Gang Starr:Rapper Guru Biography

Guru was one half of the Hip-Hop duo known as Gang Starr, he was known for the social themes in his lyrics and for being one of the most well known hip-hop artists of the 1990s. He was originally born Keith Elam in July 1962 and grew up in Boston. He later moved to New York where he became part of the flourishing New York Rap scene. He began rapping solo under the name MC Keithy-E but later teamed up with DJ Premier who had moved from Houston. The two formed the Hip Hop duo Gang Starr. His own name Guru stands for Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal.Gang starr began to build up a following in the early 1990s with the release of their first albums which were entitled “Step in the Arena” and “Daily Operation”. Guru was loved among fans and critics for his gravelly voice and for rapping about the problems people had on the streets.

Guru was from a middle class family and didn’t grow up surrounded by guns and violence. His father was the first black judge in the Boston Judicial system and his mother was one of the directors of the Boston Public library system. Guru was always creative and intelligent as a child and went to Morehouse College after graduating from highschool. He worked a number of jobs after graduation including time spent as a social worker. He was attending Fashion School in New York when he decided to drop out and pursue his dream of being a rapper. This didn’t impress his middle class parents but he pursued his dreams anyways. A lot of his music was fused with Jazz, this interest in Jazz and Blues came from his parents.

In 1993 after he had made a number of albums as part of the duo Gang Starr he made his first solo album. In this album he collaborated with a number of other artists Roy Ayers and Donald Byrd the album was entitled Jazzmatazz Volume 1. After this he released two further albums as part of Gang Starr,firstly in 1994 with “Hard to Earn” and later in 1998 with “Moment of Truth”. All his work as part of Gang Starr was critically acclaimed and the song "Jazz thing" was even included in the Spike Lee movie “Mo Better Blues”. He also continually released as a solo artist with a number of other Jazzmatazz volumes. In 2005 he teamed up with DJ solar to create some further albums and stated that he refused to work with DJ Premier again. These albums were disliked by both critics and fans. He died on Monday April 19^th 2010 of cancer.

Recently rumours have started to circulate on the internet that Guru had left a death bed letter where he trusted the entire collection of his works to the DJ solar his producer and collaborator for the last 5 years of his life. In this letter he asks that his estate be left in the hands of DJ solar as well as his child. He requests that his child be taken into care by DJ Solar and that his money and music by cared for until his son is old enough to do it himself. This letter hasn’t been confirmed or denied. If you have any further information about this please comment below!!