A coworker and friend of mine told me a story this morning II think some of you will get a kick and a bit of inspiration out of: He was in his mid teens when Guru lived in Boston and used to run into him a lot. Guru was known as a rapper around town, but Boston didn't really have a big rap scene at the time, relatively speaking. One day they were both at the Dudley Square station on the subway and they were chopping it up, and Guru said "I'm gonna do it. man. I'm gonna move to New York and I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna make it happen." Shortly thereafter he moved to New York and the rest is history. Not exactly Faulkner, but a good reminder that he was indeed a real guy who worked hard to become what he wanted to become.
That's what's up. Greg nice told me when he came to town they used to battle alot in the bonx because they were the younger generation trying to come up and get a rep. Real dude rappers.
Guru brought authority like no other.
I still can't Believe he passed. Gang Starr is pobably one of the most important groups in hip hop history. Period.
Bobbi Humphrey R.I.P. MY DEAR FRIEND, GURU. ICONIC LYRICIST- EMCEE. YOU ROCKED THE MIC SO NICE. YOU AND D.J. PREMIERE WERE THE TRUTH WITH YOUR JAZZ AND HIP-HIP. YOU TOOK THE MUSIC, THE WORDS A STEP HIGHER! COUNT IT OFF IN HEAVEN! LOVING YOU, MISSING YOU, AND HONORED TO HAVE RECORDED WITH YOU. FOREVER, BOBBI
Rest In Power. Gang Starr was one of my greatest influences as a "digger"/collector/record fiend. They defined hip-hop for a generation.
Yeah, come to think about it, Arks and I had been talking about this in the past week before this untimely news, but we met and became mates when we were both hunting down the samples from Moment of Truth... I think honestly, that album made the hunt down a lot of stuff that stuck with me and furthered my amateur knowledge at the time.
i think most of us really got into hiphop and digging from a ganstarr tape..they set the standard
agreed. and for the lot of us that grew up and matured(literally) with Gang Starr on rotation, they really pushed the 'musical' aspect of hip-hop. Before I even got into digging as a young teen, I recall being amazed by the production on Daily Operation and knowing (before even really knowing) that the bass line on "I'm The Man" came from a dope song that i wanted to get a hold of.
And cosign Noz with the 'wise uncle' comment. At 13yrs old hearing "Ex to the Next" seemed like I was getting educated ahead of my time and experience.
He'll be missed by all, but is rest assured to have his legacy permanently cemented in all of us who really became better hip-hop (and music) fans as a result of his work.
I can't begin to express the impact growing up listening to Gang Starr had on my mind, body & soul, and certainly can't begin express it as well as a few of you on here already have. All I can say is that Gang Starr was the best duo to ever do it. Thank you for the music, knowledge, wisdom & understanding, Keith. You will be missed.
there was a time when your whole set was all premier beats practically... they all mixed so well together. listening to guru and gang starr over the past 24 hours incredibly fond memories of that era came flooding back.
A clay Lionel Richie head that was discussed at some length around the same time as our geoduck obsession. Original link here: http://www.macalester.edu/~fines/lionel/
There?s been some question in the internet era about Guru?s capabilities as a rapper. They should be dismissed. His is the greatest case against the modern, dogmatic definition of lyrical lyricism. Because Guru?s strength lied not in hot punchlines or clever multi-syllable rhymes but purely in his ability to instill wisdom. Maybe that particular brand of wisdom has aged poorly or maybe it?s just that the whole positive (and never negative) aspects of his raps don?t hold up under the cynicism of today?s new jacks, but to grow up listening to Gang Starr was to be schooled. Having a Gang Starr tape was like having a wise uncle. And yet Guru was never soft. NWA presented the idea of street knowledge only to quickly tip the scales too far to the streets. Many of Gang Starr?s successors only ever focused on one side of the coin. Guru was balance. And he will be missed.
I keep reading this over and over. Absolutely bulletproof. I hope people appreciate what they're getting with shit like this.
"Guru was balance" is exactly right. Exactly. Rest in peace.
That's beautiful stuff, faux. I'm always happy to hear it from you.
Another thing that I haven?t heard anybody touch on was Guru?s personal style. In an era when I devoured all of the information available to me about rappers?when I read every microscopic word of the shoutouts/publishing credits/liner notes in the CD/cassette booklet, when I read even the ads in the Source?I was definitely checking for how rappers were dressing. Guru had a really smooth refined style. Maybe because he was a little older, he didn?t seem to be caught up in trends. Maybe it resonated with me because it seemed like his look was a good way for a white kid to cop some hip-hop style without looking like a clown.
