A few months ago, in reporting on the strange life and death of hip-hop deity Guru, I was fortunate to get an incredibly candid interview with Brownman, the acclaimed Canadian trumpeter who toured with Jazzmatazz toward the end of Guru's life and career.

Today, with permission from me and Brownman, FuckSolar.

Props to Jake Paine from Hip-Hop DX for scoring (and transcribing) this remarkable interview with Solar's baby mama, who worked extensively with 7 Grand. It's a heart-breaking read, but holy shit is there a lot in here (excerpt below with link at the end)...

DX: Right. These guys weren't just studio rats, so to speak.

As expected, GURU obits, tributes, and remembrances are turning up at a much faster pace than were, say, reviews of his last few albums. But it's not just the knee-jerk nonsense that's annoying here. It's the fact that shitheads who either never did care or haven't cared about GURU in years are writing irresponsible pieces (for the record - I am not in that category).

The following article will appear in tomorrow's Boston Phoenix, which went to print late yesterday, before GURU released this statement to AllHipHop.com. As reported, he is doing well. Furthermore, though, he is no longer in a coma. We're all pushing for a big recovery here; hopefully this woke some hip-hop fans up to how we need to respect the architects while they're still here with us.