the hum / By Bob Doran

Jazzy Matazzy — Guru foresees the future of hip hop

(July 26, 2007)  He was half of the duo Gang Starr, but the smooth rapper known as Guru was never a gangsta type, not in his style and definitely not in the socially conscious content of his lyrics. At the end of the ’80s, Gang Starr — Guru and producer/partner DJ Premier — pioneered the use of jazz samples in hip hop. When Guru went solo in 1993 with Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 , “an experimental fusion of jazz and hip hop,” he gave the new genre a name. It stuck.

Fourteen years and many albums later, he now has the word “jazzmatazz” tattooed on his arm and he’s up to Jazzmatazz Vol. 4. , a disc subtitled “Hip Hop Jazz Messenger Back to the Future.”

Solar and Guru of Jazzmatazz.

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“Everybody knows that lyrically I’m that dude, I’m the guru of this,” says the self-possessed Guru calling from Denver, where he’s touring with his new hip hop partner in rhyme, Solar , aka “The Superproducer.” “I’m continuing my tradition but taking it to a whole ’nother level,” Guru continues. “The roots started with getting the actual jazz cats who everybody was sampling, getting them to jam on some hip hop, then bringing in world-class vocalists to create a new genre. As it has evolved it has hip hop and jazz on the face, but also encompasses elements of R&B and soul — even reggae, funk and rock ’n’ roll on the new one.”

As Guru was working on developing his jazzy subgenre, hip hop went mainstream. “What we see is that commercialism has taken over where art used to exist,” says Solar. “What you’re seeing now [in chart-topping hip hop] are not really true artists, what they are is corporate pitchmen. They’re not even there to sell records; they’re there to sell other products. Madison Avenue realized they could use hip hop music and concepts to sell products. It was only a matter of time before they corrupted the whole hip hop record industry, making it a marketing tool.”

Guru and Solar seem resigned to the fact that their 7 Grand label probably won’t produce platinum-selling CDs. “We’ll move a fraction,” says Solar, “but we’re happy with that because we’re content to be artists and not corporate pitchmen. I’ll be straight: We’re not driving Lamborghinis or Rolls Royces.”

Guru adds: “The thing I get out of it is the satisfaction of having creative control. I’m a free man now. Solar’s the CEO of 7 Grand and I’m the President. And we’re proud of the stellar cast we put together to rock with us for the album. We have jazz cats like Bob James and Ronnie Laws, up-and-comers like Slum Village and Blackalicious. We have Common, of course, and on and on.”

Also on the new disc: Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley (who is also coming to Humboldt soon for Reggae). Using Damien was Solar’s idea. “We wanted to add some reggae,” Guru notes, “Solar was like, ‘Damien is it.’”

“Me and Guru spent a lot of time in Jamaica, so it was a no-brainer,” says Solar. “I was a big fan of ‘Jamrock,’ and a huge fan of Bob Marley, and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with Jr. Gong. I was amazed at what he came up with for us. He and his brother Stephen [ Marley ] have a great integrity to their music and their stage show. Working with them was an honor.”

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