Live performance from 1992 on the "In Living Color" TV Comedy show. Song appears on Gang Starr's 1993 Album: "Hard To Earn"....(Click "show more" for artist info)..

Gang Starr:

The group was founded in 1986 by Guru (then known as Keithy E. The Guru) and DJ 1,2 B-Down (also known as Mike Dee) with various producers, such as Donald D, J.V. Johnson or DJ Mark the 45 King helping out. In 1987 and 1988, Gang Starr released three 12" vinyl singles on the Wild Pitch label.

In 1989, the group split and the only member willing to continue under the name Gang Starr was Guru. He soon got in touch with DJ Premier (then known as Waxmaster C) who sent him a beat tape which Guru liked. He invited DJ Premier to join Gang Starr and in that same year they released their first single "Words I Manifest" along with the album "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (1989).

During their career Gang Starr helped pioneer the New York hip hop sound, and in fact, many an artist who achieved greater notoriety owes much of their sound, lyrical style, and even content to Gang Starr. The entirety of Gang Starr's catalog, especially Step in the Arena (1990), Daily Operation (1992) "Hard to Earn" (1994) and Moment of Truth (1998) are well-respected among critics. Their track "Jazz Thing", featured on the soundtrack to Spike Lee's film Mo' Better Blues, helped establish the sound of jazz rap.

Both members of Gang Starr have deep roots in the New York hip hop scene, despite hailing from Boston, Massachusetts (Guru) and Houston, Texas (DJ Premier), and have each worked with countless artists.

The Gang Starr Foundation was a loose collective of various people who have worked closely with the group, through either Guru's now defunct Ill Kid label, DJ Premier's production work or the management company that Gang Starr was represented by, Empire Management. The founding member was Vikar.

Nice & Smooth:

Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Greg Nice (Greg Mays) and Smooth B (Daryl Barnes), plus their DJ Teddy Tedd (Tedd Whiting). The duo released four albums between 1989 and 1997. Their first collaborative appearance was on the song "Skill Trade" on Strange Family Records in 1988. On the strength of that underground single they managed a guest spot on the song "Pimpin Ain't Easy" by Big Daddy Kane on his 1989 album, It's a Big Daddy Thing.

Nice & Smooth's biggest radio fame came from "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow...," from the group's second album, Ain't a Damn Thing Changed, released in 1991. The song was a moderately somber rhyme with introspective lines about poverty, AIDS, and drugs that was set to the guitar loop from Tracy Chapman's hit "Fast Car". In the summer of 1992, the music video received heavy rotation on MTV. "Hip-Hop Junkies," which featured a sample from The Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You" was also a hit, and it was once performed live on Keenan Ivory Wayans' comedy/variety TV show, In Living Color. The duo is known for their humorous rhymes and catchy hooks. They often appeared as guest emcees on albums by the Beatnuts, Gang Starr, and Tony Touch, among many others. They were represented by Reggie Osse.

2Pac intended to sign Greg Nice to his Makaveli Records label[citation needed] and even recorded tracks with the duo for his One Nation album, which featured other artists such as Smif-n-Wessun, Luniz, Snoop Dogg. Trugoy from De La Soul paid homage to Nice & Smooth by using each member's rhyming style in verses on the song "Simply Havin'" from De La Soul's AOI: Bionix album.

Smooth B wrote rhymes for Bobby Brown that appeared on his debut album King of Stage and second album Don't Be Cruel. In 2005, he released a single titled "Game Over", produced by DJ Premier, and released a single in 2014 called "Set It Off".

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