On July 18, 2010, Family and friends will celebrate the life of GURU of Gang Starr, hip hop icon. The memorial will be held at the University of Massachusetts Boston campus.
The Elan family launched GuruTribute.com for fans to view video from the ceremony, as well as share their own memories of GURU and how his music impacted their lives.
For more on GURU, his life and death, his music, and all the tributes to him from other artists, click here.
The homie Rammellzee was born in 1960 in Queens, NY. One of hip hop's pioneers, an emcee, a philosopher, graffiti artist and a sculptor, he was from a different time.
True Story: When I started planning for my forthcoming World View project, Rammellzee was one of the first artists I reached out to. Excited about the idea, he asked me to send him a couple rough tracks with open verses to him -- on CD, via snail mail!
When it finally arrived and Ramellzee had a chance to listen, he agreed right away to sign on. Unfortunately, the next time I called him, a woman picked up and said he would not be participating... Needless to say, I was disappointed. And now, with the legend's passing, his absence from the project will be felt even more. R.I.P. Rest In Power.
More on/from Rammellzee
Rammellzee was perhaps best known for his appearance in the heralded hip hop film Wild Style, or for his 1982 smash hit with K-Rob, "Beat Bop", which featured cover art from legendary painter Jean-Michel Basquiat and appeared in the classic graffiti video Style Wars. But Rammellzee was so much more.
Jim, Jimi, Janis, Cobain... and Dash... Another genius dead at 27...
SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE MORE THAN THE SUM OF THEIR DRUGS. DASH SNOW WAS A LEGEND IN THE GRAFFITI WORLD. HE WAS A SERIOUS (READ: ALREADY RECOGNIZED) UP-AND-COMING PHOTOGRAPHER (IN THE LARRY CLARK VEIN). AND HE WAS NEW YORK CITY -- THE REAL NEW YORK CITY, THE GRITTY BEFORE-WASHINGTON-SQUARE-PARK-WENT-SQUARE NEW YORK CITY. R.I.P. DASH SNOW (A.K.A. SACE (IRAK)).
[Andy Kessler, West 30th Street, Manhattan, 2005; photo by Ivory Serra]
Excerpted from "The End of Falling" by Bret Anthony Johnston, published in The New York Times on August 13, 2009.
Born in Greece and raised on West 71st Street in Manhattan, Kessler started skateboarding when he was 11. This was in the 1970s, a time when skateboarding was so alien to New York City that he had to mail-order his gear from California. Significance-wise, think: Prometheus and fire. When other kids saw Kessler carving around the Upper West Side on his board — which would’ve been three inches wide with metal wheels — they followed, and just like that, the East Coast skate scene was born. It was gritty, dirty, and beautiful, the shadow-version of the breezy West Coast surf-style. It still is.
Click here to read more of the Bret Anthony Johnston opinion piece. Click here for Andy's New York Times obituary. Click here for a VERY personal blog post from hip hop mainstay Dante Ross.
[Please Note: It was originally reported that GURU was born on July 17, 1966, and I posted my first blog on the emcee's death April 21, 2010; however, DJ Premier, the other half of the legendary Gang Starr, since confirmed GURU's birth date of July 17, 1961... Sadly, this is one of the many circumstances surrounding GURU's death that have raised controversy.]
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...
Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal
I haven't felt the loss of a hip hop artist this deeply since the death of 2Pac and BIG. People used to make fun of me for exclusively blasting Gang Starr out the whip -- specifically, Moment of Truth. Probably because I'm a little younger, that's the album that did it for me. When I started rapping, my brother Whatzisface (who mentored me, as well as Chuck Inglish from The Cool Kids) told me I sounded like GURU. Usually, young emcees cringe at any likeness -- biting is a crime in hip hop, and rightfully so. But I was honored. "Robbin Hood Theory" was always my joint, but I still dig the collaboration with Jadakiss and all his Jazzmatazz albums, plus everything else. The big homie GURU was a fucking ambassador, as real as any. Roy Ayers, Chaka Khan, Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Branford Marsalis and Me'Shell Ndegeocello are hip hop because GURU told us so. And Bahamadia, Group Home, M.O.P., Jeru The Damaja, Big Shug and many others might be unknown to us had GURU not introduced us to their talents...
Unfortunately, the closest I ever got to GURU was through affiliation with Canadian emcee Bless. They appeared together on my official intoduction to hip hop, the Sub-Way mixtape, which featured Sub-Way Stiles (AWKWORD, Whatzisface, Blended Babies, DJ Syzygy and Voice1) and hip hop mainstays like GURU, Raekwon and ILL BILL, among many others. But I never got to meet him. Based on what I've read from the few people I follow on twitter, those who did meet GURU were not disappointed. Punchline said: "at least i can say i met the man and rhymed wit him in my hotel room in miami. rest in peace guru from gangstar." Poison Pen said: "Guru was the first "rap celeb" I met as a teen. I was in Tramps in nyc & the homie was buzzed. Walked over to me & spit a freestyle!" I read the letter supposedly written by GURU and all I'll say is that it made me question. Others, like the homies PUSH! Montana, Immortal Technique and C-Rayz Walz, also had questions. As did GURU's family (Click here or here). But I will not let shady characters or unanswered questions impact my memory of GURU, which will live on as we celebrate him every 4/20, and every other day as well, as we commit ourselves to maintaining. GURU: Rest In Power.
We all must meet our moment of truth.
Click here for the official statement from DJ Premier.
Click here for the VIBE interview (04/28/10) with DJ Premier.
