LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION Mourning the Death of Rapper Keith "Guru" Elam, a Lyrical Icon
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION mourning the death of rapper Keith "Guru" Elam, a lyrical icon WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to honor and pay trib- ute to those individuals whose commitment and creative talents have contributed to the entertainment and cultural enrichment of their commu- nity and the entire State of New York; and WHEREAS, Keith "Guru" Elam of Brooklyn, New York, died on Monday, April 19, 2010, at the age of 47; he was an American emcee and member of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr; and WHEREAS, Born Keith Elam in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachu- setts, on July 17, 1962, he began his career in the mid-1980s as MC Keithy E, but soon switched to Guru which he later turned into the acro- nym (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal); and WHEREAS, Before beginning his rap career in earnest, Guru graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1983 and later took grad- uate classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan; and WHEREAS, Guru came to be known as one of the formative rappers of the flourishing New York hip-hop scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s; in 1988, after an early version of Gang Starr splintered, Guru met Christo- pher Martin "DJ Premier", a Houston, Texas, transplant to Brooklyn, forming a partnership that would lead to six influential and critically acclaimed albums, two of which, "Moment of Truth" and the hits collection "Full Clip", were certified gold; and WHEREAS, Known for social themes, together, Guru and DJ Premier made archetypal East Coast rap, sharp-edged but
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