The Raw Addict 7.19.09.: Some 20th Anniversary, Huh?
Posted by Phil Watts, Jr on 07.19.2009
The Guru is shortchanging himself. He is capable of much more than he’s been giving us…and I’ll show you how!
"Guru: …I wanted to say real quick, before we continue, that I don't know whose decision it was to exclude Solar from the interview, but it's just a collaborative effort and it wouldn't be going down with Solar- he's the CEO of the record company as well as the producer, as well as the director of all the videos. We been around the world, his production has been critically acclaimed on the previous records, you know around the world, and you know the politics that's involved in this are not really to my liking. As a legend it's a little bit---
AllHipHop.com: What do you mean when you say "politics?"
Guru: I mean to be say "Oh we just want to interview Guru" or "We don't want to interview his partner." It's very you know- I'm a legend, and at this point in my career, I mean, I want to do what I want to do. I don't really have to dictate in what I want to do, especially when it comes to promoting my record- it's no fucking charm. I mean if it's going to be something that's not about this record and a trip down memory lane, then I would respectfully decline from even doing the interview.
AllHipHop.com: Okay, well I mean if you don't want to do it, then we don't have to do the interview. I do want to talk to you about- you know it is the 20th Anniversary of your 1st album…
Guru: See that's what I mean! That's something I don't want to talk about. I don't want to talk about the past. The past is the past. It is what it is. It was great, but that was then and this is now. I mean, you know, that's just what it is. I mean there may be some artists that's doing new music that's irrelevant, but my music's relevant. 7 Grand is a successful, important, independent label. At a time when the music industry is tight, when CD sales are low, we've been successful. We're still running- we're up and running, and we're going strong. So to be forcing me- to try and force me to go down memory lane when I don't want to is kind of insulting. It's not even kind of insulting."
I've been sitting on AllHipHop.com's interview with a disgruntled Guru for the past few weeks. I've had a while to think about how to approach it. I originally wanted to clown on it and talk about how he's trying to one-up CL Smooth in the "sad-but-hilarious" post-break-up interview attempt…or how his new shit with Solar ranks between "mediocre AT BEST" to "Hilariously BAD"…or his salty attitude toward his hometown of Boston…but all that has been done before.
Ever since reading this interview, I decided to listen to some of the songs he did throughout his career WITHOUT PREMIER, and I came to the following conclusion:
I would FULLY support a Guru SOLO album produced entirely BY HIMSELF!
NO PREMIER. NO SOLAR. NOBODY.
First, let's take a look at a project that is often sited as the best example of Guru as a soloist: JAZZMATAZZ, Volume 1. Did you know that Guru produced, arranged, and mixed the whole thing? Considering that he'd only been in the business for 5 years at that point (and the fact that JAZZMATAZZ Volume 1 is considered the best of the lot), he did a pretty damn good job. Yeah, a lot of people dismiss this album because some of Guru's lyrics are on the trite side, but hey--let's just say that he worked with a lot of older artists and much like any other adult of the same age group, they don't want to hear all that cussin'! Also, let's not forget that most those Jazz greats that contributed to this project were years, if not DECADES past their prime, so getting all the pieces to fit could not have been easy.
Let's talk about the Gangstarr albums for a minute. Take out the liners, get a magnifying glass, and read the credits. Most of the time, it reads, "Produced by DJ Premier and The Guru". Guru was every bit as involved in the musical direction of Gangstarr as Premier was. Remember, they were both learning the ropes during their early years (if you don‘t believe me, listen to every Gangstarr CD in chronological order and notice the evolution. THIS is artist growth, people!). Usually, when you look at the credits of a song, the first name had the most creative input in creating the song. Most of the time in the case of Gangstarr, it‘s C. Martin (Premier)/K. Elam (Guru). In these three songs, it's the other way around:
This one surprised me when I first found out. Guru's beats are usually a stripped down version of the Gangstarr sound. This string-driven track goes well with Guru's cautionary street tale. However, I'm willing to bet that the morris code during the hook was all Preem!
On one hand, I see this as one of the weak links of MOMENT OF TRUTH, as I thought it was way too smoothed out for a Gangstarr album…however, this could've made a brilliant track for a Jazzmatazz album. Jazzmatazz Volumes 3 & 4 could've used tracks like this.
It was this song that got me into Lonnie Liston Smith. The man had some classic ‘zone-out' material. Sadly, Guru fucks up by screaming on the mic because MOP's in it. He should've stuck with the smooth monotone, since that's what this track is tailor made for.
I think it was either VIBE magazine or The Source that credited Premier for producing these two tracks. The very next issue, Guru wrote a letter to them stating that HE did both of those songs.
Fabidden Fruit, "From Within Out" (from the D&D Project, Vol. 1)
Ugh. I can't find this one. Anyway, this is from the first D&D Compilation album, which a lot of people deem as a disappointment. Me? I didn't think it was THAT bad, although a lot of the newbe rappers could've stepped it up some more. This track is in the same vein as "Life" and is probably one of my favorite Guru-produced tracks. It would've been better if guru was in it, as Fabidden Fruit doesn't really do much with it.
This is Guru's attempt at some street shit. It's from Big Shug's early attempt at a solo record (which wound up getting shelved). It seems that Guru turned his back on everybody in the old Gangstarr foundation these days, and Shug isn't exactly happy about it (Guru & Shug were both Boston natives and have been together before they even met Premier).
Remember DJ Pooh of the Boogiemen, who worked on Ice Cube's DEATH CERTIFICATE? They had some hard-ass shit back in the day. Their sound is solely missed and the West needs to bring that back. Anyway, Pooh had his own little record label around 1993 and Nefertiti was one of the acts from it. This was her colab with the Guru, which he produced. It's too bad that things didn't work out too well.
In my humble opinion, if Guru would think back at all those sessions with Premier, think back at all those MC's he worked with, all those talented artists that he worked with (Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, Ramsey Lewis, Chaka Khan, Jamiraqui, Herbie Hancock, etc.), I think he could pull off a hell of an album. Take a look at Q-Tip's Renaissance. That album was an accumulation of all the things Tip learned from his years with Tribe, as well as all his years working with J-Dilla, and all the struggles of working as a solo artist (I.E. the shelved OPEN and ABSTRACT albums), all cobbled together in one record. I think that Guru is just as capable of pulling off something like that. All he needs to do is dig deep within himself, take everything he learned from his years in the music business, throw in all the life experiences he's had during his years in Boston, Brooklyn, and all the places he's traveled…maybe even make a song about how the Gangstarr Foundation fell apart.
And let's not forget the vocals. He still has one of the most recognizable voices in Hip-Hop. It's his voice that made all those cautionary street tales in all those Gangstarr recordings that much more gripping. Don't ever let it be said that Guru has nothing to contribute lyrically. Being a dope MC is more than just canned punch-lines and bragging.
Put it all together and you have the makings of one great solo outing…and I know Guru can pull it off.
