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Guru from Gang Starr is in a coma

Guest WAVESURFER

By Guest WAVESURFER
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Superstition
Superstition

RIP to a legend. I do not believe Guru wrote that letter given that it's been pretty much established Solar was blocking Guru's family visiting him, and tweeting as Guru while he was in a coma. He's

Guest Intervention
Guest Intervention

Basically. Man needs to die.

Afroman
Afroman

This is soo sad.. R.I.P hiphop legend. classic

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The Infamous Newbie

The Infamous

Posted
Posted

solar is a deviant i ride with premo

Finally…The interview everybody has been waiting for… The FULL Brownman Interview!

fu*kSolar.com has managed to get our hands on an interview few have seen in full. Brownman – the acclaimed featured trumpet soloist with Guru's Jazzmatazz from 2006 to 2010 – after Guru's death, was asked to give many interviews on what he saw of Solar's manipulation of Guru while with Jazzmatazz. His publicist was approached by hundreds of members of the media all asking for official words, but because Brown's own father was also tragically dying of cancer at the time, he only gave 3 interviews – to the Toronto Star, to XXL magazine, and to the Boston Phoenix. The most extensive interview was with the Boston Phoenix, and is much bigger and much more in depth than what he gave with XXL. It also includes everything that was said to XXL, so I'm posting the more detailed 8,000 word Phoenix interview here on fu*kSolar.com. It contains EVERYTHING he witnessed while with Jazzmatazz and will disturb and shock you, but is very enlightening. Remember, these are the words of an acclaimed & accomplished musician, handpicked by Guru for Jazzmatazz, and who was on the front lines to see it all up close and personal. This interview was given on May 12th, 2010, and was used, amidst several other interviews in an investigative report by the Phoenix which, I've heard, has led to continued investigation into Solar's more illegal dealings with Guru's estate and property. Thank you to Brownman Music Inc and the Boston Phoenix reporter Chris Faraone for releasing this interview to us.

When was the first time you noticed that something was strange about Solar's behavior?

From day 1, I always thought he was controlling… domineering… egotistical. He spoke of himself as a "god" and insisted all those around him refer to him as "lord". Guru always called him this. And how he handled the band – he would bark orders like a general and often liked to express himself in military terminology – which I found completely out of place in art – which is what I considered Guru's music. The thing with his instructions were that they rarely made any musical sense. Drummer Richard Spaven (highly acclaimed UK session drummer) and I, during full band rehearsals in Switzerland in '07, would often glance at each other with that "what is this guy talking about?" kind of look. For example: Solar would ask me to improvise over sections ("do your thing over this part Brown"), but then decide he didn't like certain things, ("Nah, nah – I don't like that – do something else there"). Which is normal to me, as producers need to hear different approaches, and then decide what they like best. BUT when I would ask him to specify exactly what he didn't like, so I would know what NOT to do, and thus be better equipped to generate something more suitable – he couldn't. I would ask "do you mean that 2 bar section over the E minor 7 – you want me to do something else there?", and he would become enraged at these kinds of questions and end up walking away telling Guru "to handle it". Though not musically trained, Guru has a sense of all of this stuff, and COULD answer my questions. But I'd later get into all kinds of trouble for that too -> "Brown, stop asking Guru damn it – *I'm* the producer of the show – you ask ME!" Eventually I stopped asking anyone anything, and ignored all of Solar's vague, ethereal, nonsensical instructions in the rare times we'd rehearse – and then delivered what *I* thought the tune needed on stage, based on my knowledge of the first 2 Jazzmatazz records, which I considered to be Guru's most primordial expressions of hip-hop-jazz, and the yard-stick against which all our efforts should be measured. Guru was a man who – like Miles Davis – seemed to respect the past, while trying to move forward – so I tried to embody that ethos with my own playing (and yes, I simply dismiss all that garbage talk of Premiere and Gangstarr not being relevant as Guru parroting Solar's agenda to be perceived as greater than Premo… I don't believe Guru believed it deep down – so I dismiss it). This approach I took to playing in Jazzmatazz seemed to work best, and garner the most musical results in the end. It was just sad to me that Solar couldn't actually musically direct this group, though LOVED tell everyone he was a Superproducer. It wasn't until later that I realized he just lacked ANY musical education at all. I was used to dealing – as a session musician – with high end producers… guys with musical training who know the language, who are literate and who can articulate clearly what they want done. Solar – from the 1st rehearsal in Switzerland in '07 – couldn't do any of that. And it confused me. Solar talks a good game when it came to vague ideologies… you can hear this in just about any interview he gives, and he often sounds plausible and articulate, a lot of what he says seeming to make good sense. But sadly, one quickly discovers it's all double-talk. Before I realized what was really going on – in the early days I, in fact, thought that maybe Solar was a figurehead. Some old friend that Guru labeled Superproducer and elevated publicly while Guru himself ran everything behind the scenes. I've heard of humble great men doing this – letting others take credit for some of their genius… sharing their spotlight as such… and such an act seemed in character with what I'd seen of Guru's ethics so far – kind, generous, caring, gregarious. THAT scenario would have made some kind of sense to me at least… but what would be revealed over time was exactly the opposite -> that Solar was being given increasingly enormous amounts of power & control BY GURU, who believed deeply and genuinely in the 7 Grand label, treating it as his artistic freedom, and Solar as his savior… but I would come to see it as his artistic death over time… and Solar as a paranoid, delusional sociopath, as Guru continued to slowly hemorrhage his decision making processes to a meglomanic.

