
• "Words From the Nutcracker
  • "Journey From Within" by The Crusaders
  • "Long Red" by Mountain
  • "Lock It in the Pocket" by Grover Washington, Jr.

References