KRS-One, originally a member of the hip hop crew Boogie Down Productions, is known for setting the path for both hardcore rap and socially conscious political rap.
Youth and early career
Born Lawrence Parker in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1965, the future KRS-One grew up with his brother Kenny and their single mother in assorted inner city neighborhoods of Brooklyn and the Bronx. According to interviews with The Source Magazine, one fateful day when he was 12 years old, he and his brother Kenny prepared a pan of flavored rice, which was to be the family's dinner for the evening. The hungry pair ate the whole thing, and when their mother came home from work, she kicked them out of the apartment in a fit of anger. They stayed away for two days before younger Kenny decided to go back home, while Lawrence opted not to return. He spent the better part of the next seven years homeless, much of it at local libraries.
In his late teen years, Lawrence Parker fell in with some illegal drug dealers and became a courier. Using a bread delivery truck as a cover, Parker and his partner drove around town to make drops. During one of their trips, a police car pulled up behind them with flashing lights. Parker's partner panicked, and led the cops on a chase for several miles which ended with the truck crashing and the two being apprehended. At the trial, the judge made the commentary that the only reason the police had initially tried to pull them over was because they had private plates on a commercial vehicle, there was no original intent to search for drugs.
Parker, still a minor, claimed he was a ward of the state, and got sent to a juvenile home for his sentencing, after which he was moved to a Covenant House youth homeless shelter. It was there that he met Scott Sterling, a recent college graduate who just started working at the shelter as a social worker. Parker discovered that Sterling moonlighted as a hip hop DJ under the name Scott La Rock. By this time, Parker had earned the nickname "Kris" from the relationship he had developed with local Hare Krishnas that evangelized near the shelter. Heavily influenced by Eastern philosophies, he was also an aspiring rapper, and practiced routines in verbal spars with the other shelter residents.
Parker and Sterling, along with two other fellows, decided to form a rap group together, initially calling themselves "Scott La Rock and the Celebrity Three". That was short-lived, however, as the two peripheral members quit, leaving Parker (now calling himself KRS-One) and Sterling. They then decided to call themselves "Boogie Down Productions". Success is the Word, a 12-inch single release on indie Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records (under the group name "12:41") did not enjoy commercial success. Soon after, the pair approached another NY indie, Rock Candy Productions, for a deal. As it turns out, the entertainment company was allegedly a front for a pornography operation, but Parker and Sterling convinced the boss to front them the money to record an album, under the newly created subsidiary label, B-Boy Records. After a few 12-inch single releases, the Criminal Minded album finally surfaced in 1987.
Criminal Minded featured many dis tracks that attacked other hip hop emcees and tracks about street crime ("wa da da deng wa da da da deng, listen to my nine millimeter go bang"). KRS One and La Rock appeared on the cover of the album holding firearms, a controversial precedent that would be followed by many rap artists in the years to follow. Musically, the album was based around James Brown samples and reggae influences. They also sampled hard-rock band AC/DC on "Dope Beat". During these years, KRS-One was also famously involved in a hip hop battle with MC Shan, of Queensbridge. KRS objected to MC Shan calling Queensbridge the home of hip hop, and attacked him viciously on a seminal battle rap, The Bridge Is Over.
Later career and emphasis on political issues
Following the fatal shooting of Scott La Rock in 1987, Boogie Down Productions (BDP) became increasingly political. KRS One was the primary motivation behind the HEAL compilation and the Stop the Violence Movement. KRS One attracted many prominent emcees to appear on the 12-inch single "Self Destruction." As Parker adopted this more conscientious, less violent approach, he stopped calling himself "The Blastmaster" (his battle rap nickname), and instead began calling himself "The Teacha", turning the nickname KRS-ONE into the backronym "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone".
On his first solo album, 1993's Return of the Boombap, 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", a political protest song about Mumia Abu-Jamal, an imprisoned African-American and Black Panther member who a vocal group of activists on the political Left claim is innocent of the crime of which he was convicted. Other prominent guest artists on KRS One included Mad Lion, Busta Rhymes, Das EFX and Fat Joe.
In 1997, Parker surprised many with his release of the album I Got Next. The record included a remix of the single "Step into a World" which featured a sample from the 1970s rock group Blondie by commercial rap icon Puff Daddy. "Heartbeat", featuring Angie Martinez and Redman, was based on the old school classic "Feel the Heartbeat" by the Treacherous Three. These collaborations with notably mainstream artists took many fans and observers of the vehemently anti-mainstream KRS One by surprise. However, in August 1997 KRS One appeared on Tim Westwood's BBC Radio 1 show and vociferously denounced the DJ and the radio station more generally, accusing them of ignoring his style of hip-hop in favour of commercial artists such as Puff Daddy.
