25 years later, it’s still difficult to explain Moment of Truth (released 3/31/98), the fifth and most acclaimed album from the legendary Gang Starr duo. Every syllable from Guru’s mouth and every melody sampled by the illustrious DJ Premier seems to be pulled from some area of the brain the average person doesn’t have access to. The duo was so far ahead of their time the current moment seems like an afterthought despite Guru’s vivid imagery of scenarios and emotions happening around him during the recording of the album. While the four albums leading up to the release of Moment of Truth are nothing to push to the side, the duo’s fifth LP holds the spot as their magnum opus and continues to shock new listeners while still having veteran fans scratching their heads at the abilities displayed over these 20 songs.
Guru’s grasp of the language is nothing short of extraordinary. The Boston-born emcee is able to write highly-conceptual pieces of music that are filled with silver-tongued metaphors so head-spinning multiple listens are necessary to catch every literary device deployed. His approach to the craft allows him to elaborate on a larger picture while still implementing nuanced rhyme schemes that add to his imagery without being a distraction from the narrative. “Robbin Hood Theory” is a prime example of Guru’s lyricism, the track has the rapper plotting for a better tomorrow while still crafting layered bars like “I floss my rhymes like dentals, my mentals presidential from the wild ghetto districts to the plush residentials”.
On top of this level of writing and all its intricacies, these lines are delivered with a voice of gold. The tone of Guru’s voice sounds almost cartoonish if it wasn’t for the relaxed approach he uses in his delivery. These juxtaposing concepts wrestle around every word on Moment of Truth, giving the vocals an oddly dense texture that glides over any instrumental Premier lays in front of him.
There is no correct way to make an instrumental, the art of producing hip-hop is an abstract act that takes years to master and continues to grow to this day. While the recipe is not exact, DJ Premier’s work on Moment of Truth would become a landmark in the fusion of jazz and hip-hop as the producer behind some of the genre’s most defining moments finds the perfect balance between the two. Premier is able to take the subtle playing on old jazz records and provide some sort of otherworldly edge that gives this LP its sonic personality. All over the album, Premier blends modern drum patterns with disembodied melodies that melt over each other to provide sparse arrangements that are able to build worlds with very little extra flair. “What I’m Here 4” only contains a piano melody and drum pattern but the beauty of a Premier beat lies within that simplicity. The way he is able to manipulate these small elements and morph them into a smooth instrumental that would be ruined by any additions speaks volumes about the care put into the beats on Moment of Truth.
Gang Starr’s legacy has established itself as a monument in the history of the rapper-and-producer combos, their work together is a living breathing testament to borderless art. The music they made together has made time a nonfactor and Moment of Truth is their enormous footprint left behind after traversing the many layers and levels of hip-hop. Their innovation became the new standard as the English language attempted to keep up with Guru’s wit over perfectly crafted jazz-infused flavors from the great DJ Premier. Never before and never again will there be an album like Moment of Truth, for over an hour the duo captures this magically creative time in their lives and seamlessly strings these moments together with a chemistry that shocks the system. Gang Starr will forever be a synonym for the genre of hip-hop and will continue to bend time with the albums they left in their wake.
