Original & second group lineups The original Gang Starr group was founded in
Morehouse College by three friends from
Boston,
Massachusetts: Guru (then known as MC Keithy E.) who had planned to be a rapper/singer,
Big Shug as the main MC and DJ Suave D (Shug's younger brother Dana) as their DJ. After Shug was imprisoned, Suave D quit the group, leaving Guru to enlist the services of MC Damo D-Ski and DJ 1, 2 B-Down (also known as Mike Dee) with various
producers, such as
Donald D, J.V. Johnson or
the 45 King helping out. Their earliest recordings were in 1986 where they made various demos. In 1987 and 1988, Gang Starr released three 12-inch vinyl singles on
Wild Pitch Records.
Breakup and partnering with DJ Premier In 1989, the group split for the second time and the only member willing to continue under the name was Guru. He got in touch with
Houston,
Texas native
DJ Premier (then known as Waxmaster C) who submitted a tape of beats to Wild Pitch records, which Guru liked. He invited DJ Premier to join Gang Starr, relocate with him to
Brooklyn and in that same year they released their first single "Words I Manifest" along with the album
No More Mr. Nice Guy (1989).
Guru's death In February 2010, Guru suffered a
heart attack, went into a coma, and died on April 19, 2010. DJ Solar, a long-time collaborator of Guru, said Guru chose not to go public with the diagnosis of
myeloma that was made in 2000. Guru appeared to have fallen out with DJ Premier seven years prior to his death and did "not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name, likeness, events, tributes, etc." There is speculation that the letter was not written by Guru, but was composed by Solar. The validity of the statement was questioned by Guru's family and his contemporaries.
Post Guru Soon after DJ Premier stated that there was a "posthumous Gang Starr CD/DVD project in the works," and most likely to have been released in 2014, but nothing was released. DJ Premier confirmed in late 2015 that he was working on a Gang Starr biopic with the cooperation of Guru's sister, Patricia Elam. In 2019, DJ Premier released a new single under the Gang Starr name entitled "Family and Loyalty" featuring
J. Cole, to be followed with a new album titled
One of the Best Yet, which was released on November 1 that year. ==Gang Starr Foundation==