Elam family only learned of Guru's passing through the media the day after the fact, according to Patricia Elam, the older sister.
Patricia Elam, the older sister of late Gang Starr MC Keith "Guru" Elam, said her family learned about his death through the media ? one day after he died.
Elam alleges that Solar, Guru's medical proxy, longtime business partner and musical collaborator, never told the Elams of Guru's death.
"[My son] Justin found out on the Internet and called me. I had to call my dad," Patricia told MTV News Tuesday (April 27) via phone. "[Keith's 9-year-old son] KC found out riding in the car, hearing it on the radio. That's not right if you care about someone. That's not how you treat them. My brother would never have wanted us to find out that way. Never in a million years. Especially his son. Come on, now."
Solar told MTV News last week that he has "nothing but the utmost respect" for Guru's family, but acknowledged that the relationship "got weird in the end."
Patricia said that learning of her sibling's death was only part of their nightmare. When the family inquired with the hospital as to the whereabouts of Elam's body, they were told it was on its way to a funeral home to be cremated.
"The hospital released the body in [Solar's] care. I don't know how it was determined what funeral home it would go to," Patricia explained. "My son Justin was looking online and saw something that the body was going to be cremated. My father was calling the hospital looking for the body and they were like, 'We released it to the health-care proxy.' Luckily my other brother happened to be in New York on something unrelated and he started calling funeral homes in the area, if you can imagine. Fortunately the third one he called was the right one. He said, 'Listen, I'm the brother of Keith Elam, do not release that body to anyone but me.' Thankfully he was able to get there in time."
Ms. Elam says that eventually the family did cremate Guru's body, as it was his wish.
"The cremation has already occurred," she explained. "For our family, we'll have our own private memorial."
Patricia also revealed that the Elams do understand that Guru's fans would like to celebrate his life and legacy as well, and that a public memorial for his fans is being discussed that would take place on what would have been the MC's 49th birthday, July 17.
"I don't have any more specifics at this point in time," she said. "There's also talk of a musical tribute; I don't have the specifics on that yet. We want something for the public and for fans. We're also working on a website so fans can post things. We've gotten so many wonderful, loving messages and tributes from around the world. We want fans to have a place for that."
dude needs to take that gang starr logo off his twitter page. he's got no right to be flying that there.
What's messed up to me (and I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere) is that he's also posting these comments defending himself on GURU's twitter account.
This whole Fuck Solar/Kill Solar/Bumpy Knuckles should do this or that to Solar/i bet Solar gets popped bullshit is very weird and even more disturbing.
whatevr...i feel the same way about men abusing and ruining the lives of women. FUCK THEM. wishing murder on someone isa little far fetched and extreme, but its more of a sentiment that he really get whats coming to him. and i would whole heartedly endorse him getting thrown off a stage or punched in the face in a public setting.
This whole Fuck Solar/Kill Solar/Bumpy Knuckles should do this or that to Solar/i bet Solar gets popped bullshit is very weird and even more disturbing.
whatevr...i feel the same way about men abusing and ruining the lives of women. FUCK THEM. wishing murder on someone isa little far fetched and extreme, but its more of a sentiment that he really get whats coming to him. and i would whole heartedly endorse him getting thrown off a stage or punched in the face in a public setting.
I'm sayin'. There are better ways to handle most things than resorting to violence, but some people really just deserve to be punched in the face repeatedly.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
This whole Fuck Solar/Kill Solar/Bumpy Knuckles should do this or that to Solar/i bet Solar gets popped bullshit is very weird and even more disturbing.
Yes, thank you, been really starting to disturb me the last few days. Some bad looks from people you'd expect to know better.
It's coming from a bunch of dudes though, so it's mostly a benign fantasy for them. Pushovers are always dreaming of revenge that they'll never personally achieve themselves. That's why I suggested that they just send their lil tantrum of an email to Solar and just leave it at that.
This whole Fuck Solar/Kill Solar/Bumpy Knuckles should do this or that to Solar/i bet Solar gets popped bullshit is very weird and even more disturbing.
Yes, thank you, been really starting to disturb me the last few days. Some bad looks from people you'd expect to know better.
One thing that confuses me is how a hospital could legally allow Solar to oversee his medical care. One of the biggest reasons people advocate same-sex marriage is the right it would give them to care for the loved ones in times of need. Obviously that didn't seem to be the case with Guru and Solar, but wouldn't a hospital be legally bound to contact Guru's immediate family if he himself was unable to do so?
