KNOWLEDGE
IS POWER
“Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone” is the bold acronym of hip hop’s grand “Teacha” known as KRS-One (Lawrence “Kris” Parker). People called the 80s the “Golden Era of Rap” for a reason; it was the time when socially conscious rap lyricists would collide with the rise of “Gangster rap,” which mostly focused on drug dealing, violence and sexism.
KRS-One dropped the hit songs Love’s Gonna Get’cha (Material Love) and Sound of da Police, (Whoop-whoop that’s the sound of the police — Whoop-whoop that’s the sound of the beast), warning the street youth of the pitfalls and dangers of chasing the materialistic lifestyle.
It was his insightful hit My Philosophy — on the Boogie Down Production album Criminal Minded — that rivaled any other rap hits in the mid-80s, and made it cool to be both knowledgeable and “street.”
“I think very deeply, yes, I think very deeply — This is my philosophy of the industry,” blared through many street-youth car sound systems as they drove around their neighborhoods.
The death of KRS-One’s band-mate DJ Scott La Rock, who was killed by gun violence, sparked more of the artist’s political activism. In 1988, in response to the gun violence in the Black and hip-hop community, KRS-One started the “stop the violence movement.”
In 1989, the movement’s advocates released the single Self Destruction with the rap group Public Enemy and other East Coast hip hop stars of the day. All the proceeds went to the National Urban League. West Coast rap stars, which included Easy-E and Digital Underground, collaborated and released All in the Same Gang to support the stop the violence movement.
KRS-One was among the first hip hop artists to bridge a Jamaican dance hall sound into rap music with his controversial song The P is Free. Although KRS-One does not subscribe to any particular religion, early in life he was homeless and during that period developed a curiosity in Hare Krishna spirituality, according to Wikipedia.
He is a vegan activist and dropped a song titled Beef, a word play on musical conflicts between rappers, also called “beefs.”
KRS, from the South Bronx, had his own rap “beef” with MC Shan from Queenbridge, New York. The beef started over the song The Bridge by MC Shan, with some believing his claim that his borough produced the best of hip hop. KRS-One took it as a “dissed” song, and released South Bronx in response. MC Shan responded with Kill That Noise and KRS and BDP answered with The Bridge is Over.
This back and forth led to a competitive live performance featuring the two rappers, which most rap heads believe is the first MC battle with a live performance. KRS-One was declared the winner by the majority of the crowd and most rap music listeners.
Later, KRS reconciled with Marley Marl, MC Shan producer, squashing the beef. He released the critically acclaimed By All Means Necessary with new BDP members: Derrick “D-Nice” Jones, Ms. Melodie, his wife at the time, and younger brother DJ Kenny Parker.
The album included the hit song Jimmy, an ode to safe sex by using condoms. “J.I.M.M.Y. it’s Jimmy,” the chorus went. KRS-One defines his music as “Edutainment,” the combination of education and entertainment.
KRS-One has been a staple in hip hop. In 2020 he released his 23rd solo album Between Da Protest. He has a gospel-rap album Spiritual Minded and Hip-Hop Lives, a response to Nas’s Hip-Hop is Dead.
The social consciousness in KRS-One’s music does not make it soft. He is a rap-battle-tested lyricist, and his 1997 album I Got Next, reached number #3 on the Billboard 200.
KRS-One really embodies hip hop; he founded The Temple of Hip Hop a ministry, archive, school and society (M.A.S.S.). Its main goal is to promote hip hop as a genuine political movement, religion and culture. I guess he’s not playing when he sings his famous refrain, “I think very deeply.”