Did things get incrementally worse until you finally left?

Yes. Guru continued to relinquish more and more musical and financial control to Solar over the years I was with Jazzmatazz, until finally DooWop and I quit together in Jan 2010. And it wasn't for any one reason. By the time we left, the reasons were piled so high that leaving was the only thing left to do. Solar had created so toxic a work environment for us… he screwed with our money… threatened us… belittled us… demeaned us… marginalized us… all the while treating Guru like a child. Berating, belittling and chastising him… and later physically abusing him. I'd never seen a man disrespect another man like that. I'm disturbed now when I read accounts of Solar claiming Guru as a best friend and brother. Solar, THAT'S how you treat your best friend and brother?

____________

My understanding is that you were in fear of Solar for some time. What sort of occurrences happened to put you in that position? Was his behavior directed at everyone around him, or just certain people? Did Guru catch the grunt of it?

To be honest, I didn't feel any fear about Solar until I actually saw him punch Guru in the face. Solar didn't know I had seen this go down. It happened in a back alley behind a club after a gig in Europe. I was heading back to the hotel post-gig, cutting through the backalley of the club as a shortcut. After a gig Guru and Solar often stayed behind, and the rest of the group would head back to the hotel. So I'm walking down the alley heading to the hotel, and suddenly the back door of the club flies open and Guru comes stumbling out like he had been shoved, Solar right on his heels yelling at him like a little boy. By now, this was a fairly common occurrence for me to see, but what happened next left me paralyzed. Guru seemed to be quietly arguing back. Clearly he felt that whatever had happened didn't merit such a response from Solar, and it seemed like he was trying to explain himself. Solar – who was already knee-deep into the habit of cutting off Guru and not letting him complete full sentences – asked him:

"are you talking back to me Guru? Are you?".

"No Lord, but you just need to understand… "

"oh *I* need to understand? Me? You're telling me that *I* need to understand???!!! Shut up Guru. Shut up right now!"

"… ok, I will. But let me just explain…"

"What did I tell you Guru? I said SHUT YOUR MOUTH?"

"… but lord…"

BAM.

Solar swung on him… hit him in the mouth. And then again in the head. I was frozen. Far enough away that they couldn't see me, but frozen in my tracks. I took a step forward, but I didn't know what to do. And then Guru seemed to sort of shrug it off. Until that last year of his life, he was a tough, well-built guy, but I did think it was weird he didn't fight back. And I'm pretty much a peace-loving pacifist… not a fighter… and none of this was my business. I was hired as the Jazzmatazz trumpet player, not as the Jazzmatazz judge and jury – so I swallowed hard and left, disturbed by what I'd seen. The next day, in a moment when Guru and I were alone, I quietly asked him, "hey G… what happened to your mouth man?"… just to see what he'd say. He looked me right in the eye and said "aw, I dropped some weights in the gym. I gotta be more careful, right son?"… and he smiled and gently poked me in the ribs saying "skinny bookworm like you don't know nuffin 'bout the gym, right?" (I was always reading while on tour, and read about 3 books a week on average). He then winked at me and walked away… and if I hadn't seen what I'd seen, that charming response would have made perfect sense. But instead I felt sick. Sick that this man – one of my heros – had been abused… and now felt the need to lie to me about it… to cover-up the incident and protect his attacker. It was awful.

