Neha Patil (Editor)

Moment of Truth (Gang Starr album)

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Released
  
March 31, 1998

Artist
  
Gang Starr

Label
  
Noo Trybe Records

Length
  
78:37

Release date
  
31 March 1998

Producers
  
DJ Premier, Guru

Moment of Truth (Gang Starr album) httpss3amazonawscomrapgenius1361526754Gang

Recorded
  
1997–1998; D&D Studios New York City

Moment of Truth (1998)
  
Full Clip A Decade of Gang Starr (1999)

Genres
  
Hip hop music, East Coast hip hop, Jazz rap

Similar
  
Gang Starr albums, Hip hop music albums

Moment of Truth is the fifth album by hip hop duo Gang Starr, released on March 31, 1998 by Noo Trybe Records and Virgin Records. Gang Starr recorded Moment of Truth in sessions at D&D Studios.

Contents

Released four years after its previous album, Hard to Earn, this album could be perceived as a comeback, with a newer, updated style of the group's already-established jazz-tinged hip hop, as stated by Guru in the introduction. Lyrically, the album is more emotional and socially conscious than previous installments.

Recording and production

The album features more guest artists than previous Gang Starr releases. Collaborations include songs with Inspectah Deck, Scarface, G-Dep, Freddie Foxxx, K-Ci & JoJo, M.O.P. and more.

Production on the album features heftier, more melodic, and more mature beats from DJ Premier.

Commercial performance

The album is the group's most commercially successful album to date. Moment of Truth debuted at #1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. It went on to sell over 500,000 copies and was certified Gold by the RIAA on May 7, 1998. The lead single, "You Know My Steez," became the duo's second Billboard Hot 100 appearance in 1997, peaking at #76. Spin magazine ranked it as the #16 album of 1998.

Legacy

The album's title track was featured in the 2011 Matthew McConaughey film The Lincoln Lawyer. The title track also appeared in the soundtrack of the 2001 video game Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2.

Samples

You Know My Steez

  • "Flash It to the Beat" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
  • "Real Hip Hop" by Das EFX
  • "Opening/Crickets" by Chris Rock
  • "Drowning in the Sea of Love" by Joe Simon
  • "Shadowboxing" by GZA
  • "Usual Suspects" by Big Noyd
  • "B Side Wins Again" by Public Enemy

    • Robbin Hood Theory

  • "The Day After the Dawn" by Albert Dailey
  • "Capricorn" by George Duke

    • Work

  • "Devil in the Dark" by The Manhattans
  • "Prove Your Love" by Fleetwood Mac
  • "Second Transformation: The Ape Man Sequence" by John Corigliano
  • "Closer to God" by Krumbsnatcha

    • Royalty

  • "Let's Do It in Slow Motion" by Latimore

    • Above the Clouds

  • "Two Piece Flower" by John Dankworth
  • "JFK Speech on Space Flight" by John F. Kennedy
  • "Superman - the Man from Krypton - Part II" by Peter Pan Records
  • "I Didn't Come Rhythm" by George Clinton

    • JFK 2 LAX

  • "It's Time to Break Down" by The Supremes

    • Itz A Set Up

  • "Beyond Yesterday" by Les McCann
  • "Coldblooded" by James Brown

    • Moment of Truth

  • "Let's Fall in Love All Over" by Billy Paul

    • B.I. vs Friendship

  • "Come Live With Me" by Isaac Hayes

    • The Militia

  • "Windmills of Your Mind" by Barbara Lewis
  • "Stop and Check Yourself" by Garnet Mimms
  • "War of the Worlds" by Orson Welles
  • "Dark Shadows Theme" by Robert Cobert
  • "What Is Hip Hop?" by Greg Tate
  • "Wild for Da Night" by Rampage

    • The Rep Grows Bigga

  • "Come Dancing" by Jeff Beck
  • "Off the Books" by The Beatnuts
  • "Listen to the Man" by Kev E Kev & AK B
  • "C.R.E.A.M" by Wu-Tang Clan
  • "Fakin' Jax" by InI

    • What I'm Here 4

  • "R.S.V.P" by Nat Adderley

    • She Knowz What She Wantz

  • "Sunnin' and Funnin'" by MFSB
  • "Itzsoweezee (HOT)" by De La Soul

    • New York Strait Talk

  • "It's My Thing" by EPMD
  • "Blind Alley" by The Emotions
  • "Bastards" by Ruthless Bastards
  • "The Natural" by Mic Geronimo

    • My Advice 2 You

  • "I'll Love More Than You'll Ever Know" by Cold Blood
  • "Metal Thangz" by Street Smartz

    • Make 'Em Pay

  • "You're Something Special" by Five Special
  • "Livin' Proof" by Group Home
  • "Repent Walpurgis" by Procol Harum
  • "Bull's Eye" by J-Force

    • The Mall

  • "The Rainmaker" by The 5th Dimension
  • "Big Ole Butt" by LL Cool J

    • Betrayal

  • "Deliver the Word" by War
  • "Queen of Downs" by Giant

    • Next Time

  • "A Good Man Is Gone" by Monk Higgins
  • "I Shot Ya (Remix)" by LL Cool J

    • In Memory Of...

  • "Here's That Rainy Day" by Paul Horn
  • "You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)" by The Notorious B.I.G.

    • Singles

    Chart positions from Billboard magazine

    Songs

    1You Know My Steez4:08
    2Robbin Hood Theory3:44
    3Work2:58

    References

    Moment of Truth (Gang Starr album) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA