Peter Rosenberg on HOT 97 breaks down the GURU situation basically says the same shit I made clear in my original post.
Listen and tell us what you think.
DOWNLOAD: Rosenberg on GURU
NORE freestyle he did with Imam T.H.U.G. over Gang Starr’s “Mass Appeal”, in memory of Guru.
The War Report 2 in stores 6/29.
NORE freestyle he did with Imam T.H.U.G. over Gang Starr’s “Mass Appeal”, in memory of Guru.
The War Report 2 in stores 6/29.
DJ Premier is a class dude.
IT WAS A SAD DAY FOR ME TO GET CONFIRMATION ON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO I WILL CONTINUE TO CALL MY BROTHER, KEITH ELAM, BETTER KNOWN AS GURU OF THE LEGENDARY GANG STARR.
FROM 1988-2004, WE EXPERIENCED SO MUCH SUCCESS TOGETHER THAT WE WERE ABLE TO EXPAND OUR BUSINESSES INDEPENDENTLY AND GIVE EACH OTHER WHAT GURU CALLED “CREATIVE SPACE”, BEFORE PLANNING TO REUNITE FOR OUR 7TH LP WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT. TRAGICALLY, WE WILL NEVER REACH THAT DAY.
I’VE BEEN ASKED TO COMMENT ON A LETTER SPEAKING ILL OF ME WHICH WAS SUPPOSEDLY WRITTEN BY GURU IN HIS DYING DAYS. ALL I WILL SAY ABOUT IT IS THAT OUR TIME TOGETHER WAS BEAUTIFUL, WE BUILT A HIP HOP LEGACY TOGETHER, AND NO ONE CAN RE-WRITE HISTORY OR TAKE AWAY MY LOVE FOR HIM. ONE THING I WOULD NEVER DO IS PLAY AROUND WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS LIFE.
I WILL CELEBRATE GURU’S LIFE… I WILL HONOR HIS MEMORY… I WILL GRIEVE WITH THE ELAM FAMILY OVER HIS UNTIMELY DEATH… I WILL REMEMBER THE GANG STARR FOUNDATION AND ALL OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF GANG STARR WHO CAME BEFORE ME – WE ALL KNOW EACH OTHER… MOSTLY, I WILL CHERISH EVERYTHING WE CREATED TOGETHER AS GANG STARR, FOREVER. I’M GONNA MISS HEARING HIS SIGNATURE MONOTONE VOICE WHEN HE WALKS IN THE ROOM, BUT THE SONGS WILL ALWAYS BRING IT BACK TO ME….HIS RHYME FLOWS WERE INSANE, AND I WILL NEVER REMOVE HIM FROM MY HEART AND SOUL…….REST IN PEACE TO THE MAN WHO FELT “SATISFACTION FROM THE STREET CROWD REACTION” … I LOVE YOU GOO…….DJ PREMIER
DJ Premier is a class dude.
IT WAS A SAD DAY FOR ME TO GET CONFIRMATION ON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO I WILL CONTINUE TO CALL MY BROTHER, KEITH ELAM, BETTER KNOWN AS GURU OF THE LEGENDARY GANG STARR.
FROM 1988-2004, WE EXPERIENCED SO MUCH SUCCESS TOGETHER THAT WE WERE ABLE TO EXPAND OUR BUSINESSES INDEPENDENTLY AND GIVE EACH OTHER WHAT GURU CALLED “CREATIVE SPACE”, BEFORE PLANNING TO REUNITE FOR OUR 7TH LP WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT. TRAGICALLY, WE WILL NEVER REACH THAT DAY.
I’VE BEEN ASKED TO COMMENT ON A LETTER SPEAKING ILL OF ME WHICH WAS SUPPOSEDLY WRITTEN BY GURU IN HIS DYING DAYS. ALL I WILL SAY ABOUT IT IS THAT OUR TIME TOGETHER WAS BEAUTIFUL, WE BUILT A HIP HOP LEGACY TOGETHER, AND NO ONE CAN RE-WRITE HISTORY OR TAKE AWAY MY LOVE FOR HIM. ONE THING I WOULD NEVER DO IS PLAY AROUND WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS LIFE.
