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A TAV Curator's Pick.

Hard To Earn is the fourth album from hip hop duo Gang Starr (MC Guru & DJ Premier). It was originally released in 1994 by Chrysalis and EMI Records.

The album showcases the duo with a stripped down, hard sonic and lyrical approach, which is noted to less melodic than the duo’s previous two albums. Notable guests appearances for this album includes then members of the Gang Starr Foundation, which includes Group Home, Jeru the Damaja and Big Shug, Hit singles off this album includes "Mass Appeal", "DWYCK" and "Code Of The Streets".

"Gang Starr came out hard on their 1994 album, Hard to Earn, an album notably different from its two predecessors: Step in the Arena (1991) and Daily Operation (1992)," AllMusic says in its review of the album. "While those two classic albums garnered tremendous praise for their thoughtful lyrics and jazzy beats, Hard to Earn seems much more reactionary, especially its lyrics...There isn't a song on the album that's a throwaway, and even the interludes are stunning." - AllMusic

"You'll be flabbergasted by the back-to-basics, raw and meaningful nature of the Brooklyn duo's third LP. This is higher ground where the code of the streets is filtered through a Nation of Islam sensibility.” - NME

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