Features

ThaFormula.com - Why do you think the major Hip-Hop "magazines" like The Source went along with letting this wack shit pass as far as going along and letting a TV station like MTV, BET and others decide what real Hip-Hop is?

Guru - I just think that it's a lack of communication between everybody. It's like muthafuckas do, they get out the ghetto, get their shit and they don't wanna give nothing back. I wasn't raised that way.

ThaFormula.com - You guys are getting a cover on The Source right?

Guru - Shit, they ought to. I got to talk to Benzino, he's from my hood. But see now with all the politics, it's like what we ain't supposed to get it. Yo, we gettin' more love out West on the radio then we are in New York because of the politics. The radio is playing the same songs on both stations. First we thought the new station was gonna be the competitor, but now they sound exactly alike. Even the mix CD DJ's is playin' the same shit.

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, fuck them!

ThaFormula.com - So you guys are getting more love out here?

Guru - Yeah, also because the dudes from our record company are on point out here in L.A. They bustin' they ass, where as the muthafuckas in New York wanna be in the club and shit with the corporate car flossin' like they're rappers, what part of the game is that? They're in the club with the Cristal with the corporate card. I'm like "where is my records?" "Did you give the DJ's my record?" "Oh, shit they're in my car." What the fuck!!

ThaFormula.com - How do these chumps get up in the labels?

Guru - I hear you, shit is wack! I be thinkin' about shit like that drinking, and that's why I don't do it. Because all that shit will be on my mind and I'll be like "damn why does this shit keep happening?" Then a fan will come up and just want an autograph and I'll be like "nah, nah" (Laughs) and that's not good. That's what happened man. Basically I was a little zooted and I was upset and I had some family issues that I don't wanna discuss and Premier has some too. Everybody has those days though, but the good news from the bottom of my heart, is I'm on a mission. Like my man Bumpy told me, the soldier can only be as good as a soldier and the general shows you how to be and you're a general so you got to hold it down, so its like good lookin'. That's what I mean, I don't got no "yes men" around me. You know I can fight them niggaz, but I can't beat 'em all. I don't know about Bumpy and Krumb, (Laughs) I have to pick up a chair or something (Laughs).

DJ Lord Ron - Yo, when you guys were on Rap City, I didn't like that shit. Fuck Big Tigga man!! That's for the record! I'll tell it to his face. That whole segment should have been dedicated to you all for what you have done for Hip-Hop. But Tigger, fuck him! Everybody his boy and I'm not stupid man. Fuck Tigger man straight up!

Guru - (Laughs) I don't get involved in all that type of shit. Like I do what I got to do and I bounce and I been like that since High School. I always been the dude that knew two people that was beefin' and I was cool with both of them. I was friends with Biggie and Pac and I'm a big fan of Jay-Z. I mean I don't talk to him all the time but me and Jay-Z is peace and I'm definitely a fan, and I think he's one of the nicest, as well as Nas. But they had their beef so you know with me it's just like I'm not trying to get all up in that shit. I got more shit I got to take care of for us. I got to get us up to that next level. Instead of me getting pissed off, I'ma take that frustration and fuckin' kick in some doors this year and keep it tight.

ThaFormula.com - Why is the album taking so long to drop?

Guru - It's some deep shit man. A lot of muthafuckas don't even know we're coming back out and we were still negotiating with the label. We're holding our album like a hostage. They wanted the album and we were like "yo, push the date back 'till you all start settin' shit up right, whoever y'all got in New York, fire them and get some new muthafuckas in there that can do it right." I mean they're hiring a new radio person 'cause of what we said and that's what artists have to do. People don't know what goes on behind the scenes. The head of the label is a young dude and he's a producer for like a rock band. You know what Premier told him in the meeting? He said, "I bet you I can name 3 of your last singles and you can't name one Gangstarr single!" That's who's running the shit and that's wack son. And it's not a white and black thing either. I mean that dudes white and the black dude he hires to run the urban is to scared to let his nuts hang and spend some money and get it poppin'. You see what I'm sayin'?