________

It was then that I started feeling fear… this was around mid-way through 2009. Because I knew that if push came to shove, Solar was capable of much greater violence. I started recognizing it in his eyes. In the early days I would express my opinions freely… try and have logical discussions about what he wanted… try and refute some of the nonsense I often heard… and this would always end with my being yelled at without fail. But when the violence started coming out from behind closed doors, that's when I started getting fearful… and wasn't so quick to express my opinions anymore. While on tour in Brazil, after some girl he'd decided was "his" started talking to me for "too long" post-show, he shoved me screaming how I was "disrespectful". It was the first time he ever put his hands on me. I have no doubt in my mind that if Marcelo (the promoter) didn't come to see what all the ruckus was all about, I would've been hospitalized. That promoter and I still talk about that incident to this day, and I consider him a real friend for having put me in a separate vehicle, away from Solar and taking care of me that night… I was so shook by the whole incident. The next day was our return to the US -> Solar yelled at the whole the band saying they weren't allowed to talk to me for the plane ride back to New York… and then, while boarding, he whispered threats in my ear every chance he got. I later spoke to Guru about it by email saying "look man, I'm not a violent guy – and if you guys wanna solve your disputes with fists & threats of violence – then cool – that's your business… but I don't work like that, and I can't, nor want to work for an organization that endorses such behavior". Guru called me, apologized (which he rarely does), and said he'd talk to Solar about it. He calmed me… made me feel listened to. Told me he "needed me there", and that I was an "important part of Guru's Jazzmatazz". So I stayed… of course I stayed! Guru tells you he needs you – of course you stay. But, in retrospect, I don't think he ever did talk to Solar. Later on, as I continued to defy Solar's insipid military style "rules and regulations" (they were such an afront to every fiber of my artistic being), he would continue to threaten me… whisper sh*t like "don't think I don't have people in Toronto, Brown… people who know where you live". It was dark. No one has EVER threatened me before, not even when I was living in Brooklyn! I didn't know what to do with that kind of information… didn't know how to process it.. so I ignored it, sometimes smiling at him when he'd threaten my life. "You think that's funny Brown?!", he'd yell at my head. I would just stay silent and wonder how far he was willing to go.

Coming home from tour dates with them was always rough. Would take me weeks to decompress & re-balance. And when I'd write Guru about my concerns… he would address them all in a reasonable manner and always make me feel like I was being heard and understood… but – as I look back at it all – I think everything he felt and said would go out the window the second it was in defiance of Solar's wishes. I was convinced Solar hated me, and wondered why I hadn't been fired long ago, considering how much he was always upset with me. In speaking about it with DooWop, he once said to me "Brown, who else is this psycho Solar going to get? Do you think Roy (Hargrove) or Randy (Brecker) is gonna put up with his crap? And they can't call someone who can't play – cuz you've already established the trumpet soloist HAS to be strong… and do you think Guru wants yet another trumpet player seeing how Solar treats him?". By then Solar was threatening to fire me almost DAILY (to the point it became a joke with me and Wop… "Brown, you get fired yet today?"… "Nah man"… "Don't worry son – the day's young!"… having DooWop at my side saved me so many times… he's my brother now).

Finally though, saturation was reached for me in Jan '10, and I had to leave the band I was then calling Spazzmatazz behind closed doors… and be rid of Solar for good. Wop and I left together. The ONLY reason I stayed for as long as I did, was because (a) I was the Guru's Jazzmatazz trumpet player… no small thing in my world… and ( B) because I adored Guru and standing next to him on stages around the world was nothing less than electrifyingly inspiring. But finally the cost was too high… and when Wop and I left, we knew we'd never hear from him again… leaving Guru behind broke our hearts. He should NOT have even been on that last tour in Nov – he looked so haggard and decrepit. He should have been in a hospital bed in America, not running around on stages in Europe, exacerbating whatever was compromising his health (which the world would find out later was cancer). But Solar made him… and he did it.

When Wop and I left, to us, we were leaving Solar – not Guru… both of us would have embraced any contact from G… but we knew it would never come. When we left, it was for our own sanity & safety. And when I left, I was still owed $2,000! But it mattered more to be rid of this man, than to try and collect that dough (not for lack of trying). Solar, had taken over ALL the finances by that point, and withheld Wop's and my money after that final tour (Nov'09). To this day, both Wop and I have yet to be paid in full for that last tour. Up until mid-2009 I had always dealt with Guru one-on-one for finances. As SOON as tour dates were over, he'd wire cash directly into my bank account. Wop also tells a similar story – that Guru always took care of him. And I NEVER had a problem with G in this regard… ever… he was a man of his word… that same guy who wrote lyrics that would make you wince with their brilliance – always dealt with me straight. Thus I never felt I needed a contract. But the second Solar took over the books – that's when the problems started. The last tour I did with them was in Nov '09. 3 weeks after the tour ended, I still hadn't been paid. I start emailing them once every 3 days… then 2 days… then finally Asia – Solar's wife – emails me saying "I'm not authorized to release those funds to you Brown". I was like "what the hell are you talking about???", and proceeded to send her copies of emails where finances had been discussed, to verify that I was OWED that dough. I was all I could do since I had no contract. No response. I cc'ed Solar on it. No response. Then Guru. No response. It was now late Dec and she, nor Solar, nor Guru ever wrote me again. And on Jan 1st, 2010 I sent an official resignation letter to all 3 of them officially stating I was resigning from the band, and that any institute that behaves as maliciously, brutally and underhandedly as 7 Grand isn't a company I want to be employed by. I also mentioned what a laughing hypocrisy Solar's long speeches about "my word is bond" and "i take care of my own" was. All double-talk garbage. I never heard from any of them again. On Feb 28th, 2010, I heard on the news that Guru had a heart attack and was in a coma, and on Apr 19th, Guru was announced as having died… and as I watch as more and more come forward with tales of domination of Guru by Solar, I continue to mourn the loss of my friend and hero.

