Guru – The Modern Fix Interview

Editor’s note: The following interview was conducted by Bill Zimmerman in 2007 for the now defunct print edition of Modern Fix magazine prior to the release of Guru’s Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4: The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger. This Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of Guru’s passing.

On April 19, 2010, the rapper born Keith Elam died of complications from cancer at 48. Hip-hop lost one of its Golden Era notables. What remained were questions about Guru’s association with Solar, his late-career producer and business partner in the label 7 Grand, whose motives were questioned by the rapper’s family and former collaborators. Shortly after Guru’s death, Solar released a letter purportedly written by Guru and critical of Premier. Guru’s family labeled it a fake; Solar defended the letter as “what Guru wanted.”

The self-proclaimed “king of monotone,” Guru possessed one of the most unmistakable voices in hip-hop. Honest and authoritative, he delivered music over three decades, most notably in Gang Starr with DJ Premier as well as through genre-bending Jazzmatazz solo efforts. What follows are excerpts from an unpublished interview with Guru and Solar in 2007. It’s a snapshot of Guru’s late 2000s, post-Gang Starr career. It shows two men focused on making their own lane and taking creative chances in the leadup to what would be Guru’s final Jazzmatazz project. Despite all the drama and confusion that would ensue, Guru made a mark on hip-hop. That’s indisputable.

Bill: Guru, one the previous Jazzmatazz projects you were working with multiple producers. What was it like just sticking with Solar on this one?

Guru: Actually, the only one with multiple producers was the third one (Street Soul). The first one (Vol. 1) I produced, the second one (Vol. 2: The New Reality) I produced and then the third one multiple (producers). Actually, after the third one I said I wanted to go back to working with just one producer because I left like the third one – even though I had like a lot of big name producers – it came out more like a compilation than it did an organic work. It’s still one of my favorites joints, but it was something about the cohesiveness of one producer bringing everything together. After teaming up with Solar – first of all when I first started hearing his music that was after we were friends already for two years. Then we decided to do the label. We were introduced six years ago – he took me to his lab so I could hear some tracks, and it was crazy because it was almost like he read my mind because I was looking for a future sound, a new sound for myself. All my favorite artists are able to do that – to recreate and renew and then reinvent. So, when I heard his tracks, I was like, “Oh, man.” I was blown away and actually took some stuff home right then. Our first release came out in 2005 on 7 Grand. That was called Guru Version 7.0 The Street Scriptures, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. That was just the introduction to this new chemistry. Now, at this point, the chemistry is just more intense, so this album is definitely proof of that.

So you guys were just friends and never got into the music stuff for a few years?

Guru: That was cool because most people around me would have been the opposite. Me and Solar were just on some cool shit.

Solar: To be honest, to give readers a little bit of insight, what it was was that I wasn’t a professional producer when Guru met me. … (For others), the friendship wasn’t really friendship. They were really hanging out with Guru looking for Guru to help their careers.

Guru: I’ve been experiencing that the last couple of years. It’s very strange. Fame is a strange animal. Trust me.

Solar: That’s really when the friendship kicked in. He didn’t really need a producer as much as he needed a friend at that time. It was a good time in my life to kind of get back to socializing because I really was immersed in other things. So, it was cool. He was just like me. I’m Guru. And at that point he became very dissatisfied with the situation at the label and his production situation. It had really got unbearable.

Guru: Everything. Management. Legal. I was disgusted with everything.

Solar: We were just two people hanging out at a party, and I’m trying to enjoy the festivities and he’s complaining and I was kind of just like “Well, listen if it’s that bad, man start your own label, dog. Puff did it. Jay did it. They ain’t got nothing on you dog. Just start your own label.” And I went to the other side of the party and got back to business, dog. And he called me a couple days later and was like “You know, I’m gonna to do that.” I was like “Do What?” “Start a label.” And I was like “Good luck with it. I wish you the best.” He’s like “No, no, no. I want us to start a label.” I was like “Alright, let me think about that.” Quite honest, born and raised in New York and seeing how New York really turned into this whole bling era of over-the-top, excessive nonsense. I really felt like hip-hop needed a change. … The business stance of 7 Grand records is to have balance, to bring a perspective from somebody who’s a veteran in the game, Guru, and me as a new jack to some degree, and some fresh ideas, fresh music and a fresh approach to the situation.

The previous Jazzmatazz albums were experimental when you with a major label, but you really feel that this is your thing.

