Rest In Power Guru: Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal
Keith Elam was 43
Guru passed on today. The pioneer of the Hip Hop Jazz crossover was 43. Damn…43 a year older than me…It’s reported he died of cancer. He fell into a coma on February 28 after having a heart attack.
Step into the Arena…Daily Operation…mentoring Jeru the Damaja…being a positive force and soul star. Guru was steady.
He and DJ Premier formed Gangstarr…one of the acts that blazed a trail of Hip Hop credibility. The monotone style fit perfectly with Primo’s dream god beats. He could flow…and not his flow continues on. His passing is part of the reason why I go so hard fam. I feel like I let you all down when I personally don’t give you the opportunity to hear someone like this from a TSF perspective. Enough of that because it’s not about us. Crazy, but I was listening to Pandora last night at work and one of his tracks played. Peace family…
Mass Appeal…
Gangstarr with Nice N Smooth Dwyck…
Full Clip…
You Know My Steez…
Skillz…
Militia…
Just To Get a Rep…
Code of the Streets…
Step in the Arena…
Ex Girl To Next Girl…
Take It Personal…
Suckas Need Bodyguards…
Moment of Truth…
One of my favs…Royalty…
Jazz Thing…
With Chaka…What What You Say…
Plenty with Erykah…
Feel the Music…
With Slum Village…I’m Jazzy…
Lost and Found…
This was my shit…It’s Gettin’ Hectic of the Brand New Heavies joint…
With MC Solaar – Le Bien, Le Mal
The Anthem…
Lifesaver…
There would be no TSF without this track…straight up…Manifest…
Just a couple of words on his impact on me personally…
I remember high school.
2004 on the stage of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts theatre.
I stood there reciting a eulogy on behalf of my deceased aunt who had died of cancer.
I was another act within a bigger show of talented youngins. We called it “Johnny Was”.
It closed with a legend performing the lyrically content that made him such.
To the on lookers he was Guru, to others of us he was our teacher’s younger brother.
A pair of siblings that grew into artists.
No stage was too small or too big for him to grace.
He was an artist that humbled us with his presence and performance. He awwed us.
He showed love to us and he gave us memories while giving the world music.
Bruh, we goin miss you. As music heads, artists, people who just respect and appreciate that which isn’t processed thru factory, youtubes and airwaves. but that which is richly crafted and dispersed. May your legacy continue on….
Johnny Was…a good man.
Damn! That hurts to the core. The F’N core!
I had no idea. I knew he was sick, but then I heard he was recuperating. Time to put some of his classics back in heavy rotation. He was the man.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Michael Tillery. Michael Tillery said: People please make this time about Guru. I understand you are upset about Solar but stay true to Keith Elam's name. http://wp.me/pcdeW-2s9 [...]
Met him and Premo at my college homecoming in 1992. Cool, down to earth brutha.
The work he and Premo put out is timeless.
“I’m Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal / MCs that ain’t equipped get flipped in my circle.
RIP to my man Guru.
Man him and premo will always be a part of my youth.
RIP to one of the true hip-hop greats…damn, we losing too many too fast too soon nowadays…GURU will always be missed and loved for the art he left behind.
thanks TSF. I might have known about dr dorothy height but she is not a memory I carried with me.
now I know I will build a profile of her inside.
did not know of Guru at all. Losing my former comprehensive touch with the music world.
Lord…how do I recover?
This man’s words got me thru some tough times when I was younger. One of the original conscious emcees. I’m really bugged by this one… Rest in peace big GURU. Your records were classics as soon as they got laid down and always will be.
[...] In closing: We miss you, Guru. [...]