I have read rumors that Solar would get jealous when you performed, and one in particular that he put you in a cab after a show once because you killed it with a solo. Can you recall any such experiences?

Listen, I dunno if Solar would get "jealous". I'm not sure that's the right word for it. But let me explain what happened slowly, and what started happening over time: Guru – in the early days, because he's a gracious, honourable and magnanimous human being – would walk around to each band member at the end of the show, say a line or two biographically about them and then say their name. For example, he'd go over to the drummer and yell in the mic, "From London, UK… the backbone of Ninjatune records… simply killin' it on the drums – Mr. Richard Spaven!" And people would hoot and holla, and we'd feel appreciated. Guru, in the early days, would go round the whole band doing this – and do me second last… which made sense since I was the featured soloist… then Solar last. Guru was always VERY generous with his praise, and there's a YouTube vid of him shouting me out where he says so many kind things you can see me visibly humbled by his words, as I would be every night. When he finished reciting his introduction of me and conclude with, "… our trumpet soloist – Mr. Brownman!" – the crowd would erupt… and I was grateful, and appreciative. And impressed that he – as a bandleader – was so unselfish with his stage. Jazz musicians, even in the highest ends of the industry, are all like this. We (jazz musicians) all know that we're part of a collective – so every part of that group consciousness deserves to be acknowledged… so everyone gets an introduction… the Jazz mentality being that we hope the crowd leaves having remembered the names of the men behind the music. And to see Guru doing this, made him even more impressive to me – he behaved like a great jazz musician! But here's the thing – he would always intro Solar last… and he would make a bigger deal about "the superproducer" than anyone else on stage… calling him a "visionary" and "the greatest producer in new york right now" and "the CEO of 7 grand records" and on and on and on… and when he was done… the response was ok. I've seen it described in a review as "… a lukewarm crowd reaction at best to the superproducer; the band, and Brownman in particular, garnering more appreciation at night's end". What did he expect? On stage he just ran around, a bad hype-man, often shoving Guru out of his way, and then telling him afterwards "Guru – you're getting in my way on stage, you have to open your eyes son"… seeing that used to nauseate me. How's this clown gonna shove THE STAR out of his way??? Wack.

As I became more integrated into the show, I was working very hard to deliver strong solos – I mean THAT'S what I was hired to do… THAT was my role in Jazzmatazz – the soloist. So I worked hard to bang out bigger and better solos… and the European crowds in particular just loved to see Guru's horn player banging out strong solos. So at the end of the night, sometimes my applause was second loudest, only to Guru's – the man himself. And this INFURIATED Solar. He wouldn't say anything – but he clearly felt that his own applause should be greater than everyone's. So look what he did after that: he instructed Guru to "fall back" on the introductions (again with the military style terminology). ie – Don't make the band intros so big. "but mention these other things about me – you know, for context". Context my ass! It was about drawing further attention to himself. So, slowly – over months – the band intros got smaller and smaller, and Solar's intro got bigger and longer… yet, I was STILL getting strong applause. The smaller my intro got, the more determined I was to play my ass off and incite a crowd. After a particularly good gig at Club Planetarium, in Vienna – it's reported that the applause following one of my solos was so loud you couldn't hear Guru rapping. As soon as that gig ended, Solar told the promoter to put me in a cab and get me back to the hotel immediately. I was confused… what was going on that we had to leave immediately? Did I miss something in the schedule? Solar told me that we had a super early flight and we had to leave quickly to pack and get to the airport. Ohhh… that made sense… "so who else is coming in this cab with me? Shouldn't I take some gear too?", I offered. But he was intent on packing me in a cab and getting me out of there. So I left – having had no contact with anyone except the promoter. Later that night I called Wop to ask how early WAS this flight that we all had to leave the club so fast, Wop told me it was all bullsh*t & there was no early flight, and the only one that got sent out in a cab – was me! He said that Solar just wanted me out of there cuz the crowd was making too much noise for me. After that, Solar continued to slowly marginalize all of us while getting Guru to beef up his own introduction, pushing the band farther back in the stage setup, eliminating all my solos from happening at the front of the stage (you'll see tons of YouTube footage from '07 and '08 from around the world, with me soloing at the front of the stage… check at the 2:30 mark in this video, you can see Guru, as he often did in "Loungin" saying to me "Brown – show Geneva how to lounge!", which was my cue to come forward to solo). This marginalization of the band by Solar continued until finally, on this final tour in Nov (and part of the reason I left), he had Guru wave in one grand sweeping gesture at the 3 of us and say, "the 7 Grand Players!" with me taking solos from a dark spot in the back… we had been reduced to nameless, faceless nobodies… while Solar's introduction went on for 5 minutes.