I'm really glad to see someone touch on this. I got that same vibe from both his personal style and his overall approach. I've previously good-naturedly clowned his line from "Mass Appeal" about "like baggy slacks, I'm crazy hip-hop," but I actually have an oddly deep affection for that line. It's delivered with Guru's typically unassailable authority, but at the same time, it's kinda square, you know? Like, who uses the word "slacks" in a rap? Maybe he did it for the internal rhyme, but I don't know--he was always using all these archaic turns of phrase and slightly outdated slang, and for whatever reason that one line has always just struck me as this small, perfect crystallization of how little he seemed to be, as you say, caught up in trends. He always seemed slightly older, not trying to keep up with the kids; he just talked how he talked, dressed how he dressed, kept it crisp, and kept it moving. I mean, one could learn a lot just from the way dude profiles in the group shot inside Hard To Earn. There were points at which his style of dress and style of rap may have seemed to have had a faint whiff of stodginess, to be a little out of time, but looking back, almost everything about that dude has aged incredibly well.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
Yeah, I remember when Moment Of Truth dropped, a lot of people were clowning The Mall and calling it cheesy, but Guru was dropping names like Sonia Rykiel and Issey Miyake, and talking about rocking "silk suits by Paul Smith", as opposed to the Fifth Ave super-expensive luxury brands Puffy and them were bigging up, so even then he was apart from the crowd. Matter of fact, ever since that album came out, if I'm in the menswear section of a department store and they happen to have a Kenneth Cole franchise in there, I always think of that song. I expect I always will now. But yeah, no doubt Guru was a stylish dude.
Moment of Truth is one of my favorite hip-hop records of all time.
Rest in Peace to a true legend.
one of the rap albums i have memorised front to back. i remember being a teenager going to pow-wows in Oklahoma. i listened to nothing but moment of truth during that time period.
Yeah, I remember when Moment Of Truth dropped, a lot of people were clowning The Mall and calling it cheesy, but Guru was dropping names like Sonia Rykiel and Issey Miyake, and talking about rocking "silk suits by Paul Smith", as opposed to the Fifth Ave super-expensive luxury brands Puffy and them were bigging up, so even then he was apart from the crowd. Matter of fact, ever since that album came out, if I'm in the menswear section of a department store and they happen to have a Kenneth Cole franchise in there, I always think of that song. I expect I always will now. But yeah, no doubt Guru was a stylish dude.
You gotta remember that Guru was attending the Fashion Institute of Technology when he dropped out to pursue hip-hop and came from a civically prominent family of Black intellectuals; his dad was a judge and his older brother was a drama professor.
I was talking to a friend who used to work at Gang Starr's management company and they were talking about how Guru always had a better sense of style than Premier; apparently, this was a source of amusement around the offices.
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
There?s been some question in the internet era about Guru?s capabilities as a rapper. They should be dismissed. His is the greatest case against the modern, dogmatic definition of lyrical lyricism. Because Guru?s strength lied not in hot punchlines or clever multi-syllable rhymes but purely in his ability to instill wisdom. Maybe that particular brand of wisdom has aged poorly or maybe it?s just that the whole positive (and never negative) aspects of his raps don?t hold up under the cynicism of today?s new jacks, but to grow up listening to Gang Starr was to be schooled. Having a Gang Starr tape was like having a wise uncle. And yet Guru was never soft. NWA presented the idea of street knowledge only to quickly tip the scales too far to the streets. Many of Gang Starr?s successors only ever focused on one side of the coin. Guru was balance. And he will be missed.
I keep reading this over and over. Absolutely bulletproof. I hope people appreciate what they're getting with shit like this.
"Guru was balance" is exactly right. Exactly. Rest in peace.
One thing that always stood out for me w/ Guru was that he was always balanced. Never Too preachy and always kept some street shit to balance the knowledge.
There are many great songs that could REP Gangstarr, but Who's Gonna Take The Weight is a real clear example of both dudes skill. Along w/ the "balanced" steez Guru had.
I wish it wasn't timely for this reason, but I made a mix of Gang Starr favorites a few months ago. Enjoy.
You can stream it here, download it as a single file here or broken into individual tracks here.
