Guru of Gang Starr Dead at 43 (R.I.P.)
Damn. Hip Hop lost another star yesterday when news broke that Keith Elam aka Guru had passed away. Guru had been battling cancer for a few years now and suffered cardiac arrest on March 2nd and had been in a coma ever since. It's sad to see one of the most influential rappers of all time pass at such an early age.
It's kind of messed up to hear this news today because I was literally just thinking about Guru and Gang Starr the other day. I even posted a bunch of classic Gang Starr videos after I heard the instrumental to "Full Clip" being used as a soundtrack.
Although Guru might not have been the most lyrically gifted rapper and his self proclaimed "monotone style" might not have caught your attention right away, he still created some of the best Hip Hop that has ever been made. Gang Starr (Guru and DJ Premier) became one of the most influential rap groups of all time and created some of the hardest sounds the game has ever heard. Some of their oldest songs still hold up and most of their tracks from the late 90's and early 2000's would be instant classics if they dropped today.
Guru also helped create the sub-genre of Hip Hop/Jazz Fusion with his critically acclaimed Jazzmatazz series. He got to work with some of the best Jazz artists around to create some of the most unique Hip Hop music you will ever hear while simultaneously introducing Jazz to people like myself who would not have otherwise listened to it or given it a shot. He was still able to maintain street credibility and continued to release music as Gang Starr while working on the Jazzmatazz series on the side which was a pretty impressive feat in itself.
I can't see many rappers being able to pull off something similar these days since a lot of their fans would probably turn on them or say they got "soft". Guru didn't care and just wanted to make good music, regardless of who wanted to listen to it. You have to give him respect for taking the risk and still creating awesome music on both sides of the fence.
One thing I did not know about the duo (Premier and Guru) is that they had not even spoken in over 7 years. I knew they had broken up as a group but had no idea that there was some serious issues between the two. Here is what Guru said in a written letter he put together before he passed away:
“I do not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name likeness, events tributes etc. connected in anyway to my situation including any use of my name or circumstance for any reason and I have instructed my lawyers to enforce this. I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death. Solar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation, as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ."
Wow. Something really messed up must have happened between these two for Guru to hold a grudge even as he lay on his death bed. It's unfortunate that they were not able to patch things up before he passed but at least Premier was man enough to let it slide and post Guru's message in it's entirety on his site as well as wishing Guru's family the best in such tough times.
Guru's style and creativity will be sorely missed in the Hip Hop game and music industry as a whole. Hopefully, he is in a better place now and can finally rest in peace. Gifted.Unlimited.Rhymes.Univer
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