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..."
Hot
KRS-One Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who will be standing when the smoke clears?
(KRS-One) --> Redman
Word up!
What's up with this?
We're coming through
Boogie Down style, kid
What's up
The light at the end of the tunnel
Yo, they not HOT, all they do is talk a lot
That's not HOT, where's your respect on the block?
That's HOT, not cause you're friends with the cops
That's not HOT, a real MC you're not
I'm HOT, been hot, repeatedly heated
Don't call the teacher, hah, you best be seated
You got these kids gased up like you own the inventory
Fake muthafuckas ain't tellin the whole story
Tell em how you borrow from everyone you knew
And now that you're on top, they can't borrow from you
That's not hot, tell em how you love bein pop
Cause you was so broke before, sleepin cold on a cot
You don't rock, you grab money
Your crocks rock the spot and you grab them honeys
It's about to get ugly
I don't even go to these bullshit kiddie-ass clubs
You want to be a thug? Let's thug
First of all, soldiers speak to soldiers
Captains speak to captains
Lieutenant/lieutenant, cool?
But your first mistake is: he's steppin to me, rookie
Like you a O.G. and you just a run-up, fool
Who really got these streets on lock?
Whose name really holds high respect on the block?
Who opened up these clubs and taught you how to mix?
Who opened up these thugs from Compton to the Bricks?
I don't even sound like the rest of you kiddies
I study the ways of God, you studyin titties
And ass, I pity your class
Cause you come out with a blast
But you're trash, so you really don't last
They not HOT, all they do is talk a lot
That's not HOT, where's your respect on the block?
That's HOT, not cause you're friends with the cops
That's not HOT, a real MC you're not
They not HOT, all they do is talk a lot
That's not HOT, where's your respect on the block?
That's HOT, not cause you're friends with the cops
That's not HOT, a real MC you're not
This is hotter than heat, too deep, I'm on top of the streets
You weak, you ain't really rockin these beats
You ?????, you dress straight, eat straight
But you're a slave, and yo, you can't come up in a heat tank
G-o-d we thank, we watch what we sell
You better hope these Christians are wrong cause you goin to hell
Think about that when you're spittin your raps
And you call out KRS, I'll put you flat on your back
You're not HOT, all you do is talk a lot
That's not HOT, where's your respect on the block?
That's HOT, not cause you're friends with the cops
That's not HOT, a real MC you're not
What's HOT?
(KRS-One)
That's HOT!
What's HOT?
(KRS-One)
That's HOT!
Who's HOT?
(KRS-One)
That's HOT!
Where's your respect on the block?
[ *scratching of* ]
(KRS-One need to be runnin for office
So Butta-Pican Rican, tell em to get off it) --> Redman
In the song "Hot" by KRS-One, the rapper takes aim at fellow artists who he believes are not true MCs. In the chorus, he repeats the question "What's HOT?" and answers it by saying that an artist is hot when they have respect on the block and are a real MC. He accuses other artists of talking a lot but not being hot, being friends with the cops, and not being real MCs themselves. KRS-One asserts that he is hot and repeatedly heated, and tells these artists not to call him the teacher unless they are prepared to be schooled. He also criticizes the trend of "kiddie-ass clubs" and fake thug persona.
Throughout the song, KRS-One uses strong and metaphorical language to support his claims. He says that the fake artists "borrowed" from everyone they knew to get where they are now and are only in it for the money and fame. He also calls out their lack of originality and the fact that they are not true to themselves. He compares himself to someone who is really rocking beats and schools other artists on what it means to be a real MC.
Overall, "Hot" is a passionate and energetic hip-hop song that challenges other artists to step up their game if they want to claim the title of a true MC. KRS-One uses his lyrics to support his strong and meaningful message, and his flow and style are unique and memorable.
Line by Line Meaning
Who will be standing when the smoke clears?
Who will emerge victorious in the end?
What's up with this?
What's happening?
We're coming through
We're arriving
Boogie Down style, kid
Representing Boogie Down Bronx
What's up
What's happening?
This is KRS-One
Introducing himself
The light at the end of the tunnel
Hope for the future
Yo, they not HOT, all they do is talk a lot
Some rappers are all talk and no substance
That's not HOT, where's your respect on the block?
Respect is earned, not given
That's HOT, not cause you're friends with the cops
Popularity doesn't equal talent
That's not HOT, a real MC you're not
Not everyone who raps is a master of the craft
I'm HOT, been hot, repeatedly heated
KRS-One is a skilled rapper with a long history of success
Don't call the teacher, hah, you best be seated
KRS-One is in charge
You got these kids gased up like you own the inventory
Some rappers are too big for their boots
Fake muthafuckas ain't tellin the whole story
Some rappers are lying to their audience
Tell em how you borrow from everyone you knew
Some rappers have stolen from others to get ahead
And now that you're on top, they can't borrow from you
Success has changed some rappers
You don't rock, you grab money
Some rappers are in it for the money
Your crocks rock the spot and you grab them honeys
Some rappers rely on superficial things to impress
It's about to get ugly
Things are going to escalate quickly
I don't even go to these bullshit kiddie-ass clubs
KRS-One is too experienced for certain venues
You want to be a thug? Let's thug
Challenges a rapper's claims of toughness
Soldiers speak to soldiers, Captains speak to captains, Lieutenant/lieutenant, cool?
Respect is earned through experience and rank
But your first mistake is: he's steppin to me, rookie
Some rappers overestimate themselves
Like you a O.G. and you just a run-up, fool
Some rappers act like they're veterans despite their lack of experience
Who really got these streets on lock?
Who's really in charge?
Whose name really holds high respect on the block?
Who has earned respect through their actions?
Who opened up these clubs and taught you how to mix?
Who has influenced the current generation of rappers?
Who opened up these thugs from Compton to the Bricks?
Who has given these rappers their opportunities?
I don't even sound like the rest of you kiddies
KRS-One is unique and original
I study the ways of God, you studyin titties
KRS-One is spiritual and thoughtful, unlike some rappers who focus on the superficial
And ass, I pity your class
Some rappers are shallow and lack substance
Cause you come out with a blast, but you're trash, so you really don't last
Some rappers are popular but don't have staying power because they lack talent
This is hotter than heat, too deep, I'm on top of the streets
KRS-One is confident in his abilities
You weak, you ain't really rockin these beats
Some rappers are mediocre and unimpressive
You ?????, you dress straight, eat straight
Some rappers are bland and generic
But you're a slave, and yo, you can't come up in a heat tank
Some rappers are limited by their lack of creativity and versatility
G-o-d we thank, we watch what we sell
KRS-One is respectful of God and careful with his image
You better hope these Christians are wrong cause you goin to hell
Some rappers are immoral and misguided
Think about that when you're spittin your raps
KRS-One challenges other rappers to think about their message
And you call out KRS, I'll put you flat on your back
KRS-One is not one to be challenged
What's HOT?
What is good or impressive?
That's HOT!
That is impressive or of high quality
Who's HOT?
Who is impressive or of high quality?
Where's your respect on the block?
Have you earned respect in your community?
KRS-One need to be runnin for office, So Butta-Pican Rican, tell em to get off it
KRS-One is deserving of political office
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BARRY GIBB, MAURICE ERNEST GIBB, ROBIN HUGH GIBB, LAWRENCE PARKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
boss2329
Every time I hear a KRS-One song my mind is blown not only by the incredible