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Guru Associate Black Jesus Recalls Introducing Late MC To Solar

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Rapper calls the producer an ‘opportunist’ who preyed on Guru’s vulnerability. By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Sway Calloway Black Jesus Photo: MTV News When it comes to Guru’s musical legacy, critics and fans alike point to the rapper’s work with DJ Premier in Gang Starr as evidence of his mark on hip-hop. The letter issued to the media after the MC’s death last week, however, didn’t even mention Primo by name. In the alleged comments, Guru pronounced himself to be the sole founder of Gang Starr. Admirers of the group cried foul over the slight. Solar, Guru’s new producer and spokesman, was accused of penning the letter, a claim he denied to MTV News . Fans wondered: Who is Solar? And how did he meet Guru? It turns out Guru met Solar when he was introduced by a mutual acquaintance, an artist named Black Jesus, who was signed to the Gang Starr rapper’s label. Now aligned with Wu-Tang Clan, Black Jesus told MTV News he first met Solar in the early 2000s. Both men are members of the Nation of Gods and Earths, a religious sect, and were introduced at a monthly rally in Harlem. According to Black Jesus, they discovered in one another a shared passion for music, and the rapper invited the budding producer to visit him in the studio. In the studio, working on a track titled “I’m Saying,” Black Jesus said he found Solar to be “arrogant” and a “control freak” after clashing with another producer. The rapper said he wrote the experience off to Solar being “starstruck” over Guru. Eventually, Solar started working with Guru, as the rapper was looking for beats for several projects outside of Gang Starr. Black Jesus recalled the time and emphatically denied Solar’s claims that the producer and Guru had a dynamic creative chemistry. “That’s exaggerating the whole situation,” Black Jesus told MTV News’ Sway. “The chemistry, ’cause [Guru] is Gang Starr, that’s his sound. … He did his Jazzmatazz thing and did different things, but the whole thing was, Guru was producing for me. At the time he was doing [Gang Starr’s] The Ownerz, he was working on my project. There was a chemistry we had. With the buzz, they kind of hated and didn’t want to go with the chemistry. A lot of people thought that wasn’t what he was supposed to be doing.” As Solar also revealed, Black Jesus said Guru had a dark cloud hanging over him in his later years, battling problems with drinking and drugs. He also suggested the divide between Guru and Premier wasn’t as deep as people speculated. Black Jesus said it was similar to what any longtime group experiences: personal jealousies and minor creative differences. Solar, he explained, was an “opportunist” who preyed on Guru’s vulnerability. “Guru complained to me a few times, ‘Oh, Primo this,’ ” Black Jesus said. “I looked it at like, ‘That’s you and your crew. That’s not really my business. You need to put aside your differences and put out a Gang Starr album,’ I told him. I think it was the fact, if you want me to be honest, it was the beats. ‘Cause he told me a couple times: When Guru steps off and they’re not doing Gang Starr, he does his Jazzmatazz albums, and Primo goes off and hits off Jadakiss, Nas and Hov. But I always felt [Guru and Premier] made their best music together.” Share your memories of Guru and Gang Starr in the comments below. Related Artists Gang Starr

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Guru Associate Black Jesus Recalls Introducing Late MC To Solar

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Solar Hints At Guru’s ‘Frustration’ With Gang Starr’s DJ Premier

