RIP GURU AKA KEITH ELAM

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  • keithvanhornkeithvanhorn 3,855 Posts
    Unbelievable. RIP to one of the all time greats. That "letter" is a fucking disgrace, I hope Solar gets what he deserves for doing that instead of respecting his "best friend" and his legacy.


    He wrote the letter while in a coma? I don't know anything about the relationship between Guru/Solar/Premier but even if there is some explanation as to how/when this letter was written, it just screams .

    Also, I read about his death on the daily beast, a political website, and half of the story was just portions of this letter. I can't imagine this is how Guru would have wanted this to be.

  • RIP. Hopefully we'll have forgotten about the Solar thing a year from now. Gang Starr lives forever.

  • djdazedjdaze 3,099 Posts
    Leaving the bodega he says suave...

    RIP

  • El PrezEl Prez NE Ohio 1,141 Posts
    peace

  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    Cee went in really hard, not just with his mixing but his real rap too.

    Hell yeah he did. He kept it classy too, touching on the Solar thing, but never mentioning dudes name, and NEVER getting gossipy or disrespectful.

    Obviously the set was murderous too, glad to have caught that all today..

  • djkingottodjkingotto 1,704 Posts
    i still remember hearing "knowledge" on the radio and seeing the "manifest" video and bugging out.

    i remember bumping "no more mister nice guy" while cruising vancouver bc for the first time.

    i used to bump "step in the arena" so loud that "check the technique always blew a fuse in my amp.

    when daily operation came out, i was at tower records on the ave at 9am to buy 1 cassette and 2 on vinyl. i did this for every gangstarr album that followed. when i first started smoking trees i was at a party in the woods and i smoked and listened to daily operation front to back and noticed lots of things i never heard in it before. i always killed an entire bag of cheddar ruffle potato chips.

    hard to earn was my favorite as far as beats and sound quality.

    moment of truth was the truth.

    ownerz was cool.

    rest in peace to one half of the greatest mc/dj team EVER. daily operation is about to be on the turntable.

  • spexxxspexxx 37 Posts
    RIP

    I still remember going to buy "Step In The Arena" on tape and none of my friends knowing what the hell it was.Stayed in the walkman for months!!!

    True Legend.

  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    Unbelievable. RIP to one of the all time greats. That "letter" is a fucking disgrace, I hope Solar gets what he deserves for doing that instead of respecting his "best friend" and his legacy.


    He wrote the letter while in a coma? I don't know anything about the relationship between Guru/Solar/Premier but even if there is some explanation as to how/when this letter was written, it just screams .

    Guru was in a medically induced coma. I'm not standing up for this bitch (Solar), but it's not impossible that Guru "dictated" the letter.
    RIP to GURU, I tip today's lemonade to thee!

  • R.I.P. Guru.

    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.

  • minneapminneap 541 Posts
    Damn, this one hurts. Lemonade and Moment of Truth all day today.

    R.I.P.

  • RIP. Hopefully we'll have forgotten about the Solar thing a year from now. Gang Starr lives forever.

  • spivyspivy 866 Posts
    daily operation and hard to earn were both so unbelievably important to me as a young buck. met primo and guru in 1999 when they were promoting the full clip: a decade of gangstarr shit. they were both nice guys and i was totally on some fanboy " you guys are the fucking greatest... blahblahblah. they just laughed it off and were super humble and thankful. its so sad to see how shit turned out.

    RIP guru!

  • Hard to believe he's dead....

    goddamn cancer.

    R.I.P. Guru


  • .

    Gutted.



    One of the best yet...

  • staxwaxstaxwax 1,474 Posts
    Here's a link to mister cee's tribute mix

    This shit has depressed the hell out of me today - but just seeing so many celebrating the man and his legacy everywhere today - it's a very real reminder and testament to Guru's impact. I will never forget the many hours bumping gangstarr with my bro and many friends - some of whom are gone and forgotten - times change - we all may have went our own way - but the music remains. I listen to those songs and im there again - from 89 on to 2010 - and beyond.

