Guru, RIP: Our four favorite songs

Favourite song? More like favourite album. Can’t go anywhere without Moment of Truth.

You Know My Steez, Royalty, JFK 2 LAX, Moment of Truth, The Militia, She Knows What She Wants….closing with In Memory Of.

Couldn’t be more fitting.

Above the Clouds w/Gza was one of my faves. Pretty apropos today.
RIP Guru

Above the clouds is by far my # 1 fave…I am truly sad today. RIP Guru.

Mass Appeal is a great track and I wish that today’s rappers had half the skill that Guru showed on that track. 43 is far too young to go, but what a legacy Guru has left.

Damn, i grow up listen 2 his music, i loved and respect
he was a one of the real in hiphop. god bless

Back in 2000 I went to a hip-hop concert in a small venue in Chicago. Opening for Common was Guru, which back then seemed weird to me, who had less fame baggage than Guru. Of course, this was Chicago, Common´s territory.

After Guru wowed the crowd, Common came on stage, and Guru left the stage. I was on the second level of theatre watching the show, and, as I went to get a drink by the empty bar behind, there was Guru, chilling alone, having a drink. Holy crap, right? I darted over, introduced myself, got an autograph, and, since no one else was around, asked him if he had a website and whether I could work on it. Back then he didn´t, but said it was in the plans, and someone was going to do already. I gave him my business card just in case.

After a brief uncomfortable pause, for me at least, I thought, “might as well asking him something smart, to differentiate myself from the regular fan questions”.

So I asked him what his creative process was.

He responded “life”.

Unsatisfied with that answer, I rewrote my question: “Ok, but how do you go about coming up with lyrics? Do you listen to Premier´s beats then write over them, or do you write then try to sync it over the beats? And do you figure 12 topics you want to touch on and then write, or do you just write a bunch? What´s your inspiration?”
Obviously my question was hard to answer, mostly because I hadn’t formulated it that well. Here was another fan, interviewing for no media.

He responded: “Life”. Again.

Urgh… He wasn’t getting my questions! I gave up. He left, leaving me feeling like I had bored or bugged him, which is not the reaction you want to cause on someone you admire.

Five minutes later Guru jumps on stage with Common, where they start freestyling back and forth. After a minute or so Guru chants something along the lines of:

“I dont try to rap about the gun and the knife,
my lyrics come from what´s happening in my life.
Like I told Cristiano,
my creative process doesn’t need the piano”

I shat myself. No one else got what he was doing! It was him answering my question for the third time, showing a real life example of his process, and directed at me, in freestyle fashion.

Genius for his speed, great for his dedication to a mere fan.

Guru was one of the best.
I spent so much hours with his music in my life.
So i made an Guru Tribute Mix to honour him.

http://soundcloud.com/deine-mutter-records/dj-king-guru-tribute-mix

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