In 1999, there were tentative plans to release an album called "Maximum Strength"; a lead single, "5 Boroughs", was released on The Corruptor movie soundtrack. However, KRS apparently decided to abort the album's planned release, just as he had secured a position as a Vice-President of A&R at Reprise Records. KRS moved to southern California, and stayed there for two years, finally ending his relationship with Jive Records with A Retrospective in 2000. The next year, he resigned his position at Reprise and in 2001 The Sneak Attack was released on Koch Records. In 2002, he released a gospel-rap album, Spiritual Minded, surprising many longtime fans. Parker had once denounced Christianity as a "slavemaster religion" which African-Americans should not follow. He founded the Temple of Hiphop, and released a new album, Kristyles, in mid- 2003, which was preceded by KRS-One: The Mixtape. In the summer of 2004 he released Keep Right.
KRS One's latest CD Life, was released in June 2006, and another CD, Adventures in Emceein on Koch Records is slated for later in the year. KRS has also confirmed for his next album of new material, expected to be out in 2007, he will be working with Marley Marl.
September 11 comments and ensuing controversy
In 2004, KRS engendered a controversy when he was quoted in a panel discussion hosted by New Yorker Magazine as saying that Blacks "cheered when 911 happened". The comment drew criticism from many sources, including a pointed barb by the New York Daily News that called Parker an "anarchist" and said that "If Osama bin Laden ever buys a rap album, he'll probably start with a CD by KRS-One."
Parker responded to the furor surrounding his comments with an editorial written for AllHipHop.com. In it, Parker said "I was asked about why hiphop has not engaged the current situation more (meaning 911), my response was 'because it does not affect us, or at least we don’t perceive that it affects us, 911 happened to them'. I went on to say that 'I am speaking for the culture now; I am not speaking my personal opinion.' I continued to say; '911 affected them down the block; the rich, the powerful those that are oppressing us as a culture. Sony, RCA or BMG, Universal, the radio stations, Clear Channel, Viacom with BET and MTV, those are our oppressors those are the people that we're trying to overcome in hiphop everyday, this is a daily thing. We cheered when 911 happened in New York and say that proudly here. Because when we were down at the trade center we were getting hit over the head by cops, told that we can’t come in this building, hustled down to the train station because of the way we dressed and talked, and so on, we were racially profiled. So, when the planes hit the building we were like, 'mmmm, justice'. And just as I began to say 'now of course a lot of our friends and family were lost there as well' but I was interrupted..."
Don't Get So High
KRS-One Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
[KRS-One:]
Haha, wha' ya call that?
Boogie Down, Boogie Down, Boogie Down, Boogie Down Productions
You ha fe understand your situation
You create your life through your imagination
Of who you are - you're creation!
Can't you understand?
Everytime you think in bad mind
You attract that to you same time!
Listen [? ]
Refine, expand your mind
Consciousness go through all space and time!
Look at [? ]
We teach the philosophy
Deal with no hypocrisy
The sun is there on top of me
Beaming down that vitamin E
Feelin sick we're not gonna be
Kris in jail you're not gonna see
Take my shots on the [? ]
We get you jumpin around
We the number one sound
You want [? ]
[? ]
I'm flippin' the sound, flippin' the flow
Some say I'm stuck back in '84, I don't know
I don't see no nickel bags, yo
I don't see no Word Up mag, yo
All I see is straight up fags, yo
These rappers they brag, though
Til we in the club, not in they castle
Somewhere in El Paso, Texas
That's when Kris gets reckless
Goes down the checklist
You rappers best respect this
It's better you listen to this metaphysician
While people bling and glisten I seek that higher vision
Don't get so high, til you can't see past your eye
Enjoy yourself but don't die
Listen now, listen now, why why?
Why you want to be like a fly guy?
Don't get so high, til you can't see past your eye
Enjoy yourself but don't die
Tell me now, why you ha fe be such a fly guy?
Temple of HipHop and me
We step in any party - top celebrity
See when we come in a dance we never look for grammy
'Cause that's 'cause we got r-e-s-p-e-c-t
I want just one wife - S-I-m-o-n-e
She said she always want fe marry an Emcee
Travel 'round the world and live a life so free
Then she met me - H-I-p-H-o-p
Started countin' up twenty, thirty, forty G
Started gettin' fresh garments now for free
Dealin' with promoters and countin' the money
Takin' trips to Europe on the Queen Mary
What do you see?