This also became a source of comedy for DooWop and I during soundcheck. When Solar wasn't around Wop would go in the front of the stage and pretend to be Solar and go "yeah Brown, stand right there… beside the DJ table. No, a little farther to the right. Good good… now go back farther… yes, a little farther… yep, a little farther still… yes, I know you're behind Wop now – but don't argue with me, I'm the Superproducer… now keep going… good… now just step to the right… yes, behind that curtain… excellent – now do you see those stairs behind you? Yes, those. Go down those. What's that? I can barely hear you, speak up with you talk to the God! Yes – there's a door at the bottom of the stairs, exactly. Ok, now go through that door, down the hall, and take that service elevator to the basement. Yes, perfect. You'll be soloing from there". In the last few weeks of my last tour with Jazzmatazz, we learned to just laugh at this ego-driven marginalization, and just do our jobs with our heads down. We had already resolved to leave the band as soon as we were paid (which we never were), so it didn't matter what Solar did or said. We were just so ready to leave by then.

Ironic that Miles Davis, in his electric period, used to walk around on stage with the names of his musicians on big cards for the audience to see when they finished solos – yet Solar felt that marginalizing the men that make the music would some how elevate his own status. What Guru always knew was that if you have a true team, and you acknowledge all your members, you TOGETHER create music as a single cohesive unit. Solar never understood this in his ultimate quest for control and power, thinking that his key to fame would be to indoctrinate audiences the same way he did Guru (I'll talk more about this later). But audiences weren't buying it, and his lack of vision is poignant.

What was Guru's attitude through all of this? What indications did you have that he was frightened by Solar?

Frightened? I dunno if that's the right word. He was being controlled by Solar, absolutely – but it was more of an indoctrination. And Solar's manipulation of Guru was so deep that Guru would just parrot whatever Solar wanted the world to hear. I'll talk about this more in the next question.

What – if anything – did Guru ever say to you about why he had broken off so many relationships with former friends and family members?

Guru generally didn't talk about that. But what he did do, was parrot what Solar continually told him. "DJ Premiere is trying to ruin me", Guru said to me once. Except I had heard Solar whispering that sh*t in his ear for the last month. Solar had Guru convinced that Premiere was running a "covert internet campaign to discredit Solar, and thus disrespected Guru". He had Guru convinced that all those bad reviews were as a byproduct of Premiere's campaign. Look – Solar's a master manipulator – and if you want to control someone and feed them a set of ideas – what's the first thing you do? ISOLATE them (the NYPD, in their more thugish days used these same techniques to coerce confessions out of innocent men for decades). You isolate them from their friends… their family… their fans, and give them a whole new set of beliefs. It's cult mentally – applied to one person. And Solar did this slowly and methodically over years.

Isolate him from his family:

Solar quietly whispered in Guru's ear that he couldn't count on his family and that HE – Solar, the god walking the earth – was the only one Guru could count on. And Guru eventually believed it, and isolated himself from his family. I do not doubt that Patricia (Guru's sister) was estranged – as Solar claims in his interviews – and hadn't spoken to him in years… but I have no doubt it's only because Solar had Guru convinced that Trish was part of the problem. The reality was that Trish NEVER liked Solar. Why? Because Solar talked Guru out of attending a family funeral – and Trish thought that was wrong – and told Solar this, thus putting her in Solar's bad books… and someone to be avoided.

Isolate him from his friends:

