Gang Starr have dropped the new video for “Bad Name,” with Guru’s son filling in for his late father alongside DJ Premier in the visual. The video is the second from Gang Starr’s stellar new album One of the Best Yet, the rap duo’s first LP in 16 years.
Like the video for “Family and Loyalty,” “Bad Name” pays homage to Gang Starr’s legacy and the late Guru; in the clip, Guru’s son Keith Casim — who cut his hair to better resemble his father — delivers the rapper’s verses, with archival footage of the duo sprinkled throughout.
“I initially wanted ‘Bad Name’ to be the first single that officially brought Gang Starr back,” DJ Premier said in a statement. “Since the inception of video music channels, I have always paid very close attention to the direction and production elements. I love coming up with concepts, and I already had a vision for ‘Bad Name.’ I wanted a fun video with Spice Adams and for Guru’s son to play his father in the video — and then never do that again. We ended up going with ‘Family and Loyalty’ with J. Cole as the first single and it worked out perfectly, as Keith was able to get more comfortable being in front of the camera and used to the process.”
Prior to One of the Best Yet, Gang Starr’s last album together was 2003’s The Ownerz, after which the duo had a falling out. Following Guru’s death in 2010, DJ Premier began combing through the trove of unreleased material his former partner left behind.
“He was always known to record all the time. So that’s what made me start going, ‘Man I know there’s got to be a lot of unreleased stuff that exists,’” DJ Premier told Rolling Stone. “I’ve always — just as a fan myself — have wanted another Gang Starr album to exist just because I know our process and what we had as far as the unreleased material. But it’s also mainly for his son, who he loved a lot.”