ThaFormula.com - "Skills" should have blown up cause that track was universal like "Mass Appeal"...

Guru - I'm tellin' you, shit! It's street and its got that bounce to it that can rock in the club too. When I first heard it I was like "oh shit!" Premier was like, "is this the one, is this the single?" I took that shit home I called him up and said "hell yeah!" One more thing speakin' on that internet thing, to all the haters on the internet, there's other people from the other cities where its been Guru clean and sober rippin' it up every night that got my back so fuck Y'all haters!

ThaFormula.com - Are you guys happy with the amount of dough you have collected for all the classic albums you have dropped?

Guru - I mean I'm not broke but fuck no we ain't rollin' in money. The thing is I was that nigga that looked out for mad homies, and some of them I don't even roll with no more because muthafuckas try to do sheisty backstabber shit, but at the same time they can't say nothing cause they know I'm a real nigga cause I looked out. That's on them and they can't come back around me. See if we sold what we sold and it was Gangstarr records slash EMI or Virgin, then we would be paid. Like the way Jay-Z and them got it. That's sick and that's why I look up to them dudes cause our era was different. Our era wasn't like that. When Jay-Z was rollin' with Jaz it was like that. Jaz was on EMI with us.

ThaFormula.com - How many albums are you still signed for man?

Guru - We still owe them 2 more. See when we went from Wild Pitch to EMI, then EMI folded but they were the owners and they sent us over to Noo-Trybe/Virgin. Noo-Trybe was dope cause it was affiliated with the Luniz and Rap-A-Lot. So they did good cause with them we got our first Gold record with "Moment of Truth" and then with the next one, "Full Clip." Now it's just Virgin and its all new people again. That's why we pushed it back, cause we had to make sure these new people were doing it right.

ThaFormula.com - Did Virgin try to get you guys to do some straight up wack radio shit at all?

Guru - We don't listen to them. We brought our own singles. You seen how dope the video to "Skills" is. They tried to tamper with that and Premier flipped. See I love it when he flips cause then I could be the quiet one cause they heard about me already so I didn't have to say shit. That's the shit that will make Preem flip. Fuckin' with his creativity man, don't do that. We stayed up till 4 in the morning editing that video ourselves.

ThaFormula.com - How did the "Bald Head Slick" album end up doing for you man?

Guru - I did like about 75,000 but I still haven't got paid, in fact Landspeed is tellin' me that I owe them! I have to get back at them later but I can't dwell on that right now. That's what I mean, I got a million things like that, that are frustrating me. These distributors they try to get gully with you too. They get on some "well I spent this much, plus I had all these expenses or estimated expenses." I'm like "where's the receipts muthafucka?" You know what I'm sayin'?

ThaFormula.com - What about the last "Jazzmatazz" LP Guru?

Guru - The last Jazzmatazz they fucked it up. Virgin fucked that up. It's not on Virgin anymore, I'm a free agent. I'm actually shopping a deal right as we speak. I had 9 platinum artists on my last Jazzmatazz not because they were platinum artists, but because they wanted to work with me.

ThaFormula.com - Do you think it was a mistake though calling it "Jazzmatazz" even though it really wasn't "Jazzy" like your last two? Because a lot of people felt it was disappointing because it wasn't a complete jazz/Hip-Hop type album like your last two?

