In the summer of 2005 I was an elementary school teacher on his first summer vacation. I was a 23 year-old Hip Hop fan living out dreams of talking to those who inspired me, and I looked up to, as well as fresh and new artists that would inspire the world for years to come. That year I interviewed a plethora of legends from Gza, to the Beastie Boys, Wyclef to Common. Included in the batch of musical legends granting me 15 minutes of their time was Guru, who had just officially ended Gangstarr, and released a solo album with his new partner in production, super producer Solar. If you’re a Hip Hop fan that reads the news, you’re no doubt familiar with Solar these days. However, in 2005, not that much was really known and I’m not sure any of what is happening now with Guru and Solar was even a thought.
I talked to Guru on a hot summer day, pacing throughout my apartment (no office back then, lol) asking Guru questions about his new creative outputs, as well as the feeling of working with Solar vs. working with Premier. I also asked him if he thought the Gangstarr break up was harder on the fans, or harder on him and Premier to which Guru replied, “I would have to say them, because first of all, it wasn’t anything dramatic. It was just a situation that we out grew that also we want to leave as a legacy and not spoil. If you’re trying to milk something like that, especially the way the industry is, they will bury it. It won’t be a legacy and it won’t be something viewed as great.”
Ask Guru about Gangstarr today, and he may have a different answer. But, these questions weren’t asked in 2010, but in 2005. Take a trip back and enter Treasurechest’s Vault right after the jump.
Since he started his career with Gangstarr, Guru has continually pushed his sound to new levels. Not content to stay stylistically dormant, Guru incorporated multiple music genres into his own, simultaneously reaching new heights of creativity and new fans as well. Partnered with one of the most innovative deejay/producers in Hip Hop in DJ Premier, Guru combined Jazz with Hip Hop to create the Gangstarr sound. He’s also worked with musical legends such as Issac Hayes, Roy Ayers, and Chaka Khan through his side project Jazzmatazz.
Any artist that hopes to enjoy a long career in music must be able to change with the times. Guru has shown his ability to reinvent himself, while still maintaining his core identity. His travels through the music industry have led him here, to 7.0 The Street Scriptures. The album, which is the first since he and Premier decided to part ways creatively, is not just a Guru solo album, but the start to a new movement. Guru has joined forces with producer Solar for this new album, as well as his new label, 7 Grand Records. And while the album is a new page in the career of a rap legend, it is the still the same book.
In this exclusive interview with DJ RTC, Guru and Solar discuss the new album, Guru’s responsibilities as an elder statesman within Hip Hop culture, as well as the ever changing Hip Hop landscape. Check it out.
DJ RTC: I was looking at the title of the album, 7.0 The Street Scriptures. That seems to be a title with a lot of meaning…can you expound on that for a bit?
Guru: 7.0 is where I’m at as far as all my work in the game up to now. I’ve reached the level of 7. 7 is a complete level. It’s a level of creativity and the highest form of spirituality as well. And you could look at it in a lighter way. In America, 7 represents things that are lucky, fortunate. Scriptures are words, phrases and literature that will span through time that have a magnanimous message in them that’s always going to be able to touch the reader or the listener at any given point in time, classic. The reason why we put street scriptures is the way the street’s being represented in Hip Hop these days is a farce. Everybody in the hood is not driving Maybachs or Rolls Royces.
Solar: Really the concept came up, me and the God travel around. We hang out in New York, or wherever we go we don’t roll with security. We’re always accessible to the people. We can never go but a block or so before somebody comes up. And when they were coming up they would always say, ‘When are you coming out with something new.’ Even kinda when The Ownerz was out we were still hearing that. And these would be different people from completely different walks of life. Sometimes it’d be kids and they’d call us Gangstarr. Sometimes it’d be college people, that age group. And other times it would be people older than that that might have children already. And they’d always be like, ‘man, we’ve always dug your music.’ Or, ‘man, I love your stuff. When are you coming with something new?’…These were people that wanted something from different walks of life. The street doesn’t only mean the hood. The street is just where real people live real lives. Even if you’re a millionaire your life is real to you. We’re not here to say who’s life is realer. We’re just here to express what people have come to expect from Guru. That’s what the Street Scriptures means. We’re really trying to make records that the people feel are representative of what they are. There’s meaning there for them. And there’s good music there for them. And it’s not a distortion of reality. And that distortion, like the God said, is these cats at the top right now. They’re bloated and the images that they’re giving them are false. The hood isn’t full of Rolls Royces and Lamborghinis. And you shouldn’t have to need that to be sexy. You shouldn’t have to need that to find a chick, to enjoy your life. You should be able to enjoy a good quality of life without all this money and bling.
DJ RTC: …People also look up to you as an elder statesman in Hip Hop. What does that position mean to you?
Guru: It means a lot to me. At the same time I’m that dude that’s not only an elder statesman, but I’m a fly elder statesman. They will accept me giving them positive words and guidance in a way because they know I speak their language. Plus, I’m not coming from some authoritative position talking down to them. I’m that dude that’s fly like they are, that they can relate to. Actually, we can exchange information coming from them as well. That’s what it’s about. It’s about opening up the lines of communication that are supposed to be there. And they look to me for that. They look to Solar for that.
