by Greg PratoRapper/composer Guru (real name Keith Elam) first rose to prominence as the lyrical half of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr, one of the first outfits that attempted to fuse jazz with rap. After three albums by Gang Starr hit record store shelves (1989s No More Mr. Nice Guy, 1991s Step in the Arena, and 1992s Daily Operation), Guru launched his own solo career, issuing Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 in 1993. The album featured guest appearances by the likes of Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, and NDea Davenport of the Brand New Heavies, and was followed up two years later by a sophomore solo outing, Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality, which again featured a variety of special guests (including Ramsey Lewis, Branford Marsalis, and members of Jamiroquai). Despite his solo career, Guru has remained true to Gang Starr all along, continuing to contribute to such further albums as 1994s Hard to Earn and 1998s Moment of Truth. Five years after his second solo outing appeared, Streetsoul (the third in the Jazzmatazz series) was issued in 2000, again featuring a stellar cast of supporting characters: Herbie Hancock, Isaac Hayes, the Roots, Erykah Badu, and Macy Gray. Wasting little time, Guru returned directly back to the recording studio, issuing a follow-up one year later, Baldhead Slick & da Click. In addition to the aforementioned artists, Guru has collaborated with some of rap musics best-known producers, including fellow Gang Starr member DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Alchemist, Ayatollah, and DJ Spinna, as well as Ice-T, Naughty by Natures Treach, Killah Priest, and Ed O.G. It took four years for the next Guru release, Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures, to come out, the first on his new label, 7 Grand Records, with beats by Solar. The MC used the same producer for his next installment of Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4, which, as always, included a number of guest vocalists and instrumentalists and was released in the summer of 2007.