What's Hot

Shortly after news of Guru’s passing, the Roots’ Questlove hit his Twitter with a note that went well beyond your typical Rest In Peace statement. It read: “Not trying to bring negativity into the situation, but I do NOT believe he wrote that letter. 1) he was in a coma. 2) HE WAS IN A COMA!” These are very valid points!

“That letter” is, of course, the suspicious farewell note that was released shortly after Guru’s death, in which the Gang Starr founder calls his most recent production partner Solar “my loyal best friend,” and attempts to block his longtime producer, DJ Premier — whom he refers to only as “my ex-DJ” — from having “anything to do with my name, likeness, events tributes etc. connected in any way … for any reason.” Inevitably, after a little over a week of internet sleuthing, credible questions about this letter’s authenticity are finally beginning to surface.

The great unraveling began only one day after Guru’s death when his sister, Patricia Elam, released an official family statement that confirmed the rapper never regained consciousness after falling into a coma way back in February. More damning, however, Elam addressed the legitimacy of Each One Counts — the non-profit organization that, according to Guru’s deathbed letter, had been founded by the rapper. “The family is not aware of any foundations established by Guru,” she asserted.

Earlier this week, New York hip-hop site Birthplace Magazine went into the public record to find out more about Each One Counts, and the fact that they found out so little about the charity raises more questions than answers:

“Each One Counts, Inc., lists very little public information on record. This is somewhat abnormal for a non-profit organization, which is required by federal law to file particular tax records which are usually available for public review. In the case of Each One Counts, Inc., the only public information was the name the foundation is listed under, Denise Sandoval.

Denise Sandoval is also known as Denise Mosher. Denise Mosher is the wife of John Mosher, aka Solar. The address is a UPS Store.”

Also worth noting in the piece is a statement by an anonymous former associate of Guru and Solar who confirms that “the foundation is something Solar started. Guru was aware of the foundation, but nothing was ever done with it. It was something Solar always wanted to get going but never did.”

DJ Premier, for his part, has been taking the high road about this controversy — refusing to make accusations, while maintaining a reasonable skepticism over the authenticity of what might very well go down as a legendary wordsmith’s final words ever.

“Well, I would love to see that letter,” Premier told Vibe on Tuesday. “I would love to see the handwriting. Because I know Guru’s handwriting like the back of my hand with all the bills we had to pay together. I know it’s not him.”

Also, he was in a coma.