Solar Denies Being Romantically Involved With Guru

Controversial producer Solar, who oversaw, and some say controlled, the last few years of former Gang Starr rapper Guru's life, recently sat down with MTV to reveal the nature of their relationship.

The producer claims that he and Guru's relationship was evolved naturally, not through manipulation as many close to the legendary rapper have alleged.

"The friendship got close fairly rapidly," Solar told MTV, about having met Guru, born Keith Elam, through a mutual friend in 2002. "I think the reason why it got close is that I wasn't interested in a record deal. I wasn't interested in him as Guru. Me and him just hit it off as men. I got to know him as a man, he got to know me as a man. We were both going through tricky periods in our lives...We started hanging out, hitting the clubs in New York. We needed to lighten it up a little bit."

The producer claims to have helped Guru through a serious bout with substance abuse, strengthening their bond. "Once that trust developed, he was able to tell me about certain things within his life and career that was leading him to feel extremely frustrated that I believe contributed to his problems with substance abuse," Solar explained. "Anybody who knows him knows that it was a very serious situation at the time. I wasn't judgmental. I just listened and became a friend."

Solar went on to explain that Guru's relationship with his friends and family, including longtime partner DJ Premier, had already deteriorated by the time he and the rapper became close. "When I met Guru, his situation with his family was somewhat of an estrangement," Solaar revealed. "I was an advocate of meeting his mom, meeting his dad -- developing a strong, good relationship with them. He also denied that he had physically abused the rapper when he was ill.

"Me and Guru, we used to play fight," Solar explained. "Roughhouse. Not only with him, but other members of the band. These are all accusations without Guru being here to look you in the eye and saying that's just ridiculous. That's just idiotic."

Finally, the mysterious "super producer" addressed the rumors that he had been involved in a "romantic relationship" with the legendary rapper. "That's untrue, completely unfounded," Solar concluded. "Guru is a family man, I'm a family man. I don't want to say anything against anybody living a certain type of lifestyle -- everybody is free to live their life how they choose to live it -- but that's not my lifestyle or Guru's lifestyle. We're straight men. He dealt with women and family. I dealt with women and family. There's never been any blurring of the lines whatsoever."

Meanwhile, many of Guru's close friends and supporters, from Freddie Foxx and Alchemist to Ice-T and Questlove have taken their beef with Solar to Twitter, questioning the authenticity of Guru's last words, and referring to the producer as a fraud.