Guru's condition has been on the minds of fans, friends and family members but news has been somewhat difficult to get. As news comes in, *%^&$#@ has kept you up to date. However, this morning, Guru's nephew Justin Nicholas Elam-Ruff decided he would release a video about the situation from his perspective, speaking on his family's inability to get information on Guru's health status and adding that Solar, Guru's friend and producer, does not have Guru's best interest
in mind through this ordeal.
“[Solar] has primary control over the decisions made for Guru's health in the hospital
. Now, the last I checked, it was the family's right to have a say in what goes on in a hospital when a family member falls ill. For some reason, it doesn't apply in this case," he adds.
"After Guru fell ill, for reasons I will not disclose, he was checked into a New York Hospital, Tuesday, February 2, 2010. Guru's family was not notified of this until Friday, February 16, 2010. That means that two weeks went by before my family was notified by Solar that Guru was in the hospital.”
He recounts that family members wanted to fly to New York to see Guru but that Solar advised them not to visit because Guru did not wish to be seen in that state. A week later, he says family members flew to New York and found that Guru was in cardiac arrest and that he was in a coma. He says Guru's sister and brother thought about changing paperwork to gain control over decisions on behalf of Guru, but "they never acted on it."
"A couple of days after Guru's siblings visited him, word got out to the public," he adds. "Since the information leaked, Solar has completely cut us off. My family has no way of knowing what is going on with Guru's situation. Solar has complete control over the flow of information given form the hospital and will not disclose any information with us. The doctors and the staff will not discuss any information with Guru's family."
"In order for the family to change the situation, we would have to hire a lawyer to take this to court and it would be sorted out over a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, we do not have a couple of weeks."
He went on to say that Solar does not have Guru's best interest in mind, saying he is "shocked" by Solar's recent actions.
"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 on whether or not his family gets to see Guru or learn about his status. The fact that he is acting like this lets me know that he does not have his best interest in mind. It is a control thing with Solar."
He adds that family members have tried to reach Solar, adding that he only responded to a text from Justin by saying Justin's mother was responsible for this:
"Trish [Justin's mother] started this! Guru would never have told her he was in the hospital. This is horrible what she did! Now I need to care for Guru. Peace."
Justin continued that Solar doesn't understand how this is affecting Guru's family.
"Guru has always been there for me, since I was a little boy. Whenever I reached out to him, he has always had my back. He has exerted his time and energy to teach me countless lessons on the ways of the world, schooling me like the wise professor that he is," he added. "What Solar doesn't understand is that Guru is a part of who I am."
He maintained that he has always been present in his life, despite any issues with other members of the family and that this issue "affects [Justin] to the core."
He said he is releasing this video so that others can know what is going on behind this tragic ordeal. He added that he hopes the video is placed in the right hands.
"I do not trust Solar. There are many reasons why I know he is a very manipulative person and has been so with Guru throughout the course of their relationship. Many people can attest to that. I will not discuss, address those people nor the situations, since this isn't the time to do so."
"This statement was completely written by me," he said.
The video, with the full letter from Justin, is below.
UPDATE: DJ Premier released a statement through his blog about the situation:
"Guru's nephew Justin Nicholas-Elam Ruff on the situation, stay strong brother! I would like to thank him for his time. Hip Hop community got your back. This is straight sick, support Guru and his family people!! Solar, what's going on? Support people, support..."