KRS One
KRS One is a
rapper from the
Bronx,
New York City. Together with DJ Scott la Rock, he formed
Boogie Down Productions. Their debut album -
Criminal Minded - contained mainly dissing records and tracks about crime ("wa da da deng wa da da deng, listen to my nine millimeter go bang"), using James Brown samples and reggae influences. After Scott la Rock got shot, Boogie Down Productions got more and more political, making what is known as conscious rap. KRS One also was the mastermind behind the HEAL compilation and the Stop the Violence Movement that has its own manifesto with the 12" "Self Destruction" featuring many popular rappers.
On his first solo album, KRS worked together with producers DJ Premier (Gang Starr), Showbiz and Kid Capri. The catchy yet very hardcore track "Sound of da Police" is featured on this album. His second album, KRS One featured Channel Live on the track "Free Mumia" as well as Mad Lion, Busta Rhymes, Das EFX and Fat Joe. Sursprisingly enough, 1997's "I Got Next" included a remix of the new hit "Step into a World" (with a sample from Blondie's "Rapture") by commercial rap icon Puff Daddy. "Hearbeat", featuring Angie Martinez and Redman, was based on the old school classic "Feel the Heartbeat" by the Treacherous Three.
After many BDP albums and the solo albums, Jive Records decided to drop KRS, and his 2001 album was released on Koch. In 2002, he released a gospel-rap album, Spirtual Minded, surprising many longtime fans since he had once criticized Christianity as being a "slavemaster religion" which blacks should not follow.
Discography
- Criminal Minded (1987)(with BDP)
- By All Means Necessary (1988)(with BDP)
- Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop (1989)(with BDP)
- Edutainment (1990)(with BDP)
- Live Hardcore Worldwide (1991)(with BDP)
- Sex and Violence (1992)(with BDP)
- Return of the Boom Bap (1993)
- KRS One (1995)
- I Got Next (1997)
- The Sneak Attack (2001)
- Spiritual Minded (2002)
- Kristyle (2002)
Guest Appearances
- "Radio Song" by REM from Out of Time (1991)