Does anybody in the game have a more chill voice or style than Guru? And that attitude is contagious; I mean, when you listen to Gang Starr, you just wanna lay back in the CUT. Right!?

So much of hip-hop is posturing, and although Guru was as self-aggrandizing as anybody, he was never over-eager to prove himself. All he had to say was, "you know my steez." And you nodded along. He was just a cool cat.

I also think the Jazzmatazz entries were worthy attempts to infuse hip-hop with a variety of musical styles, something the genre could use a little more of. He dropped "Le Bien, Le Mal" with a jazz trumpet and a French MC way back in '93! I didn't discover him until years later, but he still expanded my horizons.

Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal. Another sad loss.