Guru & Solar
Interviewer: Lil Jay
Dubcnn sat down with New York Hip Hop legend Guru of Gangstarr fame
and his partner and producer Solar for an exclusive interview. They
explained what it takes to make it in the independent game and run a
label like 7 Grand Records. We discussed the "Street Scriptures" album
as well as the upcoming "Jazzmatazz Volume 4" and the philosophy
behind it. Guru also talks about industry politics, while Solar speaks
his mind on dealing with critics and the extra hate that comes with it.
As ever you can read or listen to this exclusive Dubcnn interview and
we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to
liljay@....
Dubcnn: So how's the label doing?
Solar: Well 7 Grand is doing great, "The Street Scriptures" has moved
well over a 100,000 units. We pretty much pushed the envelope as high
as independent distribution will take us. So now we're actually
getting ready to set up a whole new distribution system for
"Jazzmatazz 4". So we did it. They say the first record that's the
one, it either makes you or breaks you. So we're here, and we're going
strong, we're ready for another release, our tour schedule is solid,
the video is out. Europe again showed us much love on the video, but
MTV and BET here in the States kinda been boycotting it for some
reason or another. They can show pornos and some girls ass, but they
can't show our video. Whatever, it's just the way it is. We're staying
strong, we're independent and we're fighting it out.
Dubcnn: How does it feel to finally be able to do what you want and
stay away from all the label politics?
Guru: Man, I'm so glad you ask that Jay. It feels great, because just
that level of control is something that I've always wanted to
experience, and I never experienced it before this. It was frustrating
for me, I was always angry. Solar will tell you, when he met me I was
a frustrated dude. And it's not good to be creative and be angry at
the same time. It's like you don't get a chance to really really focus
and get a pure vision out there. So now, you get a pure vision from me
because I'm in a better place.
Solar: I say it's really important as a producer that the artist is in
a good place spiritually. When you listen to "The Street Scripures",
we call it that cause it's a real album. It's about real events, and
it also kinda reflects the New York feeling and what after 9/11 living
in New York is like. You can kinda pick that experience up. There's
pain, there's hope, there's fight, you just have to resolve. So all of
those elements, as they're apposed to 'My mothafuckin' chain is worth
more than your whole house nigga', 'Me and my bitch we got yachts'.
People want that, go find it.
But 7 Grand is a real label, it's gonna make real music. We got new
artists that we've signed, we gonna be working with known stars in the
future. On "Jazzmatazz 4" you gonna hear some very big names. On
"Street Scriptures", I thought what B-Real spit about the industry was
right on point, Jean Grae killed it, Doo Wop is another legendary DJ
and spitter. So we really feel we gonna bring Hip Hop a good look that
it deserves.
Dubcnn: So you think "The Street Scriptures" received a better
response at home in New York or in Europe?
Guru: It's about the same now, but I would say in the beginning Europe
was onto it first. What do you think Solar?
Solar: I'd say that the streets of New York was all over it right at
the beginning. The stuff that we leaked was hot right away. The video
press, the radio people, the mixtape DJ's all jumped over it. Matter
of fact, we hit number 10 on Hot 97 with the new single, which is
really good. But if you look at it in terms of Bad Boy or Rocafella or
Murder Inc., then naw, it doesn't have that kind of love and
acceptance. But on the streets, yes. Street love, hood love.
Surprisingly enough we got love from Hot 97, which is the key radio
station in the world. They break every big Hip Hop thing. But I don't
have that kind of money like Kanye or Jay and them, so it's in some
way it's underground in terms of the way we're doing things.
Dubcnn: Guru do you feel it's harder to make an impact if its not
labeled Gangstarr?
Guru: No, I don't. I would have never really entered into this if I
thought that. I would never go into something thinking that it's gonna
be unsuccessful or not worthwhile or anything. But it's hard period
running an independent label, and putting out your own music and then
we gonna have other artists coming out. All of that is hard work for
sure, but at the same time it's rewarded. So you gotta size it up
before you even do it, you gotta know if you wanna do it, and if you
got the balls to do it, so to speak. This has taken a lot of courage
and bravery and all of that. Because there's alot of people from the
past and they wanna hate, and they hate for no reason. Solar and I, we
rise above that. The music rises above it, and the way we carry ourselves.