You ha fe direct your chi
You must live your life properly
What do you see?
You have to be what you see
You have got to live your life free
What do you see?
You ha fe direct your chi
You must live your life properly
What do you see?
You have to BE what you see
So you can see yourself living free
The song "Don't Get So High" by KRS-One is all about self-awareness and personal responsibility. In the first verse, KRS-One speaks about the power of our thoughts and how they manifest into our reality. He encourages listeners to think positively and maintain good energy since bad thoughts and negative energy will come back to us. The second verse delves into the state of modern rap music, with criticisms of rappers who are focused just on money and fame. The following verse talks about KRS-One and the Temple of Hip-Hop movement, which advocates for the positive and conscious messages in hip-hop music.
Overall, the song's message is that we have the ability to create our own reality through our thoughts and actions. It is important to live our lives properly and maintain good energy to attract positive outcomes. Additionally, the song encourages people to listen to conscious, positive music like that of KRS-One and other conscious rap artists.
Line by Line Meaning
You ha fe understand your situation
You need to comprehend your predicament
You create your life through your imagination
Your life is a product of your mind's creation
Anything you think is a manifestation
Whatever you think comes to be
Of who you are - you're creation!
You are a manifestation of yourself
Can't you understand?
Do you not comprehend?
Everytime you think in bad mind
When you think negatively
You attract that to you same time!
You manifest negative things into your life
Refine, expand your mind
Improve, broaden your way of thinking
Consciousness go through all space and time!
Awareness transcends space and time
We teach the philosophy
We educate the knowledge
Deal with no hypocrisy
Handle situations authentically and honestly
The sun is there on top of me
The sun shines down on me
Beaming down that vitamin E
Providing natural sources of vitamins
Feelin sick we're not gonna be
We will not feel ill
Kris in jail you're not gonna see
You won't witness Kris imprisoned
Take my shots on the [? ]
Drink my shots
We get you jumpin around
We make you dance and move energetically
We the number one sound
We are the best in the music industry
You want [? ]
You desire to be with us
I'm flippin' the sound, flippin' the flow
I am changing up the music style
Some say I'm stuck back in '84, I don't know
People claim I am outdated
I don't see no nickel bags, yo
I don't see any bags of drugs
I don't see no Word Up mag, yo
I don't see any hip hop magazines
All I see is straight up fags, yo
All I see are people acting falsely
These rappers they brag, though
These rappers boast about themselves
Til we in the club, not in they castle
Until we are in the club not their homes
Somewhere in El Paso, Texas
Possibly in El Paso
That's when Kris gets reckless
That's when KRS-One acts recklessly
Goes down the checklist
Complete the list of things to do
You rappers best respect this
You rappers should show respect
It's better you listen to this metaphysician
It's best you listen to the person who explains ideas beyond the physical realm
While people bling and glisten I seek that higher vision
While individuals are dazzled by materialistic things, I pursue a greater purpose
Don't get so high, til you can't see past your eye
Don't become so intoxicated that you can't comprehend things clearly
Enjoy yourself but don't die
Have fun, but don't overindulge to the point of death
Listen now, listen now, why why?
Pay attention, ask yourself why
Why you want to be like a fly guy?
Why do you wish to appear as a show-off?
Temple of HipHop and me
Hiphop Temple and myself
We step in any party - top celebrity
We can show up anywhere, even among the elite
See when we come in a dance we never look for grammy
When we dance, we are not searching for awards
'Cause that's 'cause we got r-e-s-p-e-c-t
Because we have respect for ourselves and others
I want just one wife - S-I-m-o-n-e
I want only one wife- Simone
She said she always want fe marry an Emcee
She always wanted to marry a rapper
Travel 'round the world and live a life so free
Explore the world and live without restraint
Then she met me - H-I-p-H-o-p
Then she met me - hiphop
Started countin' up twenty, thirty, forty G
Started accumulating tens of thousands of dollars
Started gettin' fresh garments now for free
Got new clothes without paying for them
Dealin' with promoters and countin' the money
Handling promoters and taking note of the money earned
Takin' trips to Europe on the Queen Mary
Traveling to Europe on the ship Queen Mary
What do you see?
What do you perceive?
You ha fe direct your chi
You have to channel your energy
You must live your life properly
Your life must be lived correctly
You have to be what you see
You must become what you envision yourself as being
So you can see yourself living free
In order to live freely you must see yourself as free
Contributed by Aaliyah C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.