Let me start by screaming: RAP is CRAP! Now that I got that off my chest I can continue. I hate to sound like your old uncle who talks about music sucking and how the music he grew up with was great but think about it; Rap is now all packaged up in a pretty little box. Rappers live like Kings and they rap about poverty while driving a Bentley. Come on, even MTV strongly supports rap! Having said that, I still love the art of true Hip-Hop … back when Hip-Hop actually meant something. There are still those artists like Defari, Canibus, Dead Prez and The Roots that keep the true essence of Hip-Hop alive (But of course they get no radio play). I’m not slamming Rap (Well maybe, but not Hip-Hop), it’s just not my cup of tea, to each his own!
With all that being said, our Artist of the Week is the first ever Hip-Hop artist: G.U.R.U. (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal). GURU is one half of the super-group Gangstarr (GURU & DJ Premier). In the early 80’s, rap had a heavy influx of great rappers/groups, but by the late 80’s rap was getting to be too mainstream. As a result there were a lot of rappers who had no business on the mic (AKA Vanilla Ice, Young MC, Mc Hammer). Rap was becoming commercial, but in 1993, GURU changed the game. GURU started using real instruments in all his music, not using the usual 2 turntables to create a new sound. He called on some major Jazz artists like Donald Byrd & Roy Ayers and the result was Sheer Musical Genius.
GURU released Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 in 1993 and it was an instant classic! This might be one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums ever released. Long before The Roots ever started incorporating instruments into their music, GURU had paved the way. Songs like “Loungin’,” “Sights in the City” and “Down the Backstreets” were chill, dark-ass jazz tracks that you could just kick back to. Up-tempo tracks like “Transit Ride” and “Trust Me” also had heavy jazz sounds mixed with scratching. This infusion of Jazz and Hip-Hop was done so well that a pure Hip-Hop fan could enjoy it, while a pure Jazz fan could enjoy the instrumentation. GURU’s cool, deep and methodical delivery was a complement to the instrumentation. I also liked the fact the he would just let a song play out for the last few minutes with instrumentation only! Even if you really dislike rap music like me, you will still enjoy this album because the experiment works well.
With the critical acclaim and success of Jazzmatazz Vol. 1, Guru decided to get back at it and record Jazzmatazz Vol. 2 in 1995. GURU called on some other heavy hittin’ jazz players like: Donald Byrd, Ramsey Lewis, Bradford Marsalis and the great Chaka Khan. This album was different from the previous album because hip-hop was influenced more, with the jazz aspect being used more in the undertones of the songs. Don’t get me wrong; it is still a phenomenal album despite the addition of more Hip-Hop! He even re-united with DJ Premier on several tracks. Songs like “Something in the Past,” “Respect the Architect” and “Watch What You Say” are platinum hitz. After the release of Vol. 2, something went wrong and I don’t know why.
GURU’s next two albums; Vol. 3 & Vol. 4 were released in 2000 and 2007, respectively. These albums weren’t the greatest. Guru strayed from the formula and I feel he paid a steep price. The two albums relied heavily on guest artists to sing the hooks but it felt too commercial and a bit contrived. They still had some stand-out songs (State of Clarity, Guidance, No More) but for the most part, they fell short. If you are a fan of mainstream rap, then I think you might really enjoy these two albums.
GURU has released a few albums in between the Jazzmatazz series. He also just finished up his Timebomb Tour with MC Solaar and they are in the studio hard at work on their next project.
There is no secret recipe for picking our Artist of the Week. Most of the time it is just an artist who we are into or who we hear a song from in our iPods. Like I said from the beginning, I will try to re-introduce people to bands that I think they should know. So we here at ETS want you to rediscover GURU!
Top 5 Songs
1. Lounign’ (Jazzmatazz Vol. 1)
2. Respect The Architect (Jazzmatazz Vol. 2: The New Reality)
3. Trust Me (Jazzmatazz Vol. 1)
4. State of Clarity (Jazzmatazz Vol. 4: The Hip-Hop Jazz Messenger)
5. Down the Backstreets (Jazzmatazz Vol. 1)
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