Guru - Yeah, but what I was trying to do is I called it "Street Soul" because I am the fucking creator of all this other Shit! This "Neo-Soul" and all that, so I called it "Street Soul" cause that's where it fuckin' comes from. Jazz music comes from the streets. So whoever that was just didn't get the concept and it's not his fault. Its cause the fucking label didn't know how to market the shit. Each one is really an experiment of fusion. The first was called an "Experimental Blending of Hip-Hop and Jazz." The second one was called "The New Reality." I had reggae on there. I had Patra and Ini Kamoze. In this latest Jazzmatazz, I had the Roots. Bilal and Craig David were on there before they were even known. If it was marketed the right way your boy would have understood it. That pisses me off that they didn't do it right and that's again part of my frustration, because if that would have been done right, um my boy at Universal told me that if they would have had that record, that record would have been double platinum. Picture my life then. It would be a lot less frustrating. So this is what happens to artists. But I've learned from all of this and I ain't bitter 'cause the past is what it is and we got to keep it moving. I'm not the only artist that this has happened to and I see some of them now with regular jobs. I'm not doing all that dog. I'm not falling off like that. Fuck that!! I ain't gonna name no names. I seen guys working at the airport and I'm not doing all that. I seen guys just depressed and you know just talkin' how Hip-Hop is dead. Fuck all that man. I'm not doing that. The album is struggle music that will make you feel good about yourself, so it's not depressing but its struggle music. I understand where your coming from as a lover of our stuff but there's cats like when that whole era of "playerism" came out in rap where cats were dissin' my whole aura like that I couldn't compete with those type of rappers. That's why this album is so blazed up. I got the fountain of youth.

ThaFormula.com - You're one of the few groups that I rarely hear anyone call wack?

Guru - That's cool but what I'm trying to tell you is that New York is haterade. I actually want to come out here and shop some deals. I used to be married to a girl from Pasadena dude, I raised her son by another guy and all that. It didn't work out but we're still cool and all that. That was from '91 to '93. I used to live out here for like a year in Hollywood from '91 to '92 and then I brought her back to Brooklyn with me, but it didn't work out cause I was touring all the time and shit was poppin' off and she was from out here and couldn't get used to that lifestyle. But the point is that I was tight with brothers like Ice-T, WC, MC Eiht, Quik, and more since back in the day and there was never no East Coast/West Coast shit. But now I got a little boy, he's 2 and me and my child's mom we buddies cause both of us was in wack relationships. She's a beautiful woman and she don't care about none of this entertainment shit. I don't got no drama and that's a beautiful thing.

ThaFormula.com - Now when you were tellin' me about sheisty shit that people have done to you what exactly are the type of things that muthafuckas have done?

Guru - You know what, I have actually had shit where a muthafucka put shit in my drink.

ThaFormula.com - What are your thoughts on the way Benzino is trying to rep real Hip-Hop?

Guru - See what you have to understand about him is that he ain't a rapper. He might no tell you that, but in his crew he's always been the organizer. Back when they was RSO it was called "Real Solid Organization" and he was the one that was organizing. The others was the ones that was rappers. But they ended up doing other shit now. One dude is locked up doing 25 to life. He don't rap. He does what he does and that's why he's trying to pull Eminem into his zone, and if I was Em I wouldn't go there. Of course Eminem could chew him up rappin', but don't fuck with him on the streets and don't be dissin' Boston 'cause there's a lot of white boys in Boston that will be mad about that shit. It ain't a black and white thing either. But I'm not defending him, I'm sayin' 'cause Eminem is mad gifted and he's smart too, 'cause for him to ask Gangstarr to be on the 8 Mile Soundtrack, that was love and that means they know what the fuck we bring to the game and that's dope. But on some other shit, Benzino is a whole different type of dude (Laughs). He might even let you think you got him and then he'll catch you when you're sleepin'.

ThaFormula.com - The foundation seems to be a real tight unit at the moment?

Guru -Yeah, but I got to give Big Shug a lot of credit and Krumb too because you know the penile system ain't designed to rehabilitate brothers. These are niggas who changed their directions of their life on they own. You know Suge did 4 years and I promised him that when he got out I would link him up with Primo and I told him that shit wasn't all cracked up to what it seems, even though we had videos out. Krumb had a big deal, but he got shot 5 times. He ended up in some shit and he violated parole cause he was caught up trying to get back at them cats. That's real life.

ThaFormula.com - Next Up, DAY 4!!!  

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