But at the same time we're intelligent enough to come up with new
marketing plans, new promotional vehicles. We're not the typical
label, like we're kicking it with you, and other internet journalists.
You guys are ahead of the curve, as Solar says you guys are the future
of the media. Right Solar?
Solar: Yeah I believe, once again I have to say it, that it's a
blessing for us to be talking to you and having you interviewing us.
Because these print magazines are fucking crazy. The Source lost their
minds, we have to give them like 50 thousand Dollars to get a cover or
get a feature. It's like it has nothing to do with your record, it has
nothing to do with your talent! It's how much money you got! And
they're not even hiding that shit, they're putting that shit out
there! They're out their fuckin minds. So it's a pleasure to be able
to talk to a real journalist, and you're a real journalist and you're
fuckin' important man. So it's good to be able to talk to you guys and
let you guys really get the message out to the people who need to hear it.
Guru: Exactly. And another thing too about your question. I think we
have a new audience that we're developing, so it's not just the
Gangstarr fans. It's some of the Gangstarr fans, but it's a lot of new
fans. There's a lot of 15, 16 year olds at the shows in the States and
in Europe. And there's a lot more women. That part is fly, which means
that they think we're sexy (laughs). But what I'm saying is that the
foundation that was laid down by my previous work is cool, it led to
this. Now this is taking it to the next level. It's a purer vision
because it's Guru that's not being tampered with with all that
politics shit that you were speaking on. So it's a reinvention of an
MC that was already dope. So now I'm dope, but I'm dope with a whole
new sound that's coming from a true sound that's born and bred in the
New York streets from Solar. So it's interesting, and I'm enjoying
riding this wave right here. It's a lot of hard work, but the results
have been very positive for me and I'm going all out with this shit.
Solar: I'd say it's a blessing to be bringing a new sound. Because it
is new, this sound with Guru rapping on the stuff that I'm bringing,
it's like never been heard before. Some people compare a little bit to
this producer or that producer, but all in all I have my own sound.
Guru: And I knew that when I first heard it, cause that's the kinda
ear I got as a MC that's been tried and tested in this game. I heard
it when I heard Premier, and that was great, and that was great for
that era. And I heard it when I heard other producers, you know Havoc
from Mobb Deep, Marley Marl, Jazzy Jeff, Dre. I hear it. And when I
heard Solar's shit, I knew it. And I said 'Before he goes out and
gives it to somebody else, tell him I want these beats for me!' And we
were friends already for 2 years before I even heard the beats, so
it's not like he tried to push the shit at me.
Dubcnn: Solar, how would you compare the music you do with Guru to
another MC/Producer duo, as far as chemistry goes?
Solar: That's one thing that me and Guru really have, that's great
chemistry between us. And that's what you're hearing in the records,
the Jazzmatazz is gonna really be incredible. When we're getting in
the studio, no matter how much problems we're facing in the music
industry and how much bullshit is going on, once we get onto a great
song, it all just disappears and it's just all about the music and the
creative process. And I don't believe that anybody out there that
listens to our albums can say that they don't hear the chemistry.
But it's kinda fucked up in a way, because the only criticism I've
gotten on this album is been that I don't sound like Premier. I don't
wanna sound like Premier. I took my time to make sure I came up with a
different sound for Guru. Because that sound is that sound, and if
people love that sound they can always go and buy those old albums.
But this is Guru's new sound. So everybody who's accepted that this is
new and this is what's hot from New York now, they're having a great
experience with this album. But there still are haters out there that
just have their heart set on trying to critize me for not sounding
like Premier, and I just think that's stupid.
Dubcnn: But then again you can take that as a compliment.
Solar: Yeah, I've survived it and I've done well, even to the point
where I think they helped sales. I don't think that the album would
have sold as well if they weren't running around writing those reviews
or whatever.
