The track celebrates the fifth anniversary of the hip-hop duo’s LP, One of the Best Yet
Gang Starr has released a new single, “Finishem.” The song incorporates vocal lines recorded by MC Guru, one half of the duo alongside DJ Premier, before his death in 2010.
The song arrives on the fifth anniversary of Gang Starr’s LP, One of the Best Yet, which marked the group’s first new music in 16 years when it dropped in 2019.
“As One of the Best Yet was approaching the five-year anniversary mark, that milestone moved me to create a new track to match the occasion,” DJ Premier said in a statement. “The album is special on so many different levels; what it meant to me, Guru’s family, and the fans, it warranted something new to honor the occasion. I started going through files, looking for something that stood out and fit; and as soon as I heard Guru’s hook ‘now I’m about to finishem, my rep alone could diminish’em’ I knew that was it and went to work crafting a beat for it.”
He continued, “I had some unused Antman Wonder files that I decided to check out, and one of the sounds hit me emotionally from the very first note. I knew this was the one to shape the song. The fans always appreciate more Gang Starr—and this one is for them.”
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When One of the Best Yet dropped, DJ Premier told Rolling Stone that Guru was continuously recording, which is how the LP came to be after his death. “He was always known to record all the time,” DJ Premier said. “So that’s what made me start going, ‘Man I know there’s got to be a lot of unreleased stuff that exists.’”
He added, “All the posthumous projects people have put out sound salvaged. I didn’t want it to sound like a salvaged album; I wanted it to sound like a brand-new album. I didn’t want it to sound like I’m just fighting to save these vocals just because there’s nothing else out there that I can work with.”