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| 1 Comment

‘Certain aspects of Gang Starr and that relationship seemed to keep hanging on to him,’ Solar tells MTV News. By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Sway Calloway Gang Starr’s Guru and DJ Premier Photo: Gregg Delman/ MTV.com The last album Guru and DJ Premier released as Gang Starr was 2003’s The Ownerz, and the rapper began recording with a new producer named Solar. As the years wore on, whispers of tension between Guru and Primo grew louder until they were reportedly fully estranged from each other, both musically and as friends. Premier, for his part, had kept mostly quiet about any conflict between himself and his former groupmate, who died at age 43 last week. Solar, however, told MTV News that Guru might have felt frustrated by the public overlooking his contributions to Gang Starr, one of hip-hop’s most revered acts. Solar said he doesn’t want to sound critical of Premier, though, because he hasn’t spoken to the DJ in years and never knew his take on things between the pair. “I haven’t spoken to Premier, all the way back since they finished The Ownerz, ” Solar told MTV News. “We haven’t spoken. He hasn’t reached out to me, and I haven’t had the opportunity to reach out to him. What it’s been, more or less, with Guru, there’s been a lot of frustration on his part for various reasons once 7 Grand [Records] was started, it became … I don’t know, just certain aspects of Gang Starr and that relationship seemed to keep hanging on to him, and he felt it was dragging him down or holding him from getting to where he wanted to get, and it was influences that he felt around the industry was contributing to that. And I know that was a source a frustration for him and a source of frustration for myself. I felt the tension too.” Solar added that he didn’t want to be in the middle of any conflict between the longtime collaborators, during Guru’s life or now in his death. He emphasized that although he was privy to Guru’s feelings on the matter, it would be unfair for him to take the rapper’s opinions as fact since he hasn’t spoke to Premier. Solar did reveal that Guru was “definitely going through a crisis and having some trouble.” “Guru was frustrated, he really was,” Solar said. “And I think anybody around him at that time, Premier and all his people around him, might have saw the frustration around him. [Guru] was drinking, there was a lot of things going on with him that you could see, from anybody.” In the meantime, Solar is in the early stages of planning a memorial concert for Guru, which is tentatively slated for the summer. He said he’d like Premier and all the members of the original Gang Starr Foundation involved in the process. It remains unclear if Premier would be open to such a tribute. During his radio show on Sirius/XM last week, Premier disparaged Solar numerous times on air, criticizing his handling of Guru’s condition and refusing to acknowledge the producer by name. Premier issued a statement after Guru’s passing and didn’t directly address Guru’s controversial farewell letter , in which he allegedly had sour thoughts about his former DJ. Share your memories of Guru and Gang Starr in the comments below. Related Videos Gang Starr’s Guru Passes Away MTV News Extended Play: Solar Related Photos Gang Starr’s Guru: A Life In Photos Related Artists Gang Starr Guru DJ Premier

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The Sun Up Close

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Stunning new images of the sun from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. That thing looks hot! ( Via .) Watch

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Ludacris And Plies To Play Atlanta’s Birthday Bash

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

More performers will be announced for the 107.9 concert in the coming weeks. By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes Ludacris Photo: Jerritt Clark/ Getty Images Atlanta’s 107.9 has an extra-special birthday in 2010. This year, the radio station celebrates its 15th anniversary, and you already know what the celebration will be: the annual summer Birthday Bash concert. On Thursday evening (April 22), 107.9 announced its first two performers for the June 19 concert at the Philips Arena. First up on the roster will be the always combustible Ludacris. Before Luda embarked on the road to superstardom, he was a personality on the station in the late ’90s. The other name 107.9 announced today should come as no surprise, but fans will love the news nonetheless: Plies. The Florida native is becoming a staple of the concert. He’s had two highly touted performances the last couple of years. A testament to Plies’ potency as an MC is when his album cuts are sung word for word at the Birthday Bash, just like his singles. “The game is a tricky situation,” Plies said about the success of his non-singles. “From what we really stand for and what we’re trying to get across, from a company standpoint, we don’t stand a chance on radio with those records. A lot of times, people don’t understand the impact of the structure of radio. If I could put ‘Old Lady’ on the radio, I’d love to have it on the radio. A lot of times, it’s about trying to balance your situation but understanding your situation at the same time.” Last year, the Birthday Bash show-stealer was Young Jeezy , who brought out Lil Wayne and Mary J. Blige. Rick Ross, Fabolous, Gucci Mane, Trey Songz, Keri Hilson, Soulja Boy Tell’em and the Grand Hustle family also hit the stage. In 2008, Jeezy also had the most talked-about set , bringing out Kanye West, The-Dream and Usher. Stay tuned to MTVNews.com in the coming weeks for more performers who will appear at this year’s Bash. Who would you like to see perform at this year’s Birthday Bash? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Plies Ludacris

