Le rappeur Guru de Gangstarr meurt à l’âge de 43 ans suite d’une bataille contre le cancer

Keith Elam, légende du rap plus connu sous le nom de Guru, est décédé le 19 avril, à 43 ans, des suites d’un cancer contre lequel il luttait depuis plus d’un an. Guru était tombé dans le coma au début du mois de mars, suite à une crise cardiaque. Il était sorti de ce coma au bout de quelques jours, faisant preuve d’un rare courage et d’une réelle volonté de s’en sortir.

Les nouvelles de Guru étaient même plutôt bonnes ces dernières semaines, son manager ayant laissé entrevoir la possibilité de le voir sur scène aux prochains festivals de jazz, où il devait se produire durant l’été. Juste avant de mourir, Guru a tenu à rédiger une lettre destinée à ses proches et à ses fans, qui a été publiée sur le Net quelques heures après l’annonce de sa mort.

Dans cette lettre, il dit sa fierté d’avoir participé au groupe Gangstarr comme pionnier du hip-hop east-coast, et se félicite d’avoir été à l’origine des quatre projets Jazzmattaz qui ont, selon lui, « redonné du souffle au genre du hip-hop/jazz à une époque où il n’était plus rien ».

On peut lire cette dernière lettre adressée à ses fans, où il laisse apparaître une certaine rancœur vis-à-vis de DJ Premier, celui qu’il appelle son « ex-DJ », sur le blog de ce dernier.

Un rap pionnier et exigeant
Avec son complice DJ Premier au sein du groupe Gangstarr, il avait contribué au cours des années 90 au rapprochement fructueux entre hip-hop et jazz. Guru laisse avec Gangstarr des disques essentiels comme « Step in the Arena » (1990) ou « Daily Operation » (1992), qui furent tous deux classés dans les 100 meilleurs albums rap de tous les temps par le mythique magazine The Source.

Au même titre que Run DMC, Public Enemy ou le Wu-Tang Clan, Gangstarr incarnait un rap exigeant, au message politique fort et aux productions fouillées. Ici un extrait de « Step in the Arena », « Just to Get a Rep »

Voici la lettre qui l’a écrit pour ses fans juste avant sa mort.

I, Guru, am writing this letter to my fans, friends and loved ones around the world. I have had a long battle with cancer and have succumbed to the disease. I have suffered with this illness for over a year. I have exhausted all medical options. I have a non-profit organization called Each One Counts dedicated to carrying on my charitable work on behalf of abused and disadvantaged children from around the world and also to educate and research a cure for this terrible disease that took my life. I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting.

My loyal best friend, partner and brother, Solar, has been at my side through it all and has been made my health proxy by myself on all matters relating to myself. He has been with me by my side on my many hospital stays, operations, doctors visits and stayed with me at my home and cared for me when I could not care for myself. Solar and his family is my family and I love them dearly and I expect my family, friends, and fans to respect that, regardless to anybody’s feelings on the matter. It is my wish that counts. This being said I am survived by the love of my life, my sun KC, who I trust will be looked after by Solar and his family as their own. Any awards or tributes should be accepted, organized approved by Solar on behalf myself and my son until he is of age to except on his own.

I do not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name likeness, events tributes etc. connected in anyway to my situation including any use of my name or circumstance for any reason and I have instructed my lawyers to enforce this. I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death. Solar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation, as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ. As the sole founder of GangStarr, I am very proud of what GangStarr has meant to the music world and fans. I equally am proud of my Jazzmatazz series and as the father of Hip-Hop/Jazz. I am most proud of my leadership and pioneering efforts on Jazzmatazz 4 for reinvigorating the Hip-Hop/Jazz genre in a time when music quality has reached an all time low. Solar and I have toured in places that I have never been before with GangStarr or Jazzmatatazz and we gained a reputation for being the best on the planet at Hip-Hop/Jazz, as well as the biggest and most influential Hip-Hop/Jazz record with Jazzmatazz 4 of the decade to now. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time. And we as a team were not afraid to push the envelope. To me this is what true artists do! As men of honor we stood tall in the face of small mindedness, greed, and ignorance. As we fought for music and integrity at the cost of not earning millions and for this I will always be happy and proud, and would like to thank the million fans who have seen us perform over the years from all over the world. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time and is my most creative and experimental to date. I hope that our music will receive the attention it deserves as it is some of the best work I have done and represents some of the best years of my life.

Lire le reste de l’article ici.

Tags: Guru, hip-hop, Jazz, Keith Elam, Rap