As the hip hop community continues to mourn the loss of Keith “Guru” Elam, today I stumbled upon this interview by complete happenstance, a conversation between him and Run-DMC dated to 1993. I have to say, after reading some deeply disturbing Solar business over the weekend, it was a nice change to go back to better days and enjoy this slice of time with these icons of our culture.

There isn’t much editing in this piece. Admittedly it starts off a bit slow, with just Guru and DMC. Then Run joins in, followed by Jam Master Jay. By the time they’re all there, you’ll find some real gems. I think my favorite part is when JMJ gets crazy intricate talking about how they used to dress:

Jay: You got on the freshly dipped gear, that could be a pair of Lees, and a fresh alpaca, you know what I’m sayin, to match the Adidas, and a velour or a Panama, with the ribbon that’s matching your sneakers…
Run: That’s that pimp shit.
Jay: But the pimps ain’t rockin the Lees.
(…)
Guru: Before you guys, rappers were more like stars, with the flashy costumes
Run: They were trying to be like Rick James.

Real the full interview here.

R.I.P. Guru, R.I.P. Jam Master Jay.