RIP Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal

One of the first rap casettes I bought was Gang Starr's Step Into The Arena. It took some time to grow on me and in some ways signaled my move from high bpm rebel rap to more nuanced hip hop.

By the time Hard To Earn came out, Gang Starr was one of my favorite groups. They stand out in that era as the tops. They combined a gully attitude with style and mixed it with some of the best beats.
Guru went on to do Jazzmatazz. He was certainly a pioneer of that jazz/hip hop fusion and I loved Jazzmatazz 1 and 2.

Keith Elam aka Guru died today. I don't think anyone could out it better than he did...

No religion could save ya

My religion is rap, r-a-p

R-e-a-l-i-t-y, g

Cause when I rock street kids rejoice

I got mad rhymes, still

It's mostly tha voice, that gets you up

It's mostly tha voice, that makes you buck

A lot of rappers got flavor, and some got skills

But if your voice ain't dope then you need to chill