I was sad to wakeup this morning and check my emails & message boards to see Guru had passed after his long battle. His words truly stood out as a voice for hip hop & the true spirit of music. Here is one of my favorite mixtapes by Matthew Africa called listen remember & enjoy a legend.
Link to Mixtape:
http://passionweiss.com/2010/03/17/matthew-africas-gangstarr-mix/
Born on July 17, 1966 in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury, Guru broke into the music biz in the 1980s upon founding the legendary rap group Gang Starr, which found instant success with their acclaimed 1989 debut album No More Mr. Nice Guy and 1991's classic, Step In the Arena.
It wasn't until 1993 that Elam made his solo mark when he launched his pioneering Jazzmatazz Vol. 1, a project that fused jazz and rap and featured some wild collaborations between hip-hop artists and jazz legends, among them Donald Byrd, Branford Marsalis and Ronny Jordan. Three more volumes would follow and included guest appearances by Jamiroquai, Erykah Badu, Macy Gray, the Roots and Isaac Hayes. Gang Starr meanwhile, with production assists from DJ Premier, continued to lord over the underground hip-hop scene in New York and refine the genre of jazz-rap throughout the '90s until the release of their 2003 album, The Ownerz, which proved to be their last.