DJ RTC: How did working with Solar on this album compare to working with Premier on the Gangstarr stuff? Is the vibe similar or different?
Guru: It’s a totally different thing and I don’t compare them. One is one and one is another. Solar and I are brothers of a same belief system. That makes it that much more intense. That’s a whole other level, it can’t really be compared. The music and the message comes out of that. The other thing is, the styles are different. Solar’s style in the studio is much more involved as far as even coming up with the hooks and things like that, and the concepts for the songs. It’s just a total different work ethic and everything. We had forty something songs to choose from, whereas, with Gangstarr we would just pick a number and do those. We’re in the studio everyday when we’re home. On the road we’re writing songs when we’re on the plane. It’s a very intense work ethic. I’d say it’s much more intense than Gangstarr. But it’s different because of the time we’re in too. This is a whole different situation. It’s new.
Solar: Music is made in context. Music is being made different these days. Back then when that era was popping that’s all it was about. All you took was an MPC and a crate of records, and that was brilliant and genius. What Premier’s done and those cats, and Pete Rock and those cats and that era did was brilliant. But this is a new era. This is the era of the Neptunes, of Storch, and Kanye, and I see myself in the same school of producers. I’m just as adept at that way of making music as anybody else.
DJ RTC: Do you think the breakup of Gangstarr has been harder on you or your fans, the fans of Gangstarr that are maybe stuck in the earlier era?
Guru: I would have to say them, because first of all, it wasn’t anything dramatic. It was just a situation that we out grew that also we want to leave as a legacy and not spoil. If you’re trying to milk something like that, especially the way the industry is, they will bury it. It won’t be a legacy and it won’t be something viewed as great. And now it’s time for me to recreate, reinvent. That’s what all my favorite artists have done, and that’s what I’m doing. You could look at Snoop and Dre, that’s a legacy right there. And now you got Snoop and Pharrell, and Snoop is onto something new, creating new history. Every artist, every great artist should have that right and should do that. True fans will support that. That’s why we say to the quote-unquote Gangstarr heads, ‘if you are a true Gangstarr fan you would have heard this in Guru’s lyrics pointing to a day when there would be an even purer creative vision.’ This is un-tampered with major labels. This is not just a solo album. This is Guru as a CEO running a company that’s sparking a new movement in Hip Hop. Intelligent thinking, creativity that’s original, we’re bringing that New York Hip Hop spirit back and creating balance. That’s just as much or more important as a solo Guru album. It’s a whole movement. The fans, I think they get caught up. Solar says, ‘ain’t no future in the past.’ Sometimes they get caught up in that so much they’re not evolving. But we understand that and we can bring them along. I’m not going to turn my back. Just because I’m going to the next level I’m not going to turn my back on the underground that made me, and they kind of worry about that. Solar: I believe that once they really see that Guru’s not going anywhere I think you’re going to see that very little of the Gangstarr fan base is going to move away. I think it’s just that when they heard my production that it was so new and so different and it’s a hit sound, it’s going to do well, we’re going to move units with the sound, I believe that’s a large part of it. That fear or concern that, ‘oh here goes another one. Now Guru’s going to break out. Now he’s going to go and be pop or whatever.’ But they’re going to see over the course of this album and the future albums they’re going to that see who Guru is is going to stay true to the people that are always attracted to him. But at the same time we’ll be attracting a new fan-base and a new demographic.
Guru: And Solar was a member of the Gangstarr crew so to speak. Before we were working together he was touring with us. He hung out with Premier. Rode on buses, rode on planes with us. It’s not like he just came out of nowhere. When I met him I didn’t even know he was producing beats. We got introduced by a mutual friend and we were just hanging. I was expressing to him my frustrations with the major label influences on the Gangstarr stuff over the years. Every album, A&R’s, and execs, and Hip Hop culture or the streets so to speak, they were making decisions that affected my creative vision. That was frustrating. Plus, I was only able to use Guru for Gangstarr and Jazzmatazz, and then I had to get approval. And that was upsetting because I discovered Premier and because I was the front man they allowed him more freedom for his production. And I supported that because I thought that was good for Gangstarr. At the same time I was frustrated that I couldn’t do my thing. I had vowed that when I was free from that I would do my thing. And I linked up with Solar and we made it happen. We perfected this sound and everything over a two and half year period. This didn’t just start out. This is a real process. We’re building something. This is excellence meeting at a point.
DJ RTC: In one of the new songs you have a line that says, ‘I’ve done it all, even had a few lows…’ At the end of the day, with all the lows and huge, huge, success, what is keeping you motivated? What’s made you keep going and keep putting out music rather than just making it for yourself?
Guru: We all know the answer to that, the love for the art form and the culture. I love spitting. You give me a hot beat I get open, still. And it’s going to be that way for a while. I’m listening to everything that’s new and I’m competitive with it. That I still have and that is almost innate within me. It runs through my veins so to speak. That’s what keeps me going. Also the drive to take my creativity, my creative vision, the vision I have with Solar forward for Hip Hop and for our people. To take that to the next level is very important to me. That’s what I represent, so I’m going all out….What do we say Solar? Balls to the wall.
Solar: Yeah, just let it all hang out.