Remembering Guru Essay: Keith “Guru” Elam (1961-2010)

originally @ MoBettaSoul.com
the first tape i’ve ever owned was “step in the arena” by gangstarr. i was about 6 years old and my pops let me get it solely because it didn’t have a sticker on it (unlike that terminator-x tape “valley of the jeep beats” that had a huge parental advisory sticker on the front).

in the tradition of what is probably now coined as ‘conscious hip-hop’ gangstarr possessed lyrics that talked about black empowerment, knowledge, understanding and backdrops of dusty-samples chopped to perfection by dj premier. it appeared that the combination couldn’t get any better. simplicity: one dj. one mc. no bullshit.

this is what i feel when i hear parents and older mentors talk about how they felt when john lennon got shot or how our moms’ felt when marvin was killed. well, between dilla passing and now guru, our heroes that are just like the rock greats of yesteryear are effecting me the same way.

guru and gangstarr are solely the reasons that i am involved with hip-hop the way that i am. as an artist, writer and emotional critic wanting to see the genre that i invest my life in to be handled with love and care. guru had that same love for the culture and it’s evident.

seriously, i wanted to be guru. as a young child seeing how fucking cool the man was (in the “lounging” video with donald byrd) i loved the marriage of jazz and hip-hop and how it made sense to me. it showed that hip-hop is our modern jazz and that we’re not ignorant kids making senseless music. it doesn’t hurt to have jazz greats co-sign a culture that the rest of the world abandoned. guru had that vision.

i can remember where i was when i purchased every gangstarr record. no lie. i can remember when i was 11-years-old going to the local target (since wal-mart edited their shit) and trying to buy “hard to earn”. but since i only had a ten dollar bill, the $11.49 it cost with the taxes wasn’t enough. except for another hip-hop lover who was probably at least five years older than me, leant his buck-forty-nine to help me after he saw me in front of him in line.

i went home and played the album out to no end (and have the same exact copy of the cd till this day that i bump religiously).

it sucks to see the group part ways almost seven years ago and it was even more disheartening to see the real-life soap opera that went on with producer solar and guru’s family (having guru’s nephew plead on youtube to see his uncle in which him and his family were banned doing).

and it’s even more suspicious that a farewell letter would talk about his albums with solar (sounding like an artist bio) as well as insulting premier (not even by name but referred to as “former-DJ”) seems like something somebody wouldn’t be thinking about on their deathbed.

i’m sorry if it seems that these sentiments are crossing a line but something just doesn’t feel right. and despite guru and premier’s relationship, they had a bond that will succeed both of their lives. a bond that had guru bless 162 premier beats (i would beat down a nun to get at least one) and millions of loyal fans over the years.

a rapper didn’t pass away. music lost a pioneer and as much as i loved guru and his contribution to my life, it felt as if we lost a friend. we lost a member of our family. we love you. peace and love. “suckers keep playing themselves to have mass appeal.” -PJ

Preach Jacobs in Wax Poetics Magazine/New Shows w/ Res

what’s up yall? i’m sorry it’s been a while since i’ve last updated the site but here we go with some good news. first off, if you get your hands on the new issue of wax poetics you can check out the ad for upcoming project picki people (ad here….which one is me?). you guys will hear the first single off the project by yours truly soon enough. i’ll keep you updated.

also, we have some new shows coming up with the talented and wonderful RES(be sure to check out the tour/shows/events section):

04/24/10 Moods Music w/ Res (Atlanta, GA)
04/28/10 Johnny Brendas w/ Res (Philadelphia, PA)
05/21/10 Apache Cafe w/ Res (Atlanta, GA)

stay tuned.

Download: Dice Raw – Dice, Dilla, Pregunta [Mixtape]

ever since questlove posted those dilla/roots remakes on his swift fm page on dilla’s bd, everyone’s been writing to them (me included). well, dice raw went a step further and put out a mixtape. enjoy.

tracklisting:
1.) Long Time Coming
2.) Pregunta
3.) Hello World
4.) Full
5.) Doot Doo Dah Da
6.) Players Play
7.) Welcome Home
8.) The Greatest Rapper Never
9.) Offbeat Onbeat
10.) Get Ready
11.) Turn It Up (Led it Bang)
12.) Pour Me a Drink
13.) Allworlderlude
14.) The End of the Road

Download: Dice Raw – Dice, Dilla, Pregunta [Mixtape]

Heavy Duty Magazine interviews Preach Jacobs: “Rap Extraordinaire”

“Rap Extraordinaire” Preach Jacobs Interview
Preach Jacobs , is like the last of a dying breed, he is truly an artist for art sake and shows in his music, his vibe is usually mellow, but his flow is always candid and honest..check him out
HEAVY DUTY:

Thanks for taking time out to interview with us, I have to say that I’ve been a fan of your since I received a bootleg copy of your debut album “Garveyism”, to the official retail of the album release to present. Please let our readers know a little bit about you, in case they don’t know already?

PREACH:

I’m glad to do the interview. My name is Preach Jacobs and I’m an emcee, journalist and photographer from Columbia, South Carolina. I try to stay busy in everything from writing for magazines, doing shows to having my photos in art galleries. I just want to do the things that I love and make it a living.

HEAVY DUTY:

Now like I stated earlier I remember hearing a bootleg of “Garveyism” prior to the official release and became a fan almost immediately, so much so that once the retail version was released I bought a few copies and gave them to friends.

What I liked about the album was that it was refreshing to hear something other than braggadocio for once, how do you feel “Garveyism” was received by the consumer public what were some of the response that you’ve heard after the album dropped?

