Primo may have hooked Guru up with countless incredible beats, but ever since 1994 my favourite Gang Starr cut has been a Keith Elam production :
Gang Starr - Code Of The Streets
Fuck internet-revisionism that Guru wasn't a great rapper, but I really hope the rumours of him and that cloth-eared hack Solar buggering each other weren't true. He could've done so much better if he was a clandestine lover of cock.
I'ma pour out a lil' strawberry and banana smoothie out for you over lunch.
R.I.P
not a great way for me to wake up.
ReplyDeleteR.I.P. Guru, very sad news. Good call on Code of The Streets
ReplyDeleteRIP Keith
ReplyDeleteGuru was as camp as a row of tents, it is undeniable. Even his nephew in that video appeal he released described how Solar became Guru's "right hand" man. However, had he embraced it, it would have been interesting to see where he would have gone. His thumpingly queer Solar produced post-gangstarr dance track is truly odd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fENodJNlpKA&feature=player_embedded
It all could've turned out so differently if Guru had just started dating Afrika Baby Bam instead of Solar.
ReplyDeleteGuru produced that? I don't believe it. I love the Kenny Dope remix.
ReplyDeleteCheck the Hard To Earn credits.
ReplyDeleteGiven the bent of this blog, I had expected a Guru Eulogy to detail the guy's penchant for snappy beret/shellsuit ensembles but still....a fitting tribute. RIP Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal.
ReplyDeleteBest Guru outfit : the cocked beanie + white/green/black plaid shirt jacket combination in the Mass Appeal video.
ReplyDeleteWorst Guru outfit : any of his shellsuits or the pvc kecks on the front of No More Mr Nice Guy.
r.i.p
ReplyDeletenever noticed that code of the streets was a guru production either
RIP Guru.
ReplyDeleteI searched the internet but now I don't know where else to turn but to the master:
Why the fuck is the guy in the radio DJ skit on Funk Upon A Rhyme putting on a terrible British accent?
As radio DJ skits on rap albums go it's one of the betters too.
I'm impressed that you know Kokane. That's a weird ass album which was way ahead of its time in 1994.
ReplyDeleteKokane was a man of many voices on that tape and I'm 95% certain that it's Kokane himself channeling the voices of Mick Jagger, Slick Rick and Bruce Grobbelaar into one dulcet tone.
I'm gonna go listen to Funkinmuffin' on repeat in the bath.
What I would ask is, given the pretty successful back to the basics first half of The Ownerz (Same Team No Games and the title track, though eminently formulaic Premo, aren't that bad either), could one make an argument for it over Moment Of Truth? That there is one album that has never done much for me. The Rep Grows Bigga, You Know My Steez, Above The Clouds, Work are really the only things that sound much like classic Premo. And I think it's worth noting that the first two songs are somewhat unworthy sequels to earlier classics.
ReplyDeleteMoment Of Truth is definately overlong and i'm baffled by people who prefer it to Hard To Earn and Step In The Arena, but I'd take it over The Ownerz.
ReplyDeleteOther than the tracks you mentioned I absolutely love The Militia, Betrayal, It'z A Set-Up, New York Strait Talk, JFK To Lax, My Advice 2 You, B.I Vs. Friendship and Moment Of Truth, and like Royalty and In Memory Of.. because they work in context of the album as the token radio jam and the ethereal tribute track album closer.
Actually, I quite like The Mall too. It's a dry clunker with those annoying snares which have have ruined a lot of Primo tracks since '98, but I can overlook all that because I like songs about shopping.
ReplyDelete