Man Fuck Solar straight up and down. And yes, I do hope something bad happens to him. I normally don't wish harm on people, but this dude deserves whatever he gets. And let's be serious, nobody is truly wishing for his death. This is venting after reading that interview and watching everything go down. This whole situation has made a lot of people sad and angry.
This whole Fuck Solar/Kill Solar/Bumpy Knuckles should do this or that to Solar/i bet Solar gets popped bullshit is very weird and even more disturbing.
Yes, thank you, been really starting to disturb me the last few days. Some bad looks from people you'd expect to know better.
It's coming from a bunch of dudes though, so it's mostly a benign fantasy for them. Pushovers are always dreaming of revenge that they'll never personally achieve themselves. That's why I suggested that they just send their lil tantrum of an email to Solar and just leave it at that.
fall the fuck back
dude's a douche and deserves some of the shit that he dealt out to come right back at him. just like all the karma from your big mouth always comes back to you
This whole Fuck Solar/Kill Solar/Bumpy Knuckles should do this or that to Solar/i bet Solar gets popped bullshit is very weird and even more disturbing.
Yes, thank you, been really starting to disturb me the last few days. Some bad looks from people you'd expect to know better.
Super creepy. And likely racist.[/b]
These are people, not action figures.
awesome. lets see what else you can pull out your ass today
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
This whole Fuck Solar/Kill Solar/Bumpy Knuckles should do this or that to Solar/i bet Solar gets popped bullshit is very weird and even more disturbing.
Yes, thank you, been really starting to disturb me the last few days. Some bad looks from people you'd expect to know better.
It's coming from a bunch of dudes though, so it's mostly a benign fantasy for them. Pushovers are always dreaming of revenge that they'll never personally achieve themselves. That's why I suggested that they just send their lil tantrum of an email to Solar and just leave it at that.
fall the fuck back
dude's a douche and deserves some of the shit that he dealt out to come right back at him. just like all the karma from your big mouth always comes back to you
Man Fuck Solar straight up and down. And yes, I do hope something bad happens to him. I normally don't wish harm on people, but this dude deserves whatever he gets. And let's be serious, nobody is truly wishing for his death. This is venting after reading that interview and watching everything go down. This whole situation has made a lot of people sad and angry.
I don't care about what happens to Solar. He seems like a real foul dude based on the available evidence.
I am speaking on a bunch of white dudes sitting at their keyboards talking about this Black person should beat up that Black person.
I find the remarks more distasteful to the extent that they pertain to Freddie Foxx than I do to the extent that they pertain to Solar. Again: he's a real person, not an action figure.
What I would actually like to see would be for some hip-hop journalists to dig into this and uncover the story. It's a shame that there really aren't any.
What I would actually like to see would be for some hip-hop journalists to dig into this and uncover the story. It's a shame that there really aren't any.
Considering that we still don't know who killed: 2Pac Biggie JMJ
You follow my point.
It's not surprising that most of the footwork that had been done in the media on those cases tended to be by "conventional" investigative journalists (by which I mean, not "hip hop journalists") even if some of those stories were later withdrawn for being shoddy. There's simply never been a strong, sustained tradition of investigative work within hip-hop publications that would have produced the kind of dogged reporters you'd ideally want. That said, the difference with Guru is that there seems to be much more public info out there already. That would at least give people a better head-start. Unfortunately, there's just no real infrastructure within hip-hop publications that would provide the resources to pursue this story to the fullest extent. Maybe Kelefa Sanneh will take interest!
The difference with Guru is that nobody is really interested in protecting Solar or his interests.
In almost every other instance, you're running into a wall, be it friends, foes, drug ties, gang ties, police ties, people with something to hide... none of that seems to exist in this instance and so peoples' lips aren't sealed.
I mean, Busta Rhymes wouldn't even help solve the murder of his own body guard.
I hope Freddie Foxxx finds Solar. But I hope that when he does, he just holds him hostage for a while until a proper pay-per-view situation is arranged.
You know, to raise money for charity and all that.
classy. like i said...there goes your boomerang karma. had any more baby mama drama lately? if you did, i'm sure you posted it on soulstrut and i just missed it
There's simply never been a strong, sustained tradition of investigative work within hip-hop publications that would have produced the kind of dogged reporters you'd ideally want.
