Remembering GURU & Trane on July 17

Wow... All alone here in the crib, living the hip hop lifestyle, up at 4 PM for breakfast after a long night of writing hits to future-bangers produced by the homie Alexander the Great (ATG)...

And with the Yankees losing in the background (RIP George Steinbrenner & Bob Sheppard), all I want to do is pay tribute to two music legends, because I think that's what today is all about. Not the heat in the city. Not Lindsay Lohan. Right now, not even the oil in the Gulf. Because some days are meant for celebration, for remembrance. Put aside the complaints about sweaty pits and stinky hippies, the fascination with celebrity trash and (just for a moment) the fear of a dying planet...

And pour a little out for these great artists (I got my Corona Light x Patron Silver x lemon & lime). We could all learn something.

Keith "GURU" Elam



Now that we're gettin somewhere, you know we got to give back /
For the youth is the future, no doubt that's right and exact /
Squeeze the juice out, of all the suckers with power /
And pour some back out, so as to water the flowers /
This world is ours, that's why the demons are leary /
It's our inheritance; this is my Robbin Hood Theory...

** Play "Robbin Hood Theory" (Gang Starr) **

GURU was my favorite emcee growing up. He is most famous for his work with DJ Premier in the rap group Gang Starr. He also made a number of Jazzmatazz albums, collaborating with jazz legends to produce some of the greatest jazz-hip hop blends we've ever heard. (I think Coltrane would have been proud.) GURU would have been 49 today.

Click here to read the GYMR GURU Obituary/Remembrance following his untimely death.

John William "Trane" Coltrane



John Coltrane died 43 years ago to this day. He wasn't even 41. But his music and his legacy live on. Since I make "angry rap music", when I want to kick back or get inspired, that's usually not what I listen to. I dig the stuff hip hop got its roots in, like the instrumentals of the iconic saxophonist and composer they called Trane. (I think GURU would have been proud to be mentioned 'alongside' Coltrane on this date.)

Cop A Love Supreme, Giant Steps and Coltrane's other albums here.










This post written by AWKWORD.