Few of you that follow this blog now know that around the same time I’d originally decided to go back into having a personal blog (I’d discontinued Poisonous Paragraphs New Years Day 2010 in order to focus all of my efforts on Bloggerhouse), the news came down that Guru was in a coma. I scrapped all my previous blog ideas after hearing that. I was in complete shock.

Since I’m an oldhead that remembers Mike Dee & Keithy E leaving for New York in order to get a deal and how Boston wasn’t even getting acknowledged by New York (even though Bostonians had already made significant contributions to the culture at the time) previously, I had to post something about it. It really affected me personally. The fact that Guru was in the hospital in a coma and not only was his family late to find out, but his lifelong friends in Boston were also frantically calling around saying “That HAS to be a rumor. We’d know if Keith was sick!”.

“How could Keith be that sick and we all heard nothing from anyone when we’re the ones that knew him first?”. I got those kind of phone calls left and right. I felt completely powerless. I ended up doing the one thing I knew how to do, write. I hit Twitter, Wordpress & Tumblr writing about the influence one action had on an entire city and the influence one man ultimately had on Hip Hop culture as a whole. It’s like KRS One said, “You must learn!”.

About a month later, speculation had run wild about exactly what had befallen Guru and the role Solar played in it all. Not too long afterwards, Guru passed away. It instantly hit me. What would my life been like had he and Mike Dee never gone to New York? What if those first Gang Starr 12”s on Wild Pitch had never dropped? What if Guru never met DJ Premier and made “No More Mr. Nice Guy”? How would that have affected not just Boston Hip Hop history but Hip Hop history in general? Would I even be typing away at this keyboard right now? I highly doubt that…

Last week, I went to Paradise Rock Club to bear witness to proof of what one man can accomplish in a lifetime indirectly without even realizing it. Every act on that stage and every emcee, DJ or person in that venue (whether they wanted to acknowledge it or not) owed a debt of gratitude to Keith Elam. I went early to catch all the organizers and whatnot.

As soon as I entered I saw the show’s host D-Tension and right after that I saw my cousin Twice Thou of Made Men (formerly of legendary Boston groups Body Rock Crew & Almighty R.S.O.) and I caught up with him for a minute. During our conversation my cousin on my other side Daneja of the M.I.C. & 617 Live showed up. That was totally random…

There’s been an old joke running that I’m related to 25% of Boston and that whole occurrence certainly solidified matters. Dane & Marco chopped it up about business for a while and and then I talked to Dane for a minute before he had to handle some business (that was his poster on stage all night BTW).

It brought back memories of my family being so involved in Hip Hop culture & the Boston music scene from way back. I literally grew up knowing New Edition as Ralph, Ronny, Bobby, Ricky & Mike through my cousins that lived in Orchard Park Projects in Roxbury. My cousin Baron & Ralph were best friends and they used to come to the South End.

We lived in the Lower Roxbury section of the South End on the literal edge. Lower Roxbury began at the corner of Mass Ave & Tremont going towards the Piano Factory. (It’s also a bus stop for the #1 MBTA bus). I saw these dudes all the time as a kid so them becoming stars Stateside then world famous and highly influential to future generations of performers was kinda surreal.

The following post got completely rewritten from what it was yesterday because I had a major epiphany. It’s not about me recapping last week’s show for those who didn’t make it. What this post and the show was about was paying homage, celebrating the life of one of our pioneers and saying thank you to him for everything. Every single person who stepped on stage that night owed a debt of gratitude to Keith Elam. Shit, so did a great percentage of the crowd (myself included)!

When Edo. G took the stage with his Special Teamz compatriots Jaysaun & Slaine, he told the crowd that last year’s Hip Hop Unity Fest that had Jay Electronica and Jeru Tha Damaja as special guests was originally supposed to be headlined by Guru. Ed told us that he’d booked him and everything before he’d fallen ill and he got Jay Electronica to fill in. That was some sobering news considering we were there just months later to honor him and this year’s entire show was a tribute to him featuring his partner DJ Premier as the headliner.

7L & Esoteric took the stage and Eso ran down the list of all the old school Boston Hip Hop acts he came up with and said that he and 7L patterned their style and aesthetic after Gang Starr. I grew up with the same influences he did. I also go back to the days of Lecco’s Lemma and I heard Body Rock Crew, Fresh To Impress Crew, White Boy Crew, Almighty RSO Crew, Gang Starr Posse, MC Spice, Top Choice Clique, T.D.S. Mob and more on my radio hoping that New York would notice the noise we were making. It eventually happened.

When Statik Selektah took the stage with ST Da Squad and the entire ShowOff Records crew, that connection to the GangStarr Foundation became all the more apparent. All Of REKS & Termanology’s work with DJ Premier immediately stuck out in my mind. They were the continuation of the legacy of Scientifik & Krumbsnatcha. Both of whom were inspired by Guru either directly or indirectly. Everything had come full circle.

By the time DJ Premier took the stage to bring the entire night to a climax it was clear was that entire night was about. I saw a gang of oldheads, legends and future legends in the spot. I saw a gang of family, extended family, old friends and old enemies turned friends in there as well. We reminisced about the good bad old days in Boston when you would have to risk getting robbed or getting jumped just to rock the mic in certain spots. We reminisced about the freestyles battles at Downtown Crossing and the elevated train lines.

We even reminisced about how something as simple as going to Cambridge back in the days meant you had to get geared up with John Matrix in “Commando”. What we all reminisced about the most was how the guy that started so much. The dude that got this entire ball we call Boston Hip Hop really rolling for real wasn’t on Earth anymore.

I remember listening to songs out of New York and wondering why when they shouted out cities they never shouted us out even though they all had cousins here (ask the Mizell’s and the Blige’s about that shit) and sent their troubled kids here or just flat out ran here whenever shit got too hot for ‘em back in the tristate area (NYC, NJ & CT).

Boston has completely infiltrated New York Hip Hop to the point they don’t even realize how many of us are there now. Whether it be in Hip Hop (both print & digital) journalism, radio, production, emceeing, business or management. Check if you think I’m fuckin’ around (I’m not). That label you’re signed to? That magazine you’re reading. That beat you’re spitting over. That bad ass chick that’s interviewing you right now? She’s from Boston (or Cambridge. Happy now Maya?), B!

It all started with one dude who was willing to crash on couches, eat sparingly & work menial day jobs just to be where he had to be to make his dreams come true and put his city on one day. Big Shug reminded the crowd that the beginnings of Gang Starr and GangStarr Foundation all started in Boston more than 25 years ago but now their membership and influence is worldwide. All this was made possible by one man…

I know he wrote and spit classic bars. I know how he produced classics and hits. I know he helped to discover and put on people we regard as legends today. I also know that even as a kid when I heard him big up Brooklyn that Boston, his home could never leave his heart. In his memory (and the memories of all the Boston/MA legends that passed away) I’m going to rep my city until I exit this mortal coil. If you muthafuckas don’t like it? Take it personal © Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal

One.