    Peace to Guru AND[/b] DJ Premier

  • barjesusbarjesus 872 Posts
    One of the few that could walk the tight rope of hardcore/conscious rap, and make it look easy.

    RIP Guru

  • Been bumping Gang Starr tracks all day. RIP.

  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    yo thanks for the mix mathew

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    Damn, RIP. I did live sound for Gang Starr here in Auckland back in 02 or 03 at the St James, I was a big fan so was pretty stoked to get the gig. They slayed it, played everything I wanted to hear & Guru & Premier were both really nice dudes.
    Very sad news.

  • SIRUSSIRUS 2,554 Posts
    Leaving the bodega he says suave...

    RIP

  • doisndoisn baleadas&pupuzas 303 Posts
    damn, so so sad...
    RIP GURU

  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts


    God is Universal, he is the Ruler Universal
    For those who can't follow that spells
    GURU when in my circle
    I see all sides of my culture
    Design my thoughts like a sculpture

    - GURU from Robin Hood Theory


  • leonleon 883 Posts
    Damn just saw this... shook hands with the man twice. He will stay in my memory always RIP.

  • RIP this one is real sad.

  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Hey,

    This is such sad news, as Guru and Gangstarr's music was a big part of my coming age and a strong influence on my own music. Guru has written and performed some of my favorite hip-hop songs ever, so this is a great loss to the hip-hop community. Rest in peace, Guru.





    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak

  • guru has said, in interviews after Gangstarr split, that he was never really friends with Primo and he was just a producer. so its possible that he could have indeed wrote that letter.

  • phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
    RIP Guru. Im sorry to say I didn't realize the full impact you had on hip-hop and my own life as life until it was far too late.

  • Noreaga "RIP Guru"
    http://usershare.net/1z35xvqyqkcx
    (not sure how to post an embedded version here)

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Peep...

    I've had a crazy day; LA Times wanted me to write his obit and I had to scramble to write, research, interview AND teach class today.

    I did get to speak to Keith's older brother, Harry Jr., who was incredibly gracious to make time for me (I didn't know this but he's a theater professor at Stanford!)

    A couple things - direct from him.

    #1: Guru was 47. Not 43, not 44, as is being reported.

    #2: Guru *never* recovered consciousness. If Harry is telling the truth (and there's no reason to assume he's not), then Solar's letter is a crock of shit. I didn't talk about this in the obit because I didn't think it needed to be in there but Harry made it clear that the Solar's letter was deeply fugazi.

    #3: Guru was suffering from melanoma and undergoing treatment when he had his heart attack. Technically, what happened was that his lungs failed and in the process, he went into cardiac arrest. On Sunday, he went hypertensive, went into ICU, and never recovered.

    #4: The Elam family is planning - tentatively - a public memorial on what would have been his 48th birthday: July 17th. There will likely be a public statement on this in the next few days.

    #5: DJ Premier *may* make a statement tomorrow (I have this from his manager but who knows?)

    #6: Guru was survived by one brother, two sisters, and his son. It depresses me to have to report that both his parents survived him; it is a terrible thing to have a child die before you do.

    At the very end of the interview, he started talking about how Guru left school to pursue rap and how he, as the older brother headed towards academia, thought he was crazy for it but that Guru pursued his dream and achieved it. Then he started tearing up. I was fucking HUMBLED.


    On a personal note, one of the best interviews in my career was with Guru and Premier back around "The Ownerz" (2003?) I flew out to NYC and met the two of them at D&D and spent the bulk of my time talking to Guru (Primo was cool but it was a more curt interview). For whatever reason, Guru was surprised I knew as much about the group as I did and we had a really good conversation about him, the group's history, etc. I've been fortunate to interview some of the people who've meant the most to me as a hip-hop fan but that convo with Guru was probably #1 in that regard.

  • ArksArks 133 Posts
    Rest In Power. Gang Starr was one of my greatest influences as a "digger"/collector/record fiend. They defined hip-hop for a generation.
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