| Charles Fletcher | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Gang Starr Gang Starr?s music honors hip-hop?s jazz roots. Indeed, the duo?s biggest break came when director Spike Lee brought them together with saxophonist Branford Marsalis to collaborate on a piece for the film Mo? Better Blues. Keith Elam (his Guru moniker stands for "Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal") formed the initial version of Gang Starr in his native Boston, where his father was the city?s first black judge. Elam rebelled against his upbringing and moved to New York City in 1983 to seek a career in music, but not before studying business at Morehouse College in Atlanta. In the mid-Eighties Elam heard a demo tape by Chris Martin, a DJ from Brooklyn who was then studying computer science at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. When Martin returned to New York, the two moved into a Brooklyn apartment and began jamming. Gang Starr?s first album featured the songs "Positivity" and "Jazz Music," which pointed in the direction the duo would explore further on later albums. Gang Starr?s major-label debut, Step in the Arena, reached #19 on the R&B charts. After the release of A Daily Operation, Elam announced plans to do a solo project of jazz/hip-hop fusion music, featuring noted jazzmen Courtney Pine, Marsalis, and others. The resulting album, Jazzmatazz, came out in 1993. Formed 1988, Brooklyn, New York The Guru Keith E. (b. Keith Elam, July 18, 1966, Boston, Mass.), voc.; DJ Premier (b. Chris Martin, May 3, 1969, Brooklyn), DJ. 1989 -- No More Mr. Nice Guy (Wild Pitch) 1991 -- Step in the Arena (Chrysalis) 1992 -- A Daily Operation 1994 -- Hard to Earn | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
This goes out to the Brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Yo Baby. In all the ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy path. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Music: Jazz, Experimental and Explicit Lyrics alias RAP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite Links | |||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||