FOLLOW THE LEADER

"I didn't do that, and that's one of the reasons for my longevity. A lot of artists can't come out with hits and then they're gone. But we've built a foundation, and it's a foundation that we're continuing to build on. I used to be frustrated because maybe Gang Starr wasn't promoted so well. Maybe it was because Premier and I didn't cut our hair the same way or didn't wear the same types of clothes. But we adapted--we became businessmen in order to pay the rent. And we're paying it."

That's no exaggeration: Together and individually, the two Gang Starr partners are doing just fine. DJ Premier produced the latest KRS-One single, as well as the Crooklyn Dodgers '95 hit "Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers" (the kick-off from the soundtrack to Spike Lee's Clockers). And GURU and his DJ have blocked out studio time in December to begin putting together the next Gang Starr long-player (the first since 1994's erratic Hard to Earn).

GURU would love to receive as much praise for the music they'll make as he does for his status as a role model. But if that's not to be, he claims not to mind. "I'll take the bad with the good," he says. "But I focus more on the good."

Jazzmatazz II, hosted by GURU (featuring Reuben Wilson, Kenny Garrett, Bernard Purdie, Donald Byrd, Zachary Breaux, Baybe, Big Shug, DJ Sean-Ski), with Vanessa Daou. 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 27, Fox Theatre, 1135 13th Street, Boulder, $17.85, 447-0095.