I WILL CELEBRATE GURU’S LIFE… I WILL HONOR HIS MEMORY… I WILL GRIEVE WITH THE ELAM FAMILY OVER HIS UNTIMELY DEATH… I WILL REMEMBER THE GANG STARR FOUNDATION AND ALL OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF GANG STARR WHO CAME BEFORE ME – WE ALL KNOW EACH OTHER… MOSTLY, I WILL CHERISH EVERYTHING WE CREATED TOGETHER AS GANG STARR, FOREVER. I’M GONNA MISS HEARING HIS SIGNATURE MONOTONE VOICE WHEN HE WALKS IN THE ROOM, BUT THE SONGS WILL ALWAYS BRING IT BACK TO ME….HIS RHYME FLOWS WERE INSANE, AND I WILL NEVER REMOVE HIM FROM MY HEART AND SOUL…….REST IN PEACE TO THE MAN WHO FELT “SATISFACTION FROM THE STREET CROWD REACTION” … I LOVE YOU GOO…….DJ PREMIER
via AHH
Rapper Bumpy Knuckles has lashed out at MC Solar, claiming he is releasing bad information to the public on behalf of the late Guru of Gangstarr, who died from cancer on Monday (April 19th) at the age of 43.
Bumpy recorded with Guru and DJ Premier in particular on a number of records, including the classic track “The Militia,” from Gangstarr’s 1998 classic, Moment of Truth.
Bumpy compared Solar to Yolanda Saldívar, the woman who stalked Tejano singer Selena.
Saldivar, who was the president of Selena’s fan club, eventually shot and killed the 23-year-old singer.
“It is like that lil fat lady that was obsessed with selena(rip) he stalkd my boy and held something over his head. IT WILL COME OUT!” Bumpy Knuckles Tweeted today (April 21st).
Bumpy, who is known for his no-holds barred style of rhyming, labeled Solar a “sick f***in weirdo” and implied there might be a financial motive to blame for the controversy surrounding Guru’s statements, which were allegedly made prior to his death.
“ONCE YOU GET THE LIFE INSURANCE MONEY YOU WILL PROBABLY MOVE OUTTA THE USA!! UK JAPAN CHINA & EVERYWHERE ELSE,” Bumpy continued.
The rapper also called upon Solar to stop releasing statements and release the details of the autopsy conducted on the famous rapper.
“IF IM WRONG PROVE ME WRONG! GURU HAS A FAMILY THAT DIDNT BEAT HIM UP & PHYSICALLY ABUSE HIM YOU BITCHMADE WHORE!”
Guru’s family released a statement today claiming that Guru had been comatose since suffering a heart attack in February, casting doubts on a series of statements allegedly made by the rapper prior to his death.
“Guru was in a coma from mid February until his death and never regained consciousness,” the rapper’s family said in a statement today. “Early on the morning of April 19th, he became hypertensive due to low blood pressure. He again went into cardiac arrest and slipped away from us. Guru died far too young but he was, and we are, proud of all his many legendary musical contributions.”
via AHH
Rapper Bumpy Knuckles has lashed out at MC Solar, claiming he is releasing bad information to the public on behalf of the late Guru of Gangstarr, who died from cancer on Monday (April 19th) at the age of 43.
Bumpy recorded with Guru and DJ Premier in particular on a number of records, including the classic track “The Militia,” from Gangstarr’s 1998 classic, Moment of Truth.
Bumpy compared Solar to Yolanda Saldívar, the woman who stalked Tejano singer Selena.
Saldivar, who was the president of Selena’s fan club, eventually shot and killed the 23-year-old singer.
“It is like that lil fat lady that was obsessed with selena(rip) he stalkd my boy and held something over his head. IT WILL COME OUT!” Bumpy Knuckles Tweeted today (April 21st).
Bumpy, who is known for his no-holds barred style of rhyming, labeled Solar a “sick f***in weirdo” and implied there might be a financial motive to blame for the controversy surrounding Guru’s statements, which were allegedly made prior to his death.
“ONCE YOU GET THE LIFE INSURANCE MONEY YOU WILL PROBABLY MOVE OUTTA THE USA!! UK JAPAN CHINA & EVERYWHERE ELSE,” Bumpy continued.
The rapper also called upon Solar to stop releasing statements and release the details of the autopsy conducted on the famous rapper.
“IF IM WRONG PROVE ME WRONG! GURU HAS A FAMILY THAT DIDNT BEAT HIM UP & PHYSICALLY ABUSE HIM YOU BITCHMADE WHORE!”