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Solar Details Guru’s Health Decline

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Gang Starr MC’s collaborator says he helped his friend ‘preserve his dignity’ during his last days. By Shaheem Reid Solar Photo: MTV News As questions about the sincerity of his relationship with Guru continue to circulate throughout the hip-hop community and on the Internet, the Gang Starr MC’s longtime collaborator Solar has opened up about the bond between the two men. “The friendship got close fairly rapidly,” Solar told MTV’s Sway of their meeting in 2002 through a mutual friend. When the trailblazing legend fell ill in early 2009, it was Solar who was appointed medical proxy. Guru died Monday at age 43, after succumbing to a cancer-related illness. Solar said Guru’s health started to drastically deteriorate beginning last summer. In May 2009, the rapper was diagnosed with a myeloma (a tumor), and by that July, he had undergone an unsuccessful operation to stop its spread from his back to other parts of his body. “There were times where I’d help him out,” Solar said. “Get his bathing together, get his self together. Help him with his clothes. Help him out with his food. I would help him get in and out [of the bathtub]. With the myeloma, it’s very delicate. So I would help him get in and out, make sure he could stabilize himself so he could do what he had to do. It’s one of the hardest things I had to do. But I loved him as a brother, and I believe he would have done the same for me. I did that to preserve his dignity, that’s what it was even in those times. “It was getting bad,” Solar said of the months that followed the failed surgery. “His mobility was starting to worsen. I was staying in his home with him to help him with his day-to-day. … We did have people from outside come in as well to help out. Doctors and specialists that were treating him recommended he admit himself [to] the hospital for treatment. … He checked himself in the hospital … signed the appropriate documents that we would be his health proxy. He proceeded to undergo treatment, got to the point of chemotherapy. He was responding. At that point, we didn’t think he wouldn’t come out. We thought he would come back out the hospital and be actually able to get back to some independent life again. The doctors were fairly optimistic that the chemo would work and some other drugs they were giving would work. That’s when the unfortunate event of the cardiac arrest happened. The lungs couldn’t take it.” Guru agreed to go to the hospital last February and, tragically, never came out. In the days since his death, many journalists, fans, MCs and even family members have questioned the sincerity of Guru’s relationship with Solar . However, Solar has maintained that he always has done what was in Guru’s best interest. Share your memories of Guru and Gang Starr in the comments below. Related Videos Gang Starr’s Guru Passes Away MTV News Extended Play: Solar Related Photos Gang Starr’s Guru: A Life In Photos Related Artists Gang Starr Guru

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Solar Defends Guru’s Final Letter: ‘Those Are His Words’

