1991’s Step In The Arena is the breakout second full-length album from the legendary East Coast hip hop duo Gang Starr – consisting of MC Guru and DJ/producer Premier – and follow-up to their 1991 debut No More Mr. Nice Guy. Step In The Arena firmly established Gang Starr’s trademark sound which radically blended the unprecedented jazz samples of Premier with the deadpan street narratives of Guru and greatly altered the boundaries of hip hop in the process. Featuring the all-time hip-hop classics “Just to Get a Rep,” “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?”, “Check the Technique” and “Step In The Arena.”

“Their partnership was curious – with DJ Premier in New York and Guru in Houston, their debut was made exchanging tapes by post – but their second album made them icons. Premier’s superlative production brought jazz firmly into the hip-hop sample lexicon, while Guru’s languid flow and persuasive take on black nationalism helped bring rap’s burgeoning political consciousness to curious outsiders as well as seriously impressing credibility-obsessed devotees.” – Angus Batey, The Guardian / #26 on The 50 Key Events in the History of Hip-Hop Series