"Mass Appeal"
Single by Gang Starr
from the album Hard To Earn
ReleasedFebruary 8, 1994
Recorded1993
GenreHip hop
Length3:41
LabelChrysalis/EMI Records
Songwriter(s)Keith Elam, Christopher Martin
Producer(s)DJ Premier
Audio sample
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"Mass Appeal" is a song by American hip hop group Gang Starr from the album Hard to Earn. The song reached #67 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #42 on the Billboard R&B chart.[1] It was also featured on the soundtrack of the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.[2]

Background

According to DJ Premier, "Mass Appeal" was recorded to poke fun at radio when it came to hip hop music:[3]

"It was recorded as a joke. We just wanted to make fun of the radio on what it sounded like to get airplay. That’s why I made the background melody real simplistic. I was making fun of the radio, but I’m going to make a funky version of making fun of it. Everything’s a vision, and your brain has to be that intense to be able to capture that. What the radio played, when it came to hip-hop, it sounded too watered down. That was making fun of it, but that record did real good for us".

The track samples Vic Juris' 1980 song "Horizon Drive."[4] as well as vocals from Pete Rock's remix of Da Youngsta's 1992 track Pass Da Mic as well as well as Big Daddy Kane's 1987 track "Raw"" [5]

Music video

The music video was released in March 1994, shortly after Hard to Earn was released. The first verse featured Guru rapping inside an old apartment complex. The second verse featured Guru rapping inside a moving car, and the third verse featured Guru rapping on a beach. DJ Premier mentioned that the video was filmed on a very cold night in Far Rockaway.[6]

Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 67
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[8] 42

References

  1. ↑ "Gang Starr - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  2. ↑ "Tony Hawk 4 Soundtrack". October 9, 2002. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  3. ↑ Cho, Jaeki. "DJ Premier Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records". complex.com. Complex. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  4. ↑ "Gang Starr's 'Mass Appeal' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled.
  5. ↑ "DJ Premier series "So Wassup?" Episode 4 / Gang Starr "Mass Appeal"". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  6. ↑ Cho, Jaeki. "DJ Premier Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records". complex.com. Complex. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  7. ↑ "Gang Starr Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. ↑ "Gang Starr Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.


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