Guru: Some of that hate is just so extra, that it made other people go
'What the fuck is this about?', and it made them check out the album
and they were like 'Oh this is hot!' So that controversy and hate
created more sales for us. But you know what it is? You can't do
anything that is this important and this monumental in Hip Hop without
being hated on. It's unfortunate, but that's how it is.
Solar: But you gotta look at it like this too though, we are bringing
forward something thats positive and useful to the whole Hip Hop
community. Everybody benefits from 7 Grand Records. Hip Hop is better
having us here, so I think that they should take that into
consideration before they hate. Cause it's one thing to hate on a dude
that's bragging about his bitches and bragging about his cars, but
when people are talking about a positive image, that's really evil.
Dubcnn: As far as the upcoming Jazzmatazz goes, is the new one gonna
be different than the previous ones?
Guru: I can tell you it's gonna have elements of all the previous
ones, but we live in a whole day and age, so we deal with a whole
bunch of other things. And of course Solar's sound is an advanced
sound, it's almost a futuristic sound, so we're not trying to make it
like the old ones. But then we listen down the old ones and we analyze
them. Like the last one, the 3rd one, I believe I had too many
producers. This is my own criticism, I feel like I had too many
producers on it. The first two I did almost all the production myself,
except for like 2 tracks. So on the 3rd one I got all these expensive
producers with big names coming up. That was cool, but to me it didn't
come all together. It sounded more like a compilation than a organic
body of work. So this album, Volume 4, will be an organic body of work.
All produced by Solar, with co-production by myself, which means that
it's gonna be way more focused. And it's a musical journey that's so
incredible. And the thing I love about it, it's Hip Hop plus and we
don't have the constraints that we did with "The Street Scriptures"
even though I love doing the hardcore, the pure shit. But doing this
is like going on a vacation, and being able to explore things and push
the envelope even further than the envelope itself. I mean Solar you
can break it down what you did musically...
Solar: Musically what it represents... of course there's been 3 prior
albums, and I wanna bring the freshest, the best version of Jazzmatazz
on this album. So what I decided to do was looking to what is Jazz
representing to the world? And this is what I found out: Jazz itself
is not one kind of music, but a fusion of different styles. You had
untrained black musicians from the South that were doing Blues and
Soul, and you had classically trained musicians from New York and
other parts of the United States. And you also had Islanders that
imported the rhythms from Jamaica or Haiti, which were Afro-Carribean
rhythms as well as Brazilian influences. And all of these different
musical styles and cultures came together in Harlem to form Jazz. So
what Jazz was to me was a fusion of different styles and cultures into
a new music form that has never been seen. And the parallel of Hip Hop
is right there, they form their own fasions and sub-cultures with
their own language like Hip Hop. And they had their own little drug
and alcahol culture, all very similar to Hip Hop. You had
interraciality, again like Hip Hop, open to all people. So I believe
this is back to the future, Jazzmatazz is taking all these different
elements that are out there and bringing them together into a new form
of Jazz/Hip Hop.
Guru: 24 tracks, double CD. There may even be a couple bonus tracks
too for Europe and Japan. The album is not gonna be all just features.
There is a great number of songs that is just Solar and myself. And
then you've got people like David Sanborn, Teairra Mari, we reached
out to Common, he's down to do it, we've got Raheem DeVaughn, Natasha
Bedingfield, Ronnie Laws, Herbie Hancock we're talking too. So there
is definitely the element of the classic Jazz from back in the day,
but also the new male and female vocalists from today. So we gonna mix
all that together.
Dubcnn: What kind of music were you listening to specifically during
the making of the "Jazzmatazz 4"? Were you influenced to a certain
direction?