Solar quietly whispered in G's ear that not only Premiere, but ALL of hip-hop was out to get him… full blown paranoid delusions. And Guru eventually believed it, isolating himself from his former partners and the rest of hip-hop in general (it's why Guru never worked with anyone else except Solar… cuz Solar had him convinced that everyone else was out to get him!). I saw this in action when we did a show with Big Daddy Kane. Kane came over to pay his respects and say hello, paying particularly attention to DooWop, whom he addressed as "the mixtape king". Kane shook all our hands very politely, including Solar, said a few kind words to Guru, and left. And the minute he was gone – Solar said "did you see that Guru? See how he disrespected me?" I glanced at DooWop and Wop rolled his eyes. Yet after 10 minutes of a nonsensical tirade from Solar, Guru was saying "yeeeah, I didn't see that at first, but I see what you mean lord". Pure garbage. I saw it again when KRS-1 jumped up on stage with us in London. KRS didn't like the tempo that Rich (drummer) was laying down, so asked Rich to slow it down (I have video footage of KRS doing this)… of course Rich slowed it down – christ – KRS-1 asks you to slow down the tempo for a tune he's gonna rap on – OF COURSE you do. So Rich did – and KRS spat brilliantly over the new tempo. But when the show was over – I heard Solar SCREAMING at Guru, "don't you EVER let another man dictate what happens on my stage! I'm the producer of the show Guru – no one changes tempos on one my tunes! See how he disrespects you when he does that? That ni**a don't respect you one ounce". And – by the end of Solar's speech – Guru was saying "yeah, yeah, I see what you mean now, thank you brother for pointing this out". And of course, he did this to Guru ALONE, in another room – no other voices present. Imagine this happening every day for a decade.

Isolate him from his fans:

Solar quietly whispered to G that his fans were just subjects, and that you can't spend too much time with these idiots (everyone was a "subject" to Solar… including us in the band… he never carried his own bags in airports and expected everyone else – including Guru – to take care of HIS belongings). There's YouTube footage of Solar pulling Guru away from fans in autograph sessions… and I saw this time and time again – if ANYONE (including us in the band) got "too close" to Guru – Solar would step in and put a stop to it. Once Guru was in my hotel room, and we were talking about our fathers, whom we both respect so much… and Trinidad, where we both have roots… and it was a wonderful, warm, intelligent conversation… until Solar walked by my open door – saw Guru in there with me and yelled at him saying "GURU – why you talking to this idiot… let's go". And G left immediately to follow Solar, saying that I had asked him a question about the schedule, not wanting Solar to know we'd been speaking about personal matters. Wack. Seeing that kind of thing go down hurt me a lot.

Isolation was key to Solar's power over Guru.

Were Solar and Guru gay lovers?

The isolation is also why less intelligent men mistakenly have thought that they were gay. Because they would go EVERYWHERE together… even to the bathroom. They sat together on planes, cars, vans, trains… would go to the gym together… would often get hotel rooms across from each other… eat together… they were never apart. But it's not cuz they were gay – it's cuz Solar was methodically ISOLATING Guru from the rest of the universe… so he could continue his quiet indoctrination. He will claim that these are the actions of friends… brothers… but friends and brothers don't beat bloodily and belittle each other… abusers do that to their victims.

Solar successfully isolated Guru from everyone around him, limiting his friendships… his relationships… his professional associations… and this is why these no-nothing speculative fools think they were gay lovers. They weren't. I was there. Guru loved women. I've seen that smooth talking brother roll up on lots of girls… and I know a few girls who G slept with personally – so all that gay talk is people's lack of understanding. I guess it's easier to think of someone as iconic as Guru, as gay… rather than controlled. But man…. he was a victim… not a punk. And there's a big difference. You don't fault an abused and battered wife for what they endured? Let's not fault G. He was a victim of evil.

How could Guru end up so controlled?

One thing I want to talk about – is HOW. It's what everyone is asking… HOW could Guru have allowed this to happen? How could Solar have gotten his claws in so deep? My theory is this – Guru kicked the alcohol all by himself… he's that kind of man… when he decided to stop – he just stopped. Flat out stopped, through pure force of will. Ironic that on the road, Solar spends the ENTIRE show drinking Corona beer on stage, and is quite belligerently drunk by show's end. Solar often threatening promoters that we wouldn't go on if he didn't get a special place off to the side of the stage where he could drink his Coronas between tunes. Most of the time, when we arrived for soundcheck – the FIRST thing he would ask about was his damn coronas… not the gear… not the stageplot… not the room capacity… not Guru's needs… HIS Coronas… and it HAD to be Coronas, or we didn't go on…. yet more examples of his monomaniacal, hypocritical and paradoxical behavior. So – my theory is this: once Guru quit, it just meant he wasn't drinking… but the addiction was still there. That addiction hadn't been dealt with, nor had that need to do or be or respond to something (or someone) addictively. Alcoholics often just substitute addictions… they stop drinking, but then pop pills instead… or gamble… or SOMETHING to fill that addictive void… and I think that's where Solar stepped in… right into that hole… right into that need… just when G was most vulnerable. Guru was LOOKING for someone to tell him what to do. Premiere speaks of this a little in his Vibe magazine interview – how G was often VERY upset with their record label, but once Premo handled it – he would get happy. In a different circumstance – with a different sort of person at the helm of 7 Grand – Guru might have been ok… there are lots of examples of artists who give up total control to a manager whom they trust… and that manager then, in turn, helps them build an empire… but Solar wasn't that guy. He shouldn't have been trusted… and his own personal agenda and ego always outstripped his need to "help his friend". If Guru's guilty of anything, it's putting faith and belief in the wrong person – and you CAN'T fault him for that. At least, I can't. Because it's an extension of his kind heart.