PREACH:

It’s funny when people approach you about the work that you do, very rarely do they come to you and say “hey, I hated that record.”

The people that’s responded to it enjoyed it and that was my main focus. I believe the “everyman” concept of the record was something people could relate to, because that’s the type of music I wanted to hear. I was surprised when I would speak about the album the amount of people that knew about it.

HEAVY DUTY:

My favorite cut off the album was “Dance” as well as “That Feelin” I think those records would make instant fans out of anyone, but let’s talk about the new project entitled “Maple Street Sessions” how did this come about?

PREACH:

Maple St. Sessions” kind of came about indirectly because of “Garveyism.” I was working with Marc Mac of 4hero and sent “Garveyism” to him. He then sent it to some people to check out and Denz was one of those people. We linked up and just started working on the records casually. There weren’t any deadlines, labels gawking or pressure. It was more or less “let’s just make music” and when we were done we kind of felt that someone may want to put this out. That’s the best feeling.

HEAVY DUTY:

How do you feel you’ve grown as an artist from “Garveyism” to the new album?

PREACH:

One of the biggest things that sticks out is efficiency. When I did “Garveyism” my business partner and executive producer DJ Keesh and I were doing everything guerilla style. We didn’t have a string of people to offer their ears for the project, it was just us. So, we would do studio dates and record and listen and then go back again and fix things.

That may sound good as far as trying to make the best record possible, but it’s not very cost effective. Now, I do tons of pre-production at home. Also, learning ways to get my point across more accurately become things that feel simpler now. It comes with continuing it.

HEAVY DUTY: You seem to have a natural affinity for the more mellow type of sounds have you experimented with other producers out and tried out different sounds?

PREACH:

It’s funny because one of my favorite groups is M.O.P. But I guess I tend to gravitate towards more mellow styled production. I’m a jazz freak. I have probably four our five framed Miles posters in my house.

But I do have a desire to go outside of that and a new project I’m working on titled ‘Dread Zeppelin’ with a production team called Helium Music is that type of harder Dilla-esque type of sound. My goal is to just express what I feel because if you look at my record collection and my inspirations, it’ll reflect that.

HEAVY DUTY: I recently peeped the video for “Fallin” and loved it, the track and the visual meshed well together, I saw it once and had to buy the record, I also peeped a YouTube clip of you and 9th Wonder (of Little Brother fame) hanging out, I have to ask, has any music come from this union as of yet?

PREACH:

I’m working on it. I think the great thing about that video was that it wasn’t about business. 9th is working on a great project with David Banner and they’re working with a very talented illustrator who’s like a mentor to me named Sanford Greene (www.sanfordgreene.com) and it was just a casual hanging out.

It was surreal sitting at a kitchen table shooting the shit and talking about music we love and hated. The evening ended at T. I think the fact that it was so normal meant more to me than hounding for beats. Because the camaraderie is what I want. Being peers is what I want. He’s a busy dude, and I’m working on things and if the right opportunity approaches, I definitely want to bless some tracks. So, my fingers are crossed.

HEAVY DUTY:

Have you started any plans for an album #3, yet? If. So let’s us know as Editor-in-Chief I am a HUGE fan?

PREACH:

I have tons of projects and guest appearances planned for 2010. The ‘Dread Zepp’ project is coming out later this year on HiPPNOTT Records, I have a project with Marc Mac titled “Passport” that we’re working on and something with DJ Vadim that’s in the works.

I also have a plan for a full-length that I want to take my time with and try to get the producers I want on it. I want the 9th Wonder, the Black Milk and the Exiles on there. It’ll take some time to try and get it together but dammit, I’m up for the challenge. Speak it into existence.

HEAVY DUTY:

I also see your name out there quite a bit as a journalist as well, reppin’ the culture which of the two worlds do you enjoy most journalism or music?

PREACH:

It’s an even toss up. I love both dearly. Really I couldn’t have one without the other, so the talents are co-dependent. There’s connections I’ve made to get my music written about in magazines because I’m a writer, or when I was younger and couldn’t find people to write a bio for me etc. I did that shit myself. So, it helped me be proficient in other areas that help with the common goal: Get the exposure I need.

HEAVY DUTY:

Another quality of yours that I feel goes underrated is the fact that you can hold down an album dolo, or with very limited feature guests, that something you just don’t see anymore these days, why do you think that is?

PREACH:

I think that people feel that other people have to sell their albums these days. I would love to work with other people and “Garveyism” I had a collab I was working on with Stic.Man but time tables got mixed up. Usually I just don’t like waiting on people.

I have the ability to handle the song arranging, photography, graphics and do press releases on my project. So, the idea of waiting for people is fucking irritating. But the newer stuff I’m working on, there’s a few selected collabs that is in the works that I feel will get the people excited.

HEAVY DUTY:

Before we get outta here I’ll come clean and say that in preparation for this interview I’ve made some copies of “Garveyism” for a few producers that I know and I will try to send them your way, but how can fans, fans to be or stands get a hold of you if they like what they hear?

PREACH:

Thanks for the love and passing the word. Usually artists get pissed off about bootlegging or downloads, but to me I have so many things that I’m working on outside of music that the exposure in any of the fields will help with the Preach Jacobs branding. People can get in touch with my pretty easily.

My official site is www.preachjacobs.com and they can listen to the music, download it, watch the videos and hit me up. I’m excited to be an artists that people can talk to easily and directly and that’s something I want to hold on to for as long as I can. “Maple St. Sessions” is out now on R2 records so you can get it from my site or get it digitally at all your online retailers. Not to mention, we’re getting “Falling” on Centric soon. So, pass the word on and I will continue to do my part: Make honest-dope-ass music.