How do you choose a DJ Premier production? There are literally a hundred worthy songs, so we’ll go with this, the fourth Gang Starr album. Hard To Earn is less celebrated than Daily Operation but, for me, it is the apex of Guru’s laidback gentleman vibe and Primo’s bananas approach to tonality and rhythm. What are the samples in “Brainstorm”? Alvin Lucier? A dying smoke alarm? A Balkan ambulance? Premier runs a quiet metallic howl through the whole album. It’s swollen, anxious music.