You know, Solar & Guru's relationship may have BEGUN as a friend of Guru's helping him get sober and launch a record label and attain his own freedom… but over time that relationship became perverted into something dark & twisted as Solar started to perceive Guru as his meal ticket to fame and fortune. I believe that Solar thought 'if Guru says I'm a superproducer often enough to enough people – they'll HAVE to believe it!'… and that sums up how Solar thinks – no finesse… no subtlety… no nuance… just blunt deception. There are reports now surfacing of how he instructed publicists to create fake IDs at Amazon.com and write good things about the new CD, because there were so many bad reviews… one particular publicist straight-up quit rather than do something so unethical… but deception has been a tactic of Solar's for a long time. He lies about 7 Grand sales figures. He had access to Guru's email account and would often impersonate him. He lied all around the wrold about having a platinum plaque for his re-mix of that Gym Class Heroes tune "Cupid's Chokehold" – ask him to produce that plaque! Bravado is part of hip-hop – I get that. But flat out deception on a scale like this? It's just slimey.

The problem with Guru constantly repeating Solar was a superproduer to the world was that Solar didn't have the goods to back it up. His production is average at best and the world was recognizing it as such. And there was backlash. Suddenly Solar found himself NOT being viewed as the genius he was so very convinced he is – but instead as the "man that put Guru onto autotune". I think, he resented Guru for that. I think he blamed Guru for not being able to make him the star he wanted to be… and I think that's probably right around when the physical abuse began. This whole theory is speculation on my part… but it's based on real-world observation and scrutiny of Solar's behavior from the inside of the organization for the last 3 years. Hopefully it won't take me 3 years of showers to wash the 7 Grand stench off.

Much has come out about Solar's background. What – if anything – do you know to be true? Also – any information that you have about his past could be helpful.

I know nothing of John Mosher's past. I only know what I saw first-hand while on tour with Jazzmatazz. I've HEARD lots of stories from Solar's mouth about his past – and all of which is suspect, given his pathological lies. He continually paints himself in a self-serving light of almost god-like proportions. Claiming to have beaten cancer with only the power of his mind (I've seen him take away Guru's asthma inhaler calling him "weak" for being dependent on it, and citing his own abilities to control his health as superior), claiming to have assaulted several men simultaneously & how he's a master fighter (you get a real sense of this self-inflated tough guy routine in the Conspiracy Radio interview, when he's asked "are you scared to leave your house?"… his answer is dripping with posturing bravado). He claiming to have helped the homeless in New York (except I've seen him treat other human beings as garbage all over the world on several occasions, so that claim isn't consistent to me – unless he has something to gain from that action… like MTV filming him helping the homeless).

What I know is that he's a sociopath, in the truest sense. He's paranoid… has delusions of grandeur (I've often seen him rant on about his godliness)… is violent… lies so easily that it's pathological (that MTV interview with Sway is so full of lies it makes me laugh… what's that he says on there? -> "I'm a man of peace and brotherhood" (please check that and find the exact quote), and that's why he wants to reach out to Premiere for a music tribute. He's talking out of the other side of his mouth now… he bad-mouthed Premiere the WHOLE time I've known him… and now he wants to do a tribute show with him? That's about trying to align himself with the top producer in the game NOT about mending fences. Does he really think Premo will want anything to do with him? Maybe Premo wouldn't mind giving him some free sleep, but other than that – to think Premiere's gonna join forces? Pure delusion.. You see – Solar always has an agenda at work. He's a manipulative, controlling, abusive, neurotic, pathological sociopath. And he really believes what he says. Listen to that Conspiracy Radio interview… he truly feels like he's done nothing wrong. He flat out denies hitting G, and tries to pass off Tasha Denham's detailed accounts as the rantings of a disgruntled ex… except what she's seen and what I've seen and what MANY others have seen and are now talking about – are all corroborating the same picture of an abusive controlling sociopath. I'm sure Solar will try and discredit me too…. I've seen his people post comments after interviews calling me a "nobody without Guru" and a "social climber" and "one of those musicians who can never just shut the fu*k up"… except that I'm award-winning and my body of work speaks for itself… and yep… I was most definitely social… very… and forged relationships behind Solar's back simply because I would hang back and APOLOGIZE for what I felt was DEPLORABLE behavior on the part of the "superproducer". I was often so embarrassed by the way he conducted himself, I felt the need to leave the club last and say I was so sorry for how they were treated. And, ironically, we (the band) were all instructed to NEVER speak to a promoter or organizer. Why? For fear that they might book one of us… and Solar couldn't have that. Solar screamed at me once when I gave one of my business cards to a fan who wanted to know more about me and where else they could hear me, "those are GURU's fans NOT yours!". I wasn't soliciting people – I was responding to direct questions as to my own work! But Solar wouldn't hear any of that. So I would chat with them anyway, carefully, quietly… on the DL – often with DooWop as my lookout – and continue to defy Solar's little madhouse of rules, forging relationships with good people who liked good music and REASONABLE human beings.

