The rapper Guru is reportedly "weak" but "doing well" after suffering a heart attack on Sunday. The Gang Starr founder fell into a coma and underwent surgery on Tuesday.
"I am doing fine and I am recovering!" Guru, born Keith Elam, told AllHipHop yesterday. "I'm weak though ... I appreciate your well wishes and all the love." Solar, the rapper's long-time producer has vouched for the 43-year-old's recovery. "Guru is resting and doing well," he said. "The doctors say that he will fully recover from his illness."
While the news of Guru's recovery is welcome, it comes within hours of a video released by a man claiming to be the rapper's nephew, Justin Nicholas-Elam Ruff. The man's identity has been authenticated by Guru's Gang Starr partner, DJ Premier. In his lengthy, serious statement, Justin alleges that Solar has blocked Guru's family from having access to, or information about, the ailing rapper. "[He] has completely cut us off," Justin says. "My family has no way of knowing what is going on with Guru's situation ... [Solar] also has primary control over the decisions made for Guru's health in the hospital."
Justin, who says he is the son of Guru's sister, Trish, reveals that the Gang Starr rapper first checked into hospital on 2 February. "Two weeks went by before my family was notified by Solar that Guru was in hospital," he says. As Guru's siblings made plans to come to New York, Solar apparently told them Guru did not want to see them. A week later, they were notified that Guru had fallen into a coma. They have been unable to obtain further information.
"Solar has complete control of the flow of information," Justin says. "I know that Solar has been his right-hand-man day-in and day-out for the last six years, but that does not give him the right to make decisions about whether his family is to see Guru or learn about his status. The fact that he is acting like this lets me know that he does not have Guru's best interests in mind."
While there are references to a feud between Trish, Guru and Solar, Justin insists that he is not directly involved in this conflict. "On Tuesday, 2 March 2010 at 9:50pm I wrote Solar [by SMS] and said: 'I'm not Trish, and I have nothing to do with [all] that. All I'm asking for is an update of his situation. I'm stressing out and can't sleep over this. I'm not sure if you understand what my uncle means to me. You don't have to talk to her or anyone else, but please don't leave me hanging.'"
"Ten minutes later ... I looked at Solar's Twitter page and he said: 'Solar will be providing the only accurate info on Guru and will be doing interviews soon.' I was left in shock ... Here I am having to contact this man through text messages to try to see how my uncle is doing and I cannot get an answer. Then he decides to post on Twitter that he will disclose information soon, as if my family doesn't matter and we all have to wait until he feels the time is right."
"Guru is part of who I am ... Not being able to get a simple status update on [his] condition affects me to the core. I would love to explain this to Solar but I feel as though he wouldn't care. So I have decided to share this with you."
While Guru has yet to issue a comment on the video, the rapper's brief statement yesterday – which came via Solar – included a caveat: "Solar is the only person who has the accurate info on my situation. Any info from anybody else is false."
