Keith Elam, a.k.a. Guru, formed Gang Starr in 1987 but it wasn't until he joined forces with Premier, born Christopher Martin, in 1989 that Gang Starr started to churn out hits. Their debut, No More Mr. Nice Guy, was released in '89 and was spearheaded by the single "Words I Manifest." Their assertive approach to combining jazz and rap was heard loud and clear on their follow-up effort Step in the Arena in 1991. The album proved to be a magnificent union of Premier's D.J. abilities and Guru's introspective lyrical style.Gang Starr's third release, 1992's Daily Operation, is now heralded as a classic as far as East Coast Rap goes and is considered by some to be their most outstanding work. After working separately on a multitude of individual and collaborative projects, Guru and Premier dropped their fourth record, Hard to Earn, which featured the aptly-titled single "Mass Appeal," their first track to crack the Billboard Hot 100 and biggest hit to date. The album showed Gang Starr's willingness to adapt to the changes in hip-hop as the record featured a more hardcore sound, as was the trend in the mid-‘90s.The two artists continued to pursue their own interests and collaborated with the likes of the Notorious B.I. G, KRS-One, Jay-Z and Nas. Guru and Premiere were major players in the hip-hop game by the time they released their fourth album, Moment of Truth, in 1998. The duo's four years apart had not resulted in any rust as Moment of Truth climbed all the way to the top spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. The record featured a variety of contemporary artists on its tracks and is the most successful Gang Starr album. Both Guru and Premier have since branched out and continued to expand on their solo efforts while leaving time for the occasional Gang Starr album as well.
