Yesterday, Hip Hop lost a piece of its soul. Guru, the New York born MC (real name Keith Elam), suffered cardiac arrest on March 2 and had been in a coma since.

Immediately, upon hearing the passing of this Hip Hop legend, fans of Guru instantly hit Twitter, Facebook and other sites saluting his contribution to not only Hip Hop, but their lives in general.

One Facebooker updated his status to say, “Damn…I’m really feeling like a piece of Hip-Hop died. R.I.P. Guru you’ll live on forever through your music…you’ve always been one of my favorites because you choose to uplift and educate through your rhymes. Thank you for all the lessons…”

Gang Starr was originally founded as a hip-hop group in 1987, but after a few unsuccessful single releases, most of the band left. The remaining MC, Guru, then hooked up with DJ Premier and Gang Starr became the duo that went on to be so influential in the New York hip-hop scene.

The duo released six studio albums between 1989 and 2003 and became famous for making “conscious rap.” The duo eventually split. However, Guru went on to release a series of “Jazzmataz” albums where he combined classic jazz, soul with ryhmes from various hip hop artists.

Mark Twain once said “Let us live so that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry.”

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Guru’s family and friends.

May you Rest in Peace Guru. Thank you for your contribution to Hip Hop, you will forever be missed.