Guru

Early life

Keith Edward Elam was born on July 17, 1961, in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. His father, Harry Justin Elam, was a lawyer and judge, the first African American judge appointed to the Boston Municipal Court. His mother, Barbara, co-directed libraries in the Boston Public Schools. He attended the Advent School, Noble and Greenough School and Cohasset High School, then earned a business administration degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta. He later moved to New York and took graduate classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Gang Starr

Elam first rapped as MC Keithy E and led an early Boston lineup of Gang Starr before settling on the name Guru, which he said stood for "Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal." In 1989 he brought Houston-raised DJ Premier into the group and moved with him to Brooklyn. Across six albums from 1989 to 2003, Guru's measured, conversational delivery over Premier's productions became one of the defining sounds of New York rap. Two Gang Starr albums were certified gold by the RIAA.

Jazzmatazz

In 1993 Guru released Jazzmatazz, Volume 1 on Chrysalis, an album that set his rhymes alongside working jazz musicians rather than only samples. Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers, Branford Marsalis, Lonnie Liston Smith, Courtney Pine and Ronny Jordan played on it, with vocals from N'Dea Davenport, Carleen Anderson and the French rapper MC Solaar. The single "Trust Me" reached No. 34 in the UK.

Three more volumes followed. Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality (Chrysalis, 1995) featured Chaka Khan, Ramsey Lewis, Branford Marsalis and Jamiroquai. Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Streetsoul came out on Virgin in 2000, with the single "Keep Your Worries" featuring Angie Stone. Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4: The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger: Back to the Future was released in 2007.

Solo work, 7 Grand and Solar

Guru's non-Jazzmatazz solo album Baldhead Slick & da Click appeared on Landspeed in 2001 and reached No. 22 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. In the mid-2000s he partnered with producer Solar, with whom he ran 7 Grand Records. Solar produced all of Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures (7 Grand, 2005), and the label also issued Jazzmatazz Vol. 4 and Guru 8.0: Lost and Found (2009).

Guru also acted. His film roles included Who's the Man? (1993), and he voiced the character 8-Ball in the video game Grand Theft Auto III (2001).

Illness and death

On February 28, 2010, Guru went into cardiac arrest after surgery and fell into a coma. He died in New York City on April 19, 2010, of multiple myeloma, a form of cancer. News reports at the time gave his age as 43, though his commonly listed 1961 birth date would have made him 48. He was survived by his son, his parents and three siblings.

The disputed letter

Shortly after his death Solar released a letter attributed to Guru. It said he had succumbed to cancer, named Solar as the steward of his legacy, and asked that DJ Premier have no involvement with his name or legacy. DJ Premier and members of Guru's family said he never regained consciousness and could not have written it. The Elam family also said Solar had kept them from contacting Guru during his illness. In 2014 a Rockland County judge ruled against Solar and gave the family control of Guru's estate. Premier later acquired unreleased Guru vocals from Solar and used them on Gang Starr's One of the Best Yet (2019).

Legacy

The Source ranked Guru No. 30 on its list of the top 50 lyricists of all time. In 2011 the Revive Da Live Big Band staged a tribute show at Le Poisson Rouge in New York. The city of Montpellier, France, named a street Allée Guru in recognition of his influence on hip hop and jazz.