GURU

A Founding Giant
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
By VeTalle Fusilier

Keith Elam went from Keithy E to Guru, which supposedly stood for the “Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal.”  Most appropriate.  He began his career as part Gang Starr, cataloging street life in a manly, laid back flow that allowed you to catch his lyrical logic as well as bop your head to the Premier beat.  Guru is gone.  One of the coolest on the mic is gone.  But his rep remains.

Guru and Premier built a sound that came straight from the streets of New York, hip and grown, jazz samples and Guru’s impeccable rhymes.  For many, Gang Starr was the transitional vehicle to a more relaxed but no less hard flow.  Great samples, and stories from Guru that became hip-hop lessons, now hip hop legend,   including classic relationship documentation. 

Ex Girl to the Next Girl

Gang Starr ran six acclaimed albums deep, including “Moment of Truth” that was certified gold.  Guru learned well from his father, the first black judge in the Boston municipal courts.  He was an educated rapper, Morehouse grad, and was indeed in graduate school when he decided to pursue rhyming full time.  His roots in our “hood, his eye on the prize, and his head full of knowledge gave him the full clip to get it in, developing street cred, cd sales, and critical acclaim. 

Mass Appeal 

Guru went solo in 1993 with the first volume of Jazzmatazz, featuring jazz giants Branford Marsalis, Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers and Ronny Jordan, as well as vocalist N'Dea Davenport of the Brand New Heavies.  Here he began his partnership of with Solar, one that would see him through his transition to the other side.  The 4 volumes of the Jazz/Hip hop collaboration attracted many new audiences to hip-hop and jazz, the creativity of both best experienced live.

No Time to Play

 While the obvious exposure of hip hop heads to jazz was no doubt a great artistic feather in Guru’s hat, what should also be emphasized is the people he delivered to hip hop from them hearing intelligent, thoughtful lyrics with a sense of community and culture, spoken in his distinctive voice.  One verse and you knew it was Guru on the mic, tone, tempo and timing all there, all tight:

“Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is, I get more props and stunts than Bruce Willis” is one of the best rhymes ever dropped, for real.  We can hear his legacy, support it thru his non-profit Each One Counts, and put his name in the hall of fame.  Guru, Rapped Immaculately Pure.

Dwyck