Here's a story Solar has no idea about: A few months before our March 2009 Wroclaw Jazz Festival gig in Poland, I was asked to be a special guest with a fantastic collection of Polish all-stars for a Tower of Power Tribute – as the featured soloist. What an exciting prospect! So I emailed Guru and asked him if I could do it – the gig was the next night, on our day off, so it didn't interfere with anything going on with Jazzmatazz scheduling, and Guru said he say no problem with it… to "go ahead, and have some extra fun". I adore Tower Of Power's music, and I was excited to be playing with some of Poland's best as they paid tribute to them. But when the day of the show came and Guru brought it up to Solar – he simply said "absolutely not – we didn't bring you out here to play with other bands". And when I tried to tell him that Guru, months earlier had said it was ok, he came back with "I don't care what Guru said *I'm* the producer of this show – and I say no! Keep arguing with me and you're fired Brown!". (same old threat as always). I was in a tough position because my name was actually IN the program – which the festival directors, now in on it, had removed from Solar's room. The whole festival programming team was in on trying to figure out a way to make this still happen. In the end, DooWop was my lookout, while I quickly snuck out, took a cab – sent by the festival – to take me to the venue. I played the gig, and rushed back. Solar never knew I was gone. The festival was so thankful I snuck out to keep my commitment, and all those Polish musicians & programming directors I now count amongst my friends and we're all still in touch to this day.

You know, I used to think that part of Solar's problem was simple over-compensation for his intense insecurity of having to step into Premo's giant shoes (I once saw him tear up a magazine left on the tour bus, because it had Premiere's picture on the cover… our barely english speaking Belgium bass player had bought it and couldn't understand why Solar had shredded his newly bought magazine so angrily)… but I don't think it's insecurity anymore… not after hearing his interviews in the aftermath of Guru's death… he's very secure in his psychosis. I just hope the world can enact some kind of justice on this man – the closest thing I've ever seen to true evil – and I pray that Guru… my friend… one of my heros… a legendary figure in the history of hip-hop… can then finally get some peace, now finally free of Solar's tyranny.

Will there be other music from Guru?

Well, I have a sickeningly sneaking suspicion that Solar had Guru dropping lyrics right up to the moment he was hospitalized. And I bet he squeezed enough out of that poor man that he could release a record. That would be consistent with Solar's agenda so far. I am disgusted by the idea that Solar might be making money on Guru's back after he's gone… disgusted, but I would not be surprised. It's so sad that all the evidence and allegations against Solar are purely circumstantial… and he knows this. Listen to him on that Conspiracy Radio interview ranting about "where's the police report? where's the video?". He's evil, but not dumb, and I don't think there will be any official justice for this man. I just hope that Guru fans and the whole music industry boycott all he music he generates and run him out of the business. Hell – I'm *on* Jazzmatazz Vol. 4 – and I encourage people to NOT buy it. The price is just too high.

Doowop

I know I said it before – but let me say it again – thank god for DJ DooWop. We clung to each other out there, to stay sane, and I now consider him one of my closest friends. I've seen it up close as DooWop tried to talk sense into Guru… trying to use his 15 year relationship with him to make him see that Solar was no good for him. But Guru wouldn't listen to him despite those 15 years. He was too forgone. One day Wop will speak of this, and it'll be heartbreaking. He – like Guru – is a legend in his own right… and one of the kindest, gentlest souls I've ever met… calls his mother every night… and has a dog that fits into a purse that he adores. He looks rough and tumble… pure Bronx…but he's all soft on the inside. We spent many an hour late into the night after gigs laughing together huddled around my laptop watching episodes of the Office, or It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, or just speaking of family and friends. He's one of the best greatest examples of what real hip-hop is about… honour, nobility, courage, truth… that's Wop right there… and Guru. It was such an honour to stand by them for 3 years.

Conclusion…. Brownman's final words to Guru.

Rest in peace bald-headed slick. I was called to stand next to you for 3 years, and I will forever be honoured to have been your last Jazzmatazz trumpet player. Everything I am and will do from now on will always be inspired and influenced by my time with you. Regardless of the evil surrounding you in your final days & Solar's attempts to re-write history we're all now witnessing – your legacy remains. History will remember… and so will I. I miss you G.

http://brownman.com/Inter...wAboutGuru.htm

____________________

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