Hard to Earn is the fourth album from the hip hop duo Gang Starr. It was released in 8 March 1994 and featured the singles “Mass Appeal”, “DWYCK” and “Code of the Streets”. Guest appearances on the album include 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” recorded in 1992 also featured hip hop duo Nice & Smooth. The track “Now You’re Mine” originally appeared on the 1992 Soundtrack “White Men Can’t Rap”.
Gang Starr’s Hard To Earn is generally acclaimed by critics. RapReviews, for example, awarded the album a 8.5/10 in its review.
“GangStarr is undeniably one of the best groups in modern rap history. DJ Premier and the Guru are models of consistency that most artists can only dream of becoming. The formula is relatively simple: Let Guru speak his mind over whatever Primo wants to throw down on top of the drums. They take their time between releases, perfecting and evolving their music a bit while pursuing other projects individually, and when their fans have developed a sufficient hunger for more music, they come to the rescue. In their early days, before other artists had developed such a demand for their services, the records came more frequently. Since their 1994 album “Hard to Earn,” we have only witnessed the release of two GangStarr albums and a greatest hits compilation with a few bonus cuts. “Hard to Earn” stands as the final product of their more prolific days, and despite minor flaws, it is just as effective a gauge of their legacy as anything else.”