1. Intro 2. You Know My Steez 3. Just to Get a Rep 4. Mass Appeal 5. Step in the Arena 6. Now You're Mine 7. The Militia feat. Freddie Foxxx 8. B.Y.S. 9. Take It Personal 10. The ? Remainz 11. Full Clip 12. DWYCK feat. Nice & Smooth 13. Who's Gonna Take the Weight? 14. Jazz Thing 15. Soliloquy of Chaos 16. Check the Technique 17. Credit Is Due 18. Speak Ya Clout feat. Jeru the Damaja & Lil Dap 19. It'z a Setup feat. Hannibal 20. Words I Manifest (Remix) 21. 2 Deep 22. The Place Where We Dwell 23. Suckas Need Bodyguards 24. Flip the Script 25. What You Want This Time? 26. Love Sick 27. Ex Girl to Next Girl 28. The Planet 29. Make 'em Pay 30. Execution of a Chump 31. DJ Premier Is In Deep Concentration 32. Take Two & Pass 33. Gotta Get Over (Taking Loot) 34. Rite Where You Stand feat. Jadakiss 35. I'm the Man feat. Lil Dap & Jeru the Damaja 36. Code of the Streets 37. Tonz 'o' Gunz 38. Next Time
For people who like touching things, I also have a handful of hard copies.
Matthew,
I just wanted to say that this mix has really held me down today. Thanks again.
Comments
Guru brought authority like no other.
I still can't Believe he passed. Gang Starr is pobably one of the most important groups in hip hop history. Period.
Yeah, come to think about it, Arks and I had been talking about this in the past week before this untimely news, but we met and became mates when we were both hunting down the samples from Moment of Truth... I think honestly, that album made the hunt down a lot of stuff that stuck with me and furthered my amateur knowledge at the time.
REST IN PEACE.
Rest in Peace to a true legend.
i think most of us really got into hiphop and digging from a ganstarr tape..they set the standard
That was a great read--I kept nodding in agreement like...well, like I was listening to a Gang Starr album.
agreed. and for the lot of us that grew up and matured(literally) with Gang Starr on rotation, they really pushed the 'musical' aspect of hip-hop. Before I even got into digging as a young teen, I recall being amazed by the production on Daily Operation and knowing (before even really knowing) that the bass line on "I'm The Man" came from a dope song that i wanted to get a hold of.
And cosign Noz with the 'wise uncle' comment. At 13yrs old hearing "Ex to the Next" seemed like I was getting educated ahead of my time and experience.
He'll be missed by all, but is rest assured to have his legacy permanently cemented in all of us who really became better hip-hop (and music) fans as a result of his work.
RIP GURU
no it's Hi-C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfcf_MC63mY
A clay Lionel Richie head that was discussed at some length around the same time as our geoduck obsession. Original link here: http://www.macalester.edu/~fines/lionel/
"Guru was balance" is exactly right. Exactly. Rest in peace.
I'm really glad to see someone touch on this. I got that same vibe from both his personal style and his overall approach. I've previously good-naturedly clowned his line from "Mass Appeal" about "like baggy slacks, I'm crazy hip-hop," but I actually have an oddly deep affection for that line. It's delivered with Guru's typically unassailable authority, but at the same time, it's kinda square, you know? Like, who uses the word "slacks" in a rap? Maybe he did it for the internal rhyme, but I don't know--he was always using all these archaic turns of phrase and slightly outdated slang, and for whatever reason that one line has always just struck me as this small, perfect crystallization of how little he seemed to be, as you say, caught up in trends. He always seemed slightly older, not trying to keep up with the kids; he just talked how he talked, dressed how he dressed, kept it crisp, and kept it moving. I mean, one could learn a lot just from the way dude profiles in the group shot inside Hard To Earn. There were points at which his style of dress and style of rap may have seemed to have had a faint whiff of stodginess, to be a little out of time, but looking back, almost everything about that dude has aged incredibly well.
one of the rap albums i have memorised front to back. i remember being a teenager going to pow-wows in Oklahoma. i listened to nothing but moment of truth during that time period.
You gotta remember that Guru was attending the Fashion Institute of Technology when he dropped out to pursue hip-hop and came from a civically prominent family of Black intellectuals; his dad was a judge and his older brother was a drama professor.
I was talking to a friend who used to work at Gang Starr's management company and they were talking about how Guru always had a better sense of style than Premier; apparently, this was a source of amusement around the offices.
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
http://livefromheadqcourterz.wordpress.c...eith-elam-guru/
Not quite what you asked for but close: http://soul-sides.com/2010/04/interviewing-guru-in-2003.html
Matthew,
I just wanted to say that this mix has really held me down today. Thanks again.
I wonder if Guru knew he'd had such a profound effect on people.