'I Self Lord And Master, shall bring disaster to
evil factors/Demonic chapters, shall be captured
by Kings..'
- Guru, 'Above The Clouds' (1998)
When I got word of Guru's passing, I was out and about. In some way
it's wild that his last breath took place on an unofficial holiday for those
enamored of mary jane. The skies were a hundred shades of light blue.
As I traveled from Queens to Bed-Stuy to Manhattan back to Queens again,
I thought about the passing of Keith Elam. Sitting on the J train, my mind
went back to how on a day just like this years ago, I had heard 'Moment of
Truth' in its entirety while sitting in my man Pat's car cruising through
Garden City. That album was extremely dope, but one track stuck with me.
'Above The Clouds', featuring a great guest turn by Inspectah Deck, ingrained
itself into my spirit. The beat didn't have too much heaviness and Guru
delivered a powerful verse directly after a well-placed sample of a John F.
Kennedy speech. That song to me was about the triumph of good over all
negativity. And sadly, it's all too appropriate for right now.
Maybe it's a sign of the times that an important figure's death leaves
us with more allegations than the actual facts. Guru's death from cancer
is shocking, all the more so when you figure he was a couple years shy
of 50. But the biggest shock of all is how one person is robbing his legacy
and he's not even a couple of days cold. That person is Solar, his 'partner'
for the past seven years. Now I put 'partner' in quotes because ever
since Guru's hospitalization, this cat has deemed himself Guru's voice and
in doing so, he's made it clear that he's sunk his hooks into Guru's pockets
and legacy. How else would you explain a farewell letter issued the day
of his death that doesn't EVEN MENTION THE NAME of DJ Premier, who as
one half of Gangstarr was a legend as well? These guys went back years.
I don't care what beef they had, you can't convince me that this man, on
his deathbed, wouldn't even mention his name except to lash out at him.
And why would you give custody of your son to YOUR BUSINESS PARTNER
over your own FAMILY? Solar stands to be the biggest hated individual in
hip hop since Suge Knight circa late 90's for his heinous actions. I've read
and heard the rumors of Guru and Solar being a gay couple. To be honest,
it would explain a lot but people forget one thing...evil is evil. There's no
calling cards for negativity. And if he was, Guru would be right up there
with other noted Black figures like Langston Hughes among others who
were gay.
The biggest issue that remains here is this; if you're a fan of hip hop, if
this culture is a part of your blood and has shaped you in some way, you
know that there needs to be a major push to get Solar to come clean.
Disclose everything, force him to produce papers with legitimate signatures
and make him do it PUBLICLY. Because Guru's legacy was all about the
ability to move crowds and shape minds. Guru's words were all about
destroying negativity. And now negativity in the form of a greedy, evil,
egocentric thief exists in the form of Solar. The truth needs to come out
not only for the sake of the Elam family, but the global family of hip hop
as well. Otherwise, Guru's legacy will live on, but with some degree of
murkiness.
And I'd take that very personal.