It is a year ago to the day that hip-hop lost one of its truest and most memorable voices with the sad passing of MC Guru (Gang Starr, Jazzmatazz). We commemorate the man with a fireside chat.
Arguably one of the most distinctive and important voices in the history of hip-hop, Guru is of course best known as the 'lyrical' half of the legendary Gang Starr.
After the first three Gang Starr albums, Guru (Gifted Universal Rhymes Unlimited) launched his solo career with the Jazzmatazz project, which saw him collaborate with the jazz artists that hip-hop had previously only sampled. As well as legends like Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Bob James, Jazzmatazz 1 and 2 also saw Guru work with Acid Jazz contemporaries such as The Brand New Heavies, which helped this groundbreaking collaborative project reach a huge audience across several different markets.
After Gang Starr, Guru continued to record Jazzmatazz albums until his untimely death on April 19, 2010, at the age of 48, from cancer.
Listen to a fireside chat with Guru on Red Bull Music Academy Radio:
Comments
Add a comment