Africa Is a Country

Guru, 1963-2010

Guru, 1963-2010

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Africa is a Country

The brilliant rapper Guru, who also recorded as Gang Starr (with his music partner, the equally talented DJ Premier) and known for his series of “Jazzmatazz’’ albums released between 1993 to 2007, died this early week of cancer at the age of 48.

Good obituaries by first Guru’s brother in The Boston Globe, then by music writer Jon Caramanica in The New York Times and by Oliver Wang in The LA Times.

Rest in peace.

The best way to get a sense of this man’s oeuvre is to download DJ Matthew Africa’s quickly assembled Gang Starr Mixtape, here.

Further Reading

Writing while black

Percival Everett’s novel ‘Erasure’ raised questions about Black middle-class complicity in commodifying the traumas of Black working-class lives, but the film adaptation leaves little room to explore these tensions.

The Mogadishu analogy

In Gaza and Haiti, the specter of another Mogadishu is being raised to alert on-lookers and policymakers of unfolding tragedies. But we have to be careful when making comparisons.

Kwame Nkrumah today

New documents looking at British and American involvement in overthrowing Kwame Nkrumah give us pause to reflect on his legacy, and its resonances today.