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘This is what Guru wanted, not what Solar wanted,’ the Gang Starr MC’s friend tells MTV News about controversial statement. By Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Sway Calloway Solar and Sway Photo: MTV News The controversy over Guru’s last statement to the public continues. On Tuesday, after the Gang Starr MC’s death , his friend Solar put out a letter that he said Guru wrote in his final days. The letter had Guru distancing himself from his Gang Starr partner, DJ Premier. Fans, fellow MCs and even Guru’s family questioned whether the letter was authentic. Solar maintained the same stance he had on Tuesday afternoon when he talked with MTV News: The letter is real, and he had not doctored the words. “This is what Guru wanted, not what Solar wanted,” Solar told Sway on Wednesday (April 21). “Only thing I can say is, when he wrote his statements and we recorded his life story [Solar said that he and Guru also wrote the MC’s life story months ago], he recorded it the way he saw it. He didn’t record it to fit somebody else’s desires. He didn’t write his story or his records to fit what Gang Starr fans wanted or what Jazzmatazz fans wanted. He did his music and lived his life according to what Guru wanted. Guru is a man. He lived his own life. He was in no way, shape or form not living his life according to his own plans. He wasn’t being dictated to. He wasn’t being told what to do. He made his own decisions. He ate what he wanted to eat, lived where he wanted to live, dated who he wanted to date.” Solar said he and Guru put the letter together in January, one month prior to him being admitted in the hospital, where he would stay until he died Monday of myeloma cancer. When asked if the words were 100 percent Guru’s, Solar said: “To the most part. When it’s written, you put it in the proper framework. But yes, these are his words. “Guru wrote some of it himself,” Solar added. “The myeloma affected his hands, his coordination. So he sat down and talked to me. I made physical notes, and I made mental notes of his life, strategic events, songs, concepts. We realized over the last year these things had to be documented. His particular document had to be edited down from a larger statement, which was two statements combined. It was [originally] one statement: ‘If I’m in the hospital and things get to a certain point, what do I want to release to the fans?’ He had a statement that was released earlier, and people said, ‘Oh, it’s not Guru.’ Every major star, every major athlete who passes and releases a statement through their loved ones, this is standard. There’s nothing odd about this.” On Wednesday, Guru’s family released a statement refuting points in the letter Solar released, including mention of a charity organization. DJ Premier released his own statement expressing his love for his former music partner. Share your memories of Guru and Gang Starr in the comments below. Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Solar Gang Starr’s Guru Passes Away Related Photos Gang Starr’s Guru: A Life In Photos Related Artists Gangstarr

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Jay Leno Weighs In On Conan O’Brien’s TBS Deal

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘I knew he’d land on his feet,’ ‘Tonight Show’ host says of his late-night rival. By Kyle Anderson Jay Leno Photo: Jason LaVeris/ Getty Images When Conan O’Brien announced last week that he would be returning to television this November via cable station TBS, the news reverberated throughout the television community. Was it a step down for O’Brien to move from network TV to basic cable? What would the show look like? What would his deal be? It seems that everybody has an opinion — including former rival and “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno. “I think he’ll be great. He’s a very funny guy. … I knew he’d land on his feet,” Leno told “Access Hollywood” over the weekend. “It’ll be fun. Everybody will compete. Everything after 11 o’clock is now the most exciting place to be.” When asked if he was surprised that O’Brien had landed at TBS and not at Fox, Leno said, “I didn’t know what to think. Fox is network, but they have cable too. It’s all sort of the same now. Network, cable — everybody sort of reaches the same thing. But I think it’s exciting and I think he’ll do well.” Though O’Brien had been negotiating with Fox, the TBS deal apparently came together over the course of a week. O’Brien was careful to make sure he had the endorsement of fellow late-night host George Lopez — whose “Lopez Tonight” currently occupies the 11 o’clock slot that O’Brien will take over in November — so as not to undercut him the way many people feel Leno did when O’Brien briefly took over as the host of “The Tonight Show.” Since returning to the fold as the host of “The Tonight Show,” Leno has reestablished his familiar place at the top of the late-night ratings, besting longtime rival David Letterman. Meanwhile, O’Brien’s Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour continues this Thursday in San Francisco. He’ll remain on the road until June 14. What do you think of Jay Leno’s comments about Conan O’Brien’s new show? Does it matter that O’Brien is on cable instead of on a network? Let us know in the comments! Related Photos Conan’s Career In Photos

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Gang Starr’s Guru Dead At 43

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Legendary rapper succumbed to cancer on Monday after suffering a heart attack last month. By Gil Kaufman Guru in 2003 Photo: Gregg Delman/ MTV.com Just over a month since undergoing surgery following a heart attack, Gang Starr MC Guru (born Keith Elam) has died at age 43. According to a statement, Guru died of cancer-related causes on Monday after a long fight with the disease. Guru’s longtime collaborator and partner, French producer Solaar (sometimes referred to as Solar now), mourns his loss in the statement and explains that Guru had written a letter to his fans that was to be released upon his death. “The world has lost one of the best MCs and hip-hop icons of all-time — my loyal best friend, partner, and brother, Guru,” Solaar said. “Guru has been battling cancer for well over a year and has lost his battle! This is a matter that Guru wanted private until he could beat it, but tragically, this did not happen. The cancer took him. Now the world has lost a great man and a true genius.” Born on July 17, 1966, near Boston, Guru rose to fame in the late 1980s as part of the duo Gang Starr with partner DJ Premier. The pair helped define the New York underground rap sound in the 1990s. Their unique sound combined Premier’s production palette, which leaned heavily on sampled jazz records and scratched vocals on the choruses, with Guru’s uncompromising rhymes. Although the pair would work separately as often as they did together — Guru’s Jazzmatazz series of albums and Premier’s work with Nas, Jay-Z, and underground act Group Home — Gang Starr continued to release critically acclaimed material throughout the late ’90s and early 2000s. Their 1998 album Moment of Truth was among their most critically lauded collections and Gang Starr’s biggest selling project to date. Gang Starr’s last group project, The Ownerz, was released in 2003. Guru found solo fame in 1993 when he released the first volume of his Jazzmatazz series, an all-star project that featured a number of collaborations with jazz icons such as Branford Marsalis, Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers and Ronny Jordan, as well as vocals from Solaar and N’Dea Davenport of the Brand New Heavies. The album’s mixture of jazz and rap was considered pioneering at the time, and the record spawned the hit “Trust Me.” Guru would go on to make four volumes in the series. Guru wrote his farewell letter while in the hospital, according to Solaar. “I, Guru, am writing this letter to my fans, friends and loved ones around the world,” it begins. “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 [of] myself and my son until he is of age to except on his own.” Guru very pointedly distanced himself from Premier in the letter, saying he didn’t want his former musical collaborator to be able to participate in any tributes or events surrounding his death. “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,” wrote Guru. “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 Gang Starr, I am very proud of what Gang Starr 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 Gang Starr or Jazzmatazz 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.” Share your memories of Guru and Gang Starr in the comments below. Related Videos MTV News Vault: An Interview With Gang Starr Related Artists Gang Starr

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Five Things You Need to Know About Steven Seagal’s Sex Scandal

Posted on April 15, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Here’s one dispute that won’t be solved by a swift blow to the solar plexus. Steven Seagal is being sued by 23-year-old Kayden Nguyen, an ex-employee/wannabe model who alleges…

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Guy’s Frozen Penis Snaps Off in Ian McEwan’s New Novel [Book Excerpt]

Posted on March 14, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Post- Atonement Ian McEwan wrote a satirical global-warming thriller wherein a man tries to pee outdoors in -26F Norway, then experiences shrinkage so severe his dick turns into a frosty popsicle, cracks, and slips out the leg of his pants. Praise be the gods of Page Six that this is the first excerpt I’ve seen from Solar . Protagonist Michael Beard is a physicist whose wife leaves him when she discovers he’d had eleven affairs. He goes on a trip to the Arctic to “see global warming for himself.” While in Norway, the following occurs: As the polar wind raged … he watched in horror as his penis shrank even smaller, and curled tighter against the zip. And not only was it diminishing before his eyes, but it was turning white. Not the white of a blank page, but the sparkling silver of a Christmas bauble. …his unfortunate [member] was as hard as ice … He let himself be guided back to [his guide’s] Ski-Doo and it was there that the calamity finally happened. As he raised a leg to hoist himself onto his place behind the guide, he felt, and even thought he heard, a terrible rending pain in his groin, a cracking and a parting, like a birth, like a glacier calving. He gave a shout… The punch line, Page Six writes, “is one of the sickest meet-cutes ever.” Beard boards an Arctic cruise ship and a pretty lady initiates conversation: “This just dropped out the bottom of your trousers.” Dear Literary Master Ian McEwan, I am pre-ordering your book right now. [ P6 ]

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Guy’s Frozen Penis Snaps Off in Ian McEwan’s New Novel [Book Excerpt]

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