Rapper/composer
Guru (real name
Keith Elam) first rose to prominence as the "lyrical half" of the
hip-hop duo
Gang Starr, one of the first outfits that attempted to fuse
jazz with
rap. After three albums by
Gang Starr hit record store shelves (1989's No More Mr. Nice Guy, 1991's
Step in the Arena, and 1992's
Daily Operation),
Guru launched his own solo career, issuing
Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 in 1993.
The album featured guest appearances by the likes of
Roy Ayers,
Donald Byrd, and
N'Dea Davenport of
the Brand New Heavies, and was followed up two years later by a sophomore solo outing,
Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality, which again featured a variety of special guests (including
Ramsey Lewis,
Branford Marsalis, and members of
Jamiroquai).
Despite his solo career,
Guru remained true to
Gang Starr as well, continuing to contribute to further albums such as 1994's
Hard to Earn and 1998's
Moment of Truth. In 2000, five years after his second solo outing appeared, Streetsoul (the third in the
Jazzmatazz series) was issued, again featuring a stellar cast of supporting characters:
Herbie Hancock,
Isaac Hayes,
the Roots,
Erykah Badu, and
Macy Gray. Wasting little time,
Guru returned directly to the recording studio, issuing a follow-up one year later, Baldhead Slick & da Click.
It took four years for the next
Guru release, Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures, to come out, the first on his new label, 7 Grand Records, with beats by Solar (who became a vital force on 7 Grand's subsequent releases). The MC used the same producer for his next installment of
Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4, which, as always, included a number of guest vocalists and instrumentalists and was released in the summer of 2007. In addition to the aforementioned artists,
Guru has collaborated with some of
rap music's best-known producers, including fellow
Gang Starr member
DJ Premier,
Pete Rock, Alchemist, Ayatollah, and
DJ Spinna, as well as
Ice-T,
Naughty by Nature's
Treach,
Killah Priest, and
Ed O.G. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