Guru’s family released a statement today claiming that Guru had been comatose since suffering a heart attack in February, casting doubts on a series of statements allegedly made by the rapper prior to his death.
“Guru was in a coma from mid February until his death and never regained consciousness,” the rapper’s family said in a statement today. “Early on the morning of April 19th, he became hypertensive due to low blood pressure. He again went into cardiac arrest and slipped away from us. Guru died far too young but he was, and we are, proud of all his many legendary musical contributions.”
Sarah Rodman files this obituary of the rapper Guru:
Keith Elam, the Gang Starr rapper known as Guru, died Monday after a yearlong battle with cancer. The MC, who grew up in Roxbury before he headed to New York to make his name in the music business, was 43.
Elam, who attended Noble & Greenough School and Cohasset High School before enrolling at Morehouse College in Atlanta, first found success when he teamed up with Christopher Martin, known as DJ Premier. As Gang Starr, the pair released six albums between 1989 and 2003 that were both critical and commercial successes.
“Step in the Arena” (1991) is considered a highwater mark in the genre, as it combined Guru’s brash rhymes — filled with braggadocio, humor, and social critiques — and the inventive, often jazz-laced tracks provided by Premier. Gang Starr’s fifth album, “Moment of Truth,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard R&B/hip-hop album charts. The duo, considered a pioneer in the creation of the hip-hop/jazz hybrid, scored several Top 10 hits on the Billboard rap singles chart, including “Just to Get a Rep,” “You Know My Steez,” and “Take It Personal.”
As a solo artist, Guru released “Lost and Found” in 2009 as well as a quartet of critically acclaimed “Jazzmatazz” albums from 1993 to 2007. Those albums, each with a different musical slant and subtitle, found the artist working with a wide variety of artists including jazz greats like Branford Marsalis and Roy Ayers, R&B stars like Erykah Badu and Macy Gray, and fellow hip-hop artists like Common and the Roots.
Marsalis, whose work appeared on two of the “Jazzmatazz” releases, remembered Elam today as a “very creative guy” and if not the most technically gifted rapper, a unique one whose style worked perfectly in the idiosyncratic Gang Starr framework.
“The group itself had a sound, and you really couldn’t imagine any other rapper” but Elam rhyming on top, Marsalis said. “It’s like Keith Richards. Nobody is going to remember him as the world’s greatest guitar player, but when you needed an iconic lick for you song, he’s your guy. That’s what Guru did; his sound really set it off.”
Brian Coleman, a Boston-based author of the hip-hop compendium “Check the Technique,” said he considers Gang Starr to be in the top tier of rap groups, even though the duo didn’t attain the multiplatinum status of some who followed its lead.
“In a weird way he was a brag rapper with humility,” Coleman said. “The way that Guru rhymed, it was never on a pedestal. They just had that kind of an impact where anyone who ever heard them could never really think about approaching a song the same way after that, and that’s the sign of a truly legendary, ground-breaking group.”
Members of the hip-hop community offered condolences today via the social network Twitter as the news of Elam’s death spread. “Guru was a sweet inspiring uplifting person,” tweeted hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, co-founder of hip-hop label Def Jam. Rapper-producer P. Diddy tweeted: “Hip-Hop lost an icon today-but u’ll always be w/ us b/c Legends live on 4ever.” Guru’s friend and recent “Jazzmatazz” producing partner Solar released a statement saying “the world has lost a great man and a true genius.”
According to Solar, Elam wrote a letter while in the hospital thanking his fans and spreading the word about the children’s charity Each One Counts. It read, in part: “I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting.”
The letter, which was posted on a fan website devoted to and sanctioned by DJ Premier, found Elam distancing himself from Premier, with whom he reportedly had a falling out. The statement went on to praise Solar and the music they made together: “I hope that our music will receive the attention it deserves as it is some of the best work I have done and represents some of the best years of my life.”
Elam’s parents — Harry, a retired lawyer and judge, and Barbara, who was a director of the library system in Boston school — live on Cape Cod. Attempts to reach them were unsuccessful.
Sarah Rodman files this obituary of the rapper Guru:
Keith Elam, the Gang Starr rapper known as Guru, died Monday after a yearlong battle with cancer. The MC, who grew up in Roxbury before he headed to New York to make his name in the music business, was 43.
