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Straight from allhiphop.com : DJ Premier has issued his official statement on the death of former rap partner Guru. Both men released six influential albums as Gang Starr. The letter is seen in its entirety below.
IT WAS A SAD DAY FOR ME TO GET CONFIRMATION ON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO I WILL CONTINUE TO CALL MY BROTHER, KEITH ELAM, BETTER KNOWN AS GURU OF THE LEGENDARY GANG STARR.
FROM 1988-2004, WE EXPERIENCED SO MUCH SUCCESS TOGETHER THAT WE WERE ABLE TO EXPAND OUR BUSINESSES INDEPENDENTLY AND GIVE EACH OTHER WHAT GURU CALLED “CREATIVE SPACE”, BEFORE PLANNING TO REUNITE FOR OUR 7TH LP WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT. TRAGICALLY, WE WILL NEVER REACH THAT DAY.
I’VE BEEN ASKED TO COMMENT ON A LETTER SPEAKING ILL OF ME WHICH WAS SUPPOSEDLY WRITTEN BY GURU IN HIS DYING DAYS. ALL I WILL SAY ABOUT IT IS THAT OUR TIME TOGETHER WAS BEAUTIFUL, WE BUILT A HIP HOP LEGACY TOGETHER, AND NO ONE CAN RE-WRITE HISTORY OR TAKE AWAY MY LOVE FOR HIM. ONE THING I WOULD NEVER DO IS PLAY AROUND WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS LIFE.
I WILL CELEBRATE GURU’S LIFE… I WILL HONOR HIS MEMORY… I WILL GRIEVE WITH THE ELAM FAMILY OVER HIS UNTIMELY DEATH… I WILL REMEMBER THE GANG STARR FOUNDATION AND ALL OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF GANG STARR WHO CAME BEFORE ME – WE ALL KNOW EACH OTHER… MOSTLY, I WILL CHERISH EVERYTHING WE CREATED TOGETHER AS GANG STARR, FOREVER. I’M GONNA MISS HEARING HIS SIGNATURE MONOTONE VOICE WHEN HE WALKS IN THE ROOM, BUT THE SONGS WILL ALWAYS BRING IT BACK TO ME….HIS RHYME FLOWS WERE INSANE, AND I WILL NEVER REMOVE HIM FROM MY HEART AND SOUL…….REST IN PEACE TO THE MAN WHO FELT “SATISFACTION FROM THE STREET CROWD REACTION” … I LOVE YOU GOO…….DJ PREMIER
DJ Premier we applaude you for being so real! – Solar heed the word!
You’ll be hearing a lot of tributes at the moment to Emcee Guru, who passed away recently. And all this week Beatnik will be doing the same, recommending our favourite Gang Starr & Guru tracks in honour of one of our best loved Rappers.
If you’re new to the sound of Guru it’s a great place to hear what all the fuss is about. If you’re a fan – well it’s simply a great place to reminisce.
After a sad string of events and a year-long battle with cancer, Guru, born Keith Elam and one half of legendary group GangStarr with DJ Premier, passed away yesterday (19 April). He was in a prolonged coma induced by a heart attack in early Febuary this year and died at a New York City hospital.
A letter allegedly penned by Guru has hit the internet, but with all the uncertainties surronding his situation we can’t really be sure that he is the author. Family feuds with his producer and mentor Solar have created an awful situation.
While a lot of us won’t have paid much attention to Guru’s recent music with Solar, what he brought us throughout his career remains a timeless body of work. Classics like ‘Step in the Arena‘, ‘Ex Girl to Next Girl‘, ‘Mass Appeal‘, ‘Royalty‘ and ‘Moment of Truth‘ will forever remain just that.
We thought the majestic ‘Above the Clouds‘ from GangStarr’s 1998 album Moment of Truth was a fitting start to our recommendations this week, which will be in honour of the great MC. May he rest in peace – above the clouds.
Gang Starr: Above The CloudsGuru: Loungin
Gang starr: Mass Appeal
A bit of creative fun. Check out these three creative pieces from different advert circles. All with the ability to make you’re mouth drop. I’d be buying all sort of life necessities if more companies followed suit!
The first :
A dope Nike campaign to promote their running shoes. We like the twist at the end.
The second:
Well it’s not exactly an advert but it’s a short head turner to promote Neurosonic Audiomedical Labs Inc. Spinning heads are Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis and Shlomo from Foreign beggars and Hip Hop duo Stig N Syntax. Cutting the spinning heads of course it’s none other the the Scratch Perverts. Enjoy.
The third:
Our favourite – The Uniqlo company offer a lesson in body popping
We really like art meets music. In fact we often shout about it here at Beatnik.
So we had to share how TY’s new album artwork was made. When looking at TY’s impressive and striking artwork for Special Kind of Fool, at first glanced we assumed it was graphically produced, a suppose a given when you consider the cutting of corners in recent times. So you can imagine how delight when on harder inspection the sculpture is real! A stunning piece of art from a man called Benjamin Wchenje.
Using a technique that was used in West Africa in the 19th Century called Nkisi or Nkondi style. This, the sculptures were used to affirm oaths or to destroy evil forces. Let’s hope it puts him at number one in the charts instead!
Truly a remarkable work it’s great to see album artwork actually live up to it’s name.
To view more of this artists works check out : http://www.benjaminwachenje.com
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L.A. based production company Mochilla are providing a real treat to all fans of impulsively timed jazz and some real greats in music. On March 30th, the 3 DVD-deep Timeless Box Set will be released.
The set if a tribute to three of the greatest arrangers/composers our times have witnessed: legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla, Ethiopian jazz great Mulatu Astatke and Rio de Janiero’s own funk pioneer Arthur Verocai.
Eager collecters will of course be greated by extensive liner notes, posters, exclusive music and much more. Okayplayer has the low-down. Pre-order the set at Mochilla.
February markes the month when Madlib, the Californian beatmaker extraordinaire with a productivity second to none, will release the second instalment of his Medicine Show series of albums and mixes. Medicine Show No. 2 has the producer dive deep into Brazil and its musical heritage, exploring decades worth of “Brazilian funk, psychedelic, prog-rock and jazz.”
So, after drawing inspiration from India (among other places) for his Beat Konducta series, Madlib will now be taking us further south. For Madlib’s fellow collectors, the CD will be released with liner notes about as hazy as the producer’s hotel rooms on tour are rumoured to be. February 23rd is the date, so stay on your toes!
More info can be found at Stones Throw Records.