Guru (rapper)
Guru ; real name Keith Edward Elam (born July 17, 1961 in Boston , Massachusetts , † April 19, 2010 in New York City ) was an American rapper . The name Guru stands for Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal .
Guru was best known as one half of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr and also initiated the Jazzmatazz project .
Career
Keith Edward Elam was born in 1961 in Boston to the first African American judge. Like numerous hip-hop musicians, Elam subscribed to the teachings of The Nation of Gods and Earths .
He was part of the Gang Starr duo and founded the Jazzmatazz project , with which he sought to combine jazz and hip-hop . For the various Jazzmatazz albums he worked with Donald Byrd , Erykah Badu , Herbie Hancock , Isaac Hayes , Macy Gray , MC Solaar , N'Dea Davenport , Roy Ayers , Kelis and Branford Marsalis , among others . In addition, he also took on smaller film roles and contributed the voice for 8-Ball from the video game Grand Theft Auto III . On February 28, 2010, Guru suffered a heart attack. It was later revealed that Guru had been hospitalized since February 2, 2010, but had only informed his best friend and producer partner Solar about it. In addition, Guru transferred all rights to make decisions that affect his health to Solar.
Guru died on April 19, 2010 of complications from cancer.
reception
Hans Nieswandt wrote in an obituary for Guru for Die Welt that the rapper was the reason for the increasing recognition of rap music by the feature pages in the 1980s . Hip-hop music, which previously consisted of youth rebellion and party music, became " intellectually respectable " and achieved a seriousness that could no longer be achieved later. In addition to the lyrics, the importance of Guru's musical approach, which combined hip-hop with jazz , is also highlighted.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1993 | Jazzmatazz, Vol. I. |
DE43 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK58  (2 weeks)UK |
US94 (19 weeks) US |
First published: May 18, 1993
|
| 1995 | Jazzmatazz, Vol. II: The New Reality |
DE24 (13 weeks) DE |
AT28 (8 weeks) AT |
CH8 (10 weeks) CH |
UK12  (10 weeks)UK |
US71 (9 weeks) US |
First published: July 18, 1995
|
| 2000 | Jazzmatazz, Vol. III: Streetsoul |
DE26 (6 weeks) DE |
AT32 (5 weeks) AT |
CH29 (8 weeks) CH |
- |
US32 (7 weeks) US |
First published: October 3, 2000
|
| 2001 | Baldhead Slick & da Click | - | - | - | - |
US122 (4 weeks) US |
First published: September 25, 2001
|
| 2005 | Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: May 10, 2005
|
| 2007 | Jazzmatazz, Vol. IV: Back to the Future | - | - |
CH55 (4 weeks) CH |
- | - |
First published: June 5, 2007
|
| 2009 | Guru 8.0: Lost & Found | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: May 19, 2009
|
More albums
- 1995: Guru Presents - Ill Kid Records
- 2008: The Best of Guru's Jazzmatazz
- 2010: Guru's Jazzmatazz - The Remixes
Singles with chart positions
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1993 | Trust Me Jazzmatazz, Vol. I. |
UK34 (2 weeks) UK |
feat. N'Dea Davenport
|
| No Time to Play Jazzmatazz, Vol. I. |
UK25 (3 weeks) UK |
feat. Dee C. Lee
|
|
| 1995 | Watch What You Say Jazzmatazz, Vol. II: The New Reality |
UK28 (3 weeks) UK |
feat. Chaka Khan
|
| Feel the Music Jazzmatazz, Vol. II: The New Reality |
UK34 (2 weeks) UK |
||
| 1996 | Livin 'in This World / Lifesaver Jazzmatazz, Vol. II: The New Reality |
UK61 (1 week) UK |
→ see also Gang Starr / Discography
Filmography
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories 2005 as an 8-ball
- Kung Faux 2003 as voice Over / Various
- Urban Massacre 2002 as Cereal Killah
- Grand Theft Auto III 2001 as an 8-ball
- 3 AM 2001 as hook-off
- Train Ride 2000 as Jay
- The Substitute 2: School's Out 1998 as Little B.
- Who's the Man? 1993 as Martin Lorenzo
swell
- ↑ Scan from Keith "GURU" Elam's passport
- ↑ Obituary at CBC News from April 20, 2010 (English)
- ^ RIP Guru. tonspion.de, accessed on February 1, 2011 .
- ↑ Guru Jazzmatazz. (No longer available online.) All About Jazz, archived from the original on September 12, 2008 ; Retrieved February 1, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Hip-Hop.de: Guru: After cardiac arrest in a coma
- ↑ Rap.de: Guru awakes from his coma ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Zeit-blog: http://blog.zeit.de/tontraeger/2010/04/20/rapper-guru-ist-verstorben_5239
- ↑ Welt-Online: Obituary for Guru - For, as they say in HipHop, Respect!
- ↑ a b Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
Web links
- Literature by and about Guru in the catalog of the German National Library
- Guru in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Guru at Discogs (English)
- Guru at Allmusic (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | guru |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Elam, Keith; Elam, Keith Edward (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rap musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th July 1961 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Boston , Massachusetts |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 19, 2010 |
| Place of death | New York City |