Elam, who attended Noble & Greenough School and Cohasset High School before enrolling at Morehouse College in Atlanta, first found success when he teamed up with Christopher Martin, known as DJ Premier. As Gang Starr, the pair released six albums between 1989 and 2003 that were both critical and commercial successes.
“Step in the Arena” (1991) is considered a highwater mark in the genre, as it combined Guru’s brash rhymes — filled with braggadocio, humor, and social critiques — and the inventive, often jazz-laced tracks provided by Premier. Gang Starr’s fifth album, “Moment of Truth,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard R&B/hip-hop album charts. The duo, considered a pioneer in the creation of the hip-hop/jazz hybrid, scored several Top 10 hits on the Billboard rap singles chart, including “Just to Get a Rep,” “You Know My Steez,” and “Take It Personal.”
As a solo artist, Guru released “Lost and Found” in 2009 as well as a quartet of critically acclaimed “Jazzmatazz” albums from 1993 to 2007. Those albums, each with a different musical slant and subtitle, found the artist working with a wide variety of artists including jazz greats like Branford Marsalis and Roy Ayers, R&B stars like Erykah Badu and Macy Gray, and fellow hip-hop artists like Common and the Roots.
Marsalis, whose work appeared on two of the “Jazzmatazz” releases, remembered Elam today as a “very creative guy” and if not the most technically gifted rapper, a unique one whose style worked perfectly in the idiosyncratic Gang Starr framework.
“The group itself had a sound, and you really couldn’t imagine any other rapper” but Elam rhyming on top, Marsalis said. “It’s like Keith Richards. Nobody is going to remember him as the world’s greatest guitar player, but when you needed an iconic lick for you song, he’s your guy. That’s what Guru did; his sound really set it off.”
Brian Coleman, a Boston-based author of the hip-hop compendium “Check the Technique,” said he considers Gang Starr to be in the top tier of rap groups, even though the duo didn’t attain the multiplatinum status of some who followed its lead.
“In a weird way he was a brag rapper with humility,” Coleman said. “The way that Guru rhymed, it was never on a pedestal. They just had that kind of an impact where anyone who ever heard them could never really think about approaching a song the same way after that, and that’s the sign of a truly legendary, ground-breaking group.”
Members of the hip-hop community offered condolences today via the social network Twitter as the news of Elam’s death spread. “Guru was a sweet inspiring uplifting person,” tweeted hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, co-founder of hip-hop label Def Jam. Rapper-producer P. Diddy tweeted: “Hip-Hop lost an icon today-but u’ll always be w/ us b/c Legends live on 4ever.” Guru’s friend and recent “Jazzmatazz” producing partner Solar released a statement saying “the world has lost a great man and a true genius.”
According to Solar, Elam wrote a letter while in the hospital thanking his fans and spreading the word about the children’s charity Each One Counts. It read, in part: “I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting.”
The letter, which was posted on a fan website devoted to and sanctioned by DJ Premier, found Elam distancing himself from Premier, with whom he reportedly had a falling out. The statement went on to praise Solar and the music they made together: “I hope that our music will receive the attention it deserves as it is some of the best work I have done and represents some of the best years of my life.”
Elam’s parents — Harry, a retired lawyer and judge, and Barbara, who was a director of the library system in Boston school — live on Cape Cod. Attempts to reach them were unsuccessful.
Elam’s sister Patricia Elam got this to DJ Premier and would like it distributed to all media outlets…..
PRESS RELEASE
The Elam family wishes to thank the fans of our son/brother/father uncle/nephew/cousin Keith aka GURU for the outpouring of love, concern and support.
Our hearts are broken by the loss of someone we loved so much. GURU was devoted to his young son, who will most keenly feel his absence.
GURU suffered from multiple myeloma for over a year. Accrued complications from this illness led to respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. As a result, GURU was in a coma from mid February until his death and never regained consciousness. Early on the morning of April 19th, he became hypertensive due to low blood pressure. He again went into cardiac arrest and slipped away from us.
GURU died far too young but he was, and we are, proud of all his many legendary musical contributions.
The family is not aware of any foundations established by GURU. We know and understand that countless fans want to express their condolences and love and, to that end, we are planning a memorial event in the near future that will be all-inclusive. Please look for further details from the family as they become available.
from The Elam Family
via Boston Globe