What I would actually like to see would be for some hip-hop journalists to dig into this and uncover the story. It's a shame that there really aren't any.
Major
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
I'm sure Guru is sitting up in heaven happy as pie that his so-called friends and fans are wishing death upon the dude he evidently loved most.
Seems to me like too many are acting like DJ Premier getting dissed is a bigger tragedy than Guru, you know, actually passing away at an all-too early age.
None of this background shit is really any of your business. Of course Solar is to blame for the outcry...but what part of RIP means adding fuel to all this bullshit like it's some damned afternoon soap opera?
Comments
Elam family only learned of Guru's passing through the media the day after the fact, according to Patricia Elam, the older sister.
What's messed up to me (and I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere) is that he's also posting these comments defending himself on GURU's twitter account.
whatevr...i feel the same way about men abusing and ruining the lives of women. FUCK THEM. wishing murder on someone isa little far fetched and extreme, but its more of a sentiment that he really get whats coming to him. and i would whole heartedly endorse him getting thrown off a stage or punched in the face in a public setting.
I'm sayin'. There are better ways to handle most things than resorting to violence, but some people really just deserve to be punched in the face repeatedly.
haha....soft batch
It's coming from a bunch of
Super creepy. And likely racist.
These are people, not action figures.
yes, that is the most likely conclusion.
And let's be serious, nobody is truly wishing for his death. This is venting after reading that interview and watching everything go down. This whole situation has made a lot of people sad and angry.
fall the fuck back
dude's a douche and deserves some of the shit that he dealt out to come right back at him. just like all the karma from your big mouth always comes back to you
awesome. lets see what else you can pull out your ass today
Tell yo mama to get out from under my desk.
I don't care about what happens to Solar. He seems like a real foul dude based on the available evidence.
I am speaking on a bunch of white dudes sitting at their keyboards talking about this Black person should beat up that Black person.
I find the remarks more distasteful to the extent that they pertain to Freddie Foxx than I do to the extent that they pertain to Solar. Again: he's a real person, not an action figure.
What I would actually like to see would be for some hip-hop journalists to dig into this and uncover the story. It's a shame that there really aren't any.
So "white" doesn't get a capital letter, but "Black" does?
Considering that we still don't know who killed:
2Pac
Biggie
JMJ
You follow my point.
It's not surprising that most of the footwork that had been done in the media on those cases tended to be by "conventional" investigative journalists (by which I mean, not "hip hop journalists") even if some of those stories were later withdrawn for being shoddy. There's simply never been a strong, sustained tradition of investigative work within hip-hop publications that would have produced the kind of dogged reporters you'd ideally want. That said, the difference with Guru is that there seems to be much more public info out there already. That would at least give people a better head-start. Unfortunately, there's just no real infrastructure within hip-hop publications that would provide the resources to pursue this story to the fullest extent. Maybe Kelefa Sanneh will take interest!
To be fair, if anyone has characterized Bumpy Knuckles as an action figure, it's probably the guy who calls himself Bumpy Knuckles.
In almost every other instance, you're running into a wall, be it friends, foes, drug ties, gang ties, police ties, people with something to hide... none of that seems to exist in this instance and so peoples' lips aren't sealed.
I mean, Busta Rhymes wouldn't even help solve the murder of his own body guard.
I hope Freddie Foxxx finds Solar. But I hope that when he does, he just holds him hostage for a while until a proper pay-per-view situation is arranged.
You know, to raise money for charity and all that.
AND calling for people to do the same when they see him.
Or maybe he just meant his white followers.
Yeah, I know.
I find the dudes rubbing their hands together over the prospect to be distasteful, though.
classy. like i said...there goes your boomerang karma. had any more baby mama drama lately? if you did, i'm sure you posted it on soulstrut and i just missed it
I know. And it's a shame.
He's a man in grief.
None of that excuses the behavior of SoulStrut dudes.
Major
Seems to me like too many are acting like DJ Premier getting dissed is a bigger tragedy than Guru, you know, actually passing away at an all-too early age.
None of this background shit is really any of your business. Of course Solar is to blame for the outcry...but what part of RIP means adding fuel to all this bullshit like it's some damned afternoon soap opera?