Click here to hear DJ Premier's GURU Tribute Mix, recorded April 23, 2010.
Click here for Mister Cee's GURU Tribute Mix, provided by Hot 97 and 2DopeBoyz.
Click here for Tony Touch's GURU Tribute on Toca Tuesdays, provided by NahRight.
Click here to download Statik Selektah's Tribue to GURU, recorded live on Shade 45 Radio.
Click here for HipHopDX article "DJ Doo Wop Remembers Guru The Father, Last Tour."
Click here for a video interview with fellow rap heavyweight Fat Joe, who says GURU and Gang Starr "represent the true essence of hip hop."
Click here to leave a message for GURU's family on the Online Register.
"Behind the deceptive words designed to entice people into supporting violence -- words like democracy, freedom, self-defense, national security -- there is the reality of enormous wealth in the hands of a few, while billions of people in the world are hungry, sick, homeless."
-- Howard Zinn, preface, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
(from Wikipedia) Howard Zinn was an American historian and Professor of Political Science at Boston University from 1964 to 1988. He was the author of more than 20 books. Zinn was active in and wrote extensively about the civil rights, civil liberties and anti-war movements. In his best-selling A People's History of the United States (1980), "he concentrated on what he saw as the genocidal depredations of Christopher Columbus, the blood lust of Theodore Roosevelt and the racial failings of Abraham Lincoln. He also shined an insistent light on the revolutionary struggles of impoverished farmers, feminists, laborers and resisters of slavery and war. Such stories are more often recounted in textbooks today; they were not at the time (The New York Times)."
I MET HOWARD ZINN ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2005, AT VASSAR COLLEGE, AFTER HE INTRODUCED "STAGED READINGS FROM HOWARD ZINN'S A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES PERFORMED BY CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY". HE WAS A GREAT, GENTLE, MODEST MAN.
Click here to read remembrances of Zinn by hip hop artists Talib Kweli, Q-Tip and John Legend.
Adam Goldstein, a.k.a. DJ AM, was more than the combo of crack, OxyContin, Klonopin, Xanax, Ativan, Benadryl, Levamisole and Vicodin that killed him at 'lucky' 36.
His last public contact was via twitter: "New york, new york. Big city of dreams, but new york aint always what it seems."
Click the image (Allen Salkin, "Dancing with Demons", The New York Times, October 16, 2009)...
For the official Kennedy Government Web site, click the photo below.
Throughout his career in the United States Senate, Senator Kennedy authored more than 2,500 bills, including several hundred that became Public Law, and many that made a significant difference in the quality of life for the American people.
Following are what I consider his 15 great priorities/successes (in no particular order):
1.) Fighting for Quality, Affordable Health Care 2.) Championing Civil Rights 3.) Promoting Fairness and Equal Opportunities for All 4.) Fighting for Fair Elections and Protecting Voting Rights 5.) Retaining America's Leadership in the Global Economy 6.) Reforming the Federal Criminal Code 7.) Ensuring Safer Communities 8.) Ensuring High-Quality Education for All 9.) Advocating National and Community Service 10.) Fighting for Workers’ Rights and a Fair Minimum Wage 11.) Promoting the Right to Organize and Associate Freely 12.) Protecting the Environment and Promoting Energy Efficiency 13.) Providing Voice for Human Rights and Democracy worldwide 14.) Supporting the Troops and Defending the Nation 15.) Ensuring Disabled Americans Can Live Productive Lives
Government officials on both sides of the aisle expressed their regret, sympathy and admiration following the announcement of Kennedy's death on Tuesday, August 25, 2009.
“It was the thrill of my lifetime to work with Ted Kennedy. He was a friend, the model of public service and an American icon... Senator Kennedy’s legacy stands with the greatest, the most devoted, the most patriotic men and women to ever serve in these halls... As we mourn his loss, we rededicate ourselves to the causes for which he so dutifully dedicated his life." -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
"For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore [Edward Kennedy's] name and resulted from his efforts... An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time." -- President Barack Obama
"Today America lost a great elder statesman, a committed public servant, and leader of the Senate... Ted Kennedy was an iconic, larger than life United States senator whose influence cannot be overstated." -- Republican Senator Orrin Hatch
Click the pic above to view the ModelMayhem site of Jasmine Fiore. Note: this page may disappear
Typing "R-y-a-n-J-e-n-k-i-n-s" makes me sick. This self-hating, weak, homicidal child trapped in a man's body has gotten more than enough shine already, appearing on a few episodes of VH1's Megan Wants a Millionaire and, supposedly, finishing in the final few...
Click here for more on the cancellation of Megan Wants a Millionaire, as well as the cancellation of I Love Money 3, another show on which womanizer/murderer Ryan Jenkins was to appear.
Click the picture below (of Jasmine Fiore's mother, crying) to read more about how this tragic situation might affect Reality TV casting henceforth.
Brief Overview
Ryan Jenkins murdered model Jasmine Fiore, his ex-wife. He cut off her fingers and ripped out her teeth. He stuffed her body in a suitcase. He threw the suitcase in the trash. And then he ran.
This roach escaped into Canada, where he was found, dead, in British Columbia, reportedly hanging...
My Thoughts (In Brief)
I am sorry for the family of Ms. Fiore. I am sorry for Megan, who, thankfully, must have chosen someone else before her show finished taping, but had to live with this rodent for who-knows-how-long.
For More Information
Click the Jasmine Fiore pic below to read more about the case.