Guru: You know we listen to everything. But when we just came off tour
we had a Mix CD from my man, he's actually DJing out there in
Switzerland. His name is DJ Little Maze. He made a Mix CD of a lot of
classic Jazz tunes, but not really radio popular Jazz tunes, but just
classic Jazz tunes. Like breaks and rare grooves. So we listen to
that. But we listen to a lot of stuff that's out right now. We listen
to Lil Wayne, we listen to Dipset, we listen to Young Jeezy. We listen
to everything that's out, a lot of different things. MF Doom,
Ghostface's "Fishscale", all of that.
Dubcnn: Since Dubcnn is a West Coast Hip Hop magazine, is there
anything West Coast related that you listen to?
Guru: Ohh yeah, in fact the West Coast is some of my favorite Hip Hop.
I mean I got "The Chronic 2" in my deck right now, some classic shit.
And I'm looking forward to Ice Cube's new album, because to me besides
being an icon on television, he's always been a great MC to me. And
his live show with Dub C and Mack 10 is one of the best live shows
that I've seen in Hip Hop. So big up to him. And as far as the new
cats from the West, Solar and I both like Game's album.
Dubcnn: As for the song concepts, can people expect any surprises that
they wouldn't expect to hear on the album?
Guru: I mean with Jazzmatazz you never know, because as the features
go along, we do this track and then we say to ourselves 'Who should we
get on this track?'. So as the features go along, there may be some
surprises definitely.
Solar: I think musically the album is gonna be a nice surprise. I
think you can't really know what this album is gonna sound like from
listening to all the previous Jazzmatazzes, and you not gonna know
because this is something new. So it's gonna be a real fuckin' good
look for Hip Hop.
Guru: Yes, and a good look for music in general, music.
Dubcnn: Is it frustrating seeing cats getting radio and video airplay
that have about a 1/10 of your talent, and not you getting that
respect that you deserve?
Guru: (Laughs) You know that's always gonna be a bit frustrating, but
I don't let that frustration stop me from doing what I do. And then
also as an intelligent business man along with another intelligent
business man, we find ways to go around that. So if this one entity is
hating and not wanting to play our stuff, then we'll go to this other
entity who's not hating. It's just the way it goes, and that's what
Hip Hop is about, bringing it directly to the people. And that's the
problem now, that the people are being forced by the major
corporations, and they don't even necessarily want that shit. So we
find other ways to bring it to them, whether it's in our live shows,
or whether it's talking to people like yourself, or whether it's
satellite radio, or other ways. There's a lot of different ways.
Dubcnn: Yeah cause the reason why I'm asking is cause they had this
MTV show "The 10 Greatest MC's of All Time" and they didn't even
mention you, which was kinda disrespectful in my opinion.
Solar: Me too, I thought the same thing.
Guru: You know, that's some fly shit that you said that Jay. To tell
you the truth, I've seen things in major Hip Hop magazines where they
had the Top 50 MC's and didn't even mention me, and that shit really
pissed me off! (laughs) So you know, at this point nothing surprises
me with that. I'm looking at it like...
Solar: Let me say this: this alternative way we're going about getting
press for this album and bringing our message to the people, MTV has
always responded to what's new and hot and what the alternative press
is saying. Believe it or not, there was a time when The Source was
alternative press, Vibe Magazine was alternative press. So, you guys
do have power and influence. And if you really do feel this way,
please, please my brother, speak on it in your magazine.
Dubcnn: Yeah most definitely. Last but not least, is there gonna be an
overseas tour for the new Jazzmatazz?
Solar: Ohh, you're not gonna get rid of us. We might just move over
there and stay man!
Guru: We're going over to do some shows in Europe, it's not confirmed
yet but I'll let you know. You can take Solar's email and we'll let
you know.
Solar: And keep a look on our website guru7grand.com and our MySpace
pages myspace.com/guru7grand and myspace.com/solar7grand, and all our
tour dates will be posted.
Dubcnn: Alright for sure, much love, much love.
Guru: Thank you man, thank you for your time. Great interview.
DUBCNN.COM 2006
|
Having problems with message search?
Fill out this form to ensure your group is one of the first to be migrated to the new message search system.
Send Email
I'm young, blond and know how to have a good time. I'm open to making some new friends online and maybe more 
Offline 