Guru: The difference is that they evolved. It evolved into it’s own musical genre. In the beginning, we didn’t know whether to take it to hip-hop radio or R&B radio or jazz radio. Now, it’s just like, we can take it anywhere. That was before internet, so now there’s internet radio. There’s so many different outlets, so I think it’s actually a better time. And then also, it evolved so that people that gone with it and became fans of it, those people are grooving with it. Those people are checking in. They’re out there. They’re coming to the concerts. That’s one of the reason that we made this album because in our travels touring with The Street Scriptures everybody was asking “When are you going to do another Jazzmatazz?”

Were you surprised?

Guru: Not really because I made that – the original concept was for it to be a timeless project. It’s something that I could always come back to. Something that would always evolve. The constant is, there’s always going to be jazz greats, there’s always going to be up and coming vocalists or musicians, and then there’s always going to be the contemporary ones.

When I think back on Jazzmatazz, I think of some of these great collaborations on songs such as “Loungin’” and “Watch What You Say.” When you look back, what are some of your best memories?

Guru: The one you mentioned, “Loungin’” with Dr. Donald Byrd. I have to mention that because Dr. Byrd was like a mentor to me throughout the project and still is, actually. He was the first one I talked to directly and he was just with it from the gate. He was like, this is history, this is literature. Let’s make it happen, which is very important. And he put word out in the jazz community and that was at a time that the jazz community was not really open to hip-hop. They didn’t understand the sampling thing. They didn’t didn’t think it was lyrics. Basically, what happen was he put such a positive word out there for me. Everybody else I talked to after that was with it.

A lot of rappers don’t make contact with these older artists and get advice from them.

Guru: I would say it benefited me in all areas. In the areas of knowledge of music, in the areas of life itself because those guys are so cool. They experienced so much that to talk with them, they’re just a wealth of knowledge. Guys like Herbie Hancock are sitting there in the crowd giving me all kinds of jewels. There really wasn’t a monetary value you could put on stuff like that. It was just really cool, a really cool experience. I definitely learned a lot about music and the music biz.

What’s next for your guys both individually and collectively?

Guru: After the album and touring extensively with the album, we’ll be touring all the way into the new year with this album, all over the world. So that’s one thing, and then the other thing is that we got the mix CD (The Timebomb: Back To The Future Mixtape) coming out next. Usually the mix CD comes out before the album, but we flipped it around. The mix CD’s an official mix CD, so it will be coming out on 7 Grand Records as our next release. And then after that will be Solar’s album, and he can tell you about that.

Solar: The album is titled Solar 5,000 Degrees and Burning, and right now I just finished doing a remix for (Gym Class Heroes’) “Cupid’s Chokehold,” which was the No. 2 song in the country for four weeks and the No. 1 rated MTV video. So I was very honored and blessed to be tapped for the remix. Besides doing the remix, I put Guru on there to put down 16 bars. These are the type of things you’re going to see on my album. You’re going to see some real top-level spitters, and, like I said, 7 Grand prides itself on bringing a new look to hip-hop without saying “Don’t do this or don’t say that.” We’d rather just show what it looks like to work with different artists and expose them to different markets. … When they see the diversity of the artists on the album and where I’m going with the production, it’s going to be a surprise. It’s not going to be Jazzmatazz-esque. It’s a whole ’nother look and people are going to hear me spitting.

Guru, you’ve been pretty insistent that Gang Starr is through. Have you changed your mind at all?

Guru: That situation was dead. This is now. That ain’t going to happen. It’s all about the fact that then I wasn’t CEO of a label with a visionary like Solar. This is a whole new level for me. For me, it was that thing – that experience was great. It reached its peak, it was historical and that’s that. And now I’m moving on to newer and bigger things, and that’s just the way it is. For me, as the founder of that, there were principles that that was built on like street knowledge, intellect, spirituality that we took with us to build 7 Grand. So Guru and Solar are those principles of Gang Starr on the next level as executives, and as producer and artist.

Solar: You have to remember that Virgin owns the rights to Gang Starr. So to answer the question you just asked Guru – Virgin Records just put out a Gang Starr (Mass Appeal: Best of Gang Starr) album.

Guru: That’s a very important factor, and that’s why we started our own label.

Solar: It’s not his. Virgin owns Gang Starr. Guru has no rights to Gang Starr whatsoever. No rights at all. He wasn’t even allowed to use his name on different projects, that’s how weird the contract was. He couldn’t go on a record and say Guru or call it Gang Starr. It had to be approved by Virgin records.

You didn’t see a dime from this greatest hits?

Guru: Maybe $5. [laughing]