Keith “Guru” Elam aka “Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal”, 1/2 of the Hip-Hop duo Gang Starr suffered a major heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. According to the twitter account of of the other half of Gang Starr, DJ Premier, Guru underwent surgery while in a medically induced coma and is now in recovery. No updates after that.

Guru’s strong suit to hear him tell it, it is his voice, but he is also an artist whose raps were purposeful monologues.

I listened to brand new hip-hop classics by Gang Starr from elementary school until after college. Every album they dropped had hip-hop classics on it. Their albums are classics. Daily Operation is my favorite, with Step In The Arena and Moment of Truth tied for a close second.

Not to mention the Jazzmatazz series Guru released with the help of collaborators from the genres of Jazz, Hip-hop and R&B. Although the 1st in the Jazzmatazz series was the best, they all had some gems. I still bump “No Time to Play Featuring DC Lee and Ronny Jordan” every summer. It’s definitely barbecue approved (family friendly, but not corny, upbeat..you know).

I think the thing I appreciate the most about Gang Starr’s music is Guru’s damn near conversational delivery and DJ Premier’s ability to create beats that allows an MC rap to their strengths.

They “broke up” or stopped making music around 2004 or 2005. Here’s to a full recovery.