RIP Guru

I don’t even know how to start saying what I want to say, and to me it actually seems like it might come off silly that just a fan would feel so strongly about an artist as to write out a blog about it. Here I am though, and it’s the truth… as much as it’s weird to admit, I kind of used the wisdom in this man’s music to supplement a lack of that kind of guidance being given to me in my family life.

Guru, as an artist, touched millions of peoples lives, in so many ways. His powerful lyrics were almost always soul driven and with deep reflective meaning. On more then one occasion, I have prescribed Gangstarr tracks to friends for the right words they needed to hear. Now that he’s gone, I can’t help but think what a shame it is… There’s so much more Guru could have done with his career for the music industry.

That brings me to talking about my viewpoint on Solar… and I really have to express this… Even though, I’m not involved with the scenario, as a fan observing… I always felt Solar was taking advantage of Guru’s artistry as well as his viewpoint on the rap industry.  Being that Guru was in Gangstarr since the late 80s’, and was a part of a solid group identity for so long… I feel like it would be a natural inclination to fall into the same situation again… but I also feel like it was a time when someone needed to give him the advice “Go out, explore the world of music that people are making. Stick to your roots, keep your identity, don’t change your movement… but work with a lot of people, get to know them, have fun making music all over the place with different instrumentation, and ideas.” I mean… Gangstarr was officially admitted by Guru to be “ended” in 2005, but in an 03/04 European tour, DJ Premier abruptly left back to the US from the tour. It’s feasible to say it stemmed from something that happened in that moment.

What was going on in terms of music in ’03? Mad Lib had just released ‘Sounds of Blue’, a record recorded in the same spirit as Guru’s Jazzmatazz albums. If anyone has ever listened to vol. 1 and 2 from beginning to end of the Jazzmatazz albums, you can tell right off the bat that what you’re listening to is Guru’s soul.. he is speaking loud and clear about his view on the music industry, life, social norms, religion and more… I believe Guru viewed music as a political and social tool to empower people, but also as an outlet of alleviation. When you listen to vol. 3, (released in 2000) you see a change in the style, but the same pervasive soul message is there… Guru even worked with J-Dilla on one of my favorite tracks by Guru, Cerified:

In 2005, Guru came out with Guru The Street Scriptures, Version 7.0, and my feelings about this album are somewhat bipolar… I love half of it, and the other half I like, but I can feel “mainstream” influences creeping into the music. When I first heard it, I disregarded it, and in fact… somewhat appreciated it at the time, because I thought it would be more well received among a larger group of friends… I turned out to be wrong, with the exception of a few smart people who could identify Guru’s intellect and message.

However, when Jazzmatazz vol. 4 came out, Solar again had made the entire production score for the album. The most disappointing thing about this album was the complete and utter change in direction the series had. Prior to 2007, when it came out, the series was accompanied by live instrumentals, diverse production teams, and an all and all more distinguished creation process.

Just how soulful would it have been, had Dilla used one of his Donuts beats for an album with Guru right before he died? One of my favorite tracks of all time surrounds the emcee guest appearing in it, spitting about his disease and about how he only has 3 months to live. Too Poetic died 3 months after the recording of “One Life” with The Last Emperor:

Perhaps that wouldn’t have been entirely an option, in social circumstances, but my point is that there was a lot of creativity going on around him, and I think creativity was something he was having a hard time seeing in the industry. It’s not like the music he put out wasn’t soulful at all, it absolutely was, it was Guru… not possible to not have soul… but it’s all about the entourage and the movement around you.

You can tell a lot about a persons aspirations and general intentions in life, by the way they present themselves to those around them, and Solar was no down to Earth dude. Guru’s family talks about just how manipulative Solar was in everyday circumstances, and even Statik Selektah recalled a tale of when he met Guru and Solar at his 19th birthday party:

A guy who is rude to people, in his own world, making his own plans… That’s someone I don’t trust. What’s worse is, if you look back at the 20 years Guru spent making music… he was always a spiritual guy… He knew of the Nation of Gods and Earths…  To me, it seems totally out of character that Guru would demand that none of his past affiliates should have anything to do with his legacy moving forward etc. as he expresses in his “letter to the fans”:

“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,” wrote Guru. “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.”

and Guru’s Nephew also speaks about it at length:

Either way, this is a pretty legitimately fucked up thing for Solar to try to do for himself with someone he would call a friend’s legacy. This flash in bad character leads me to believe that my previous suspicions were right, I think Solar was trying to waylay Guru’s creative expression, for his own personal greed, having repercussions on the overall schematic of what Hip Hop has been in the later 2000′s.

Hell, even Just Blayze is calling out that it’s bullshit:

http://www.sohh.com/2010/04/diddy_just_blaze_q-tip_more_react_to_gur.html

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