On this day, seven years ago, we lost one of the best rappers of all the times.

The one who influenced hip hop and jazz in the same time. It is impossible to describe what Guru meant to me some 15 - 16 years ago. When a kid discovers the music, he wants to go deeper than MTV mainstream. When I was fifteen, I didn't care for mainstream hip hop, it was too soft for me. All what was important is underground music. Somewhere in the middle, I discovered Gang Starr, a hip hop duo from New York. It was an awesome duo with one MC, Guru was his name, and one beatmaker, DJ Premier, who is today one of the best hip hop producers in the whole world. Me and my friends were often debate who is better, Guru as MC or DJ Premier as the beatmaker.

I found out about Gang Starr in 1999 when I was 14 years old.

Somehow, a double CD compilation/album "Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr" ended in my hands and I was listening it for whole days. Guru's style of rapping was unusual to me. His flow was calm but his lyrics were the most expressive that I've heard up to now. His rhymes were straight, honest and a little bit aggressive but when he did that with his calm gravel - voice, it was something different. So, when I first discovered Gang Starr, I was listening only Gang Starr next two years. It was all that hip hop teenager needed at the time. Street and social lyrics on the awesome dirty jazzy beats.

Guru was born as Keith Edward Elam on July 17th 1961. "Guru" is a backronym for "Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal".

He founded Gang Starr with DJ Mark the 45 King, but two year after, the new Gang Starr crew were Guru and DJ Premier. Their first album "No more Mr. Nice Guy" was one of the best hip hop album ever. They made six albums from 1989 to 2003. Their most successful CD-s were "Moment of Truth" and compilation "Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr". Guru made seven solo albums, of which the most famous were those from "Jazzmatazz" series. Albums made after 2001 had poor or mixed reviews.
All started to fall down after 2004 when Guru and Premier got separated for good. Guru started to work with DJ Solar and that motherfucker was greedy, lying moron who used Guru for his own benefits.

Then Guru fell sick from cancer and died on this day in 2010. DJ Solar was with him in the time of his death and manipulated sick man to sign some wrong documents which had bad consequences for Guru's family and DJ Premier. But we have to remember Guru as the one of the best rappers ever.

ALBUMS:

Gang Starr:

• No More Mr. Nice Guy (1989)
• Step in the Arena (1991)
• Daily Operation (1992)
• Hard to Earn (1994)
• Moment of Truth (1998)
• Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr (1999)
• The Ownerz (2003)

Guru (solo):

• Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (1993)
• Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality (1995)
• Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Streetsoul (2000)
• Baldhead Slick & da Click (2001)
• Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures (2005)
• Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4: The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger: Back to the Future (2007)
• Guru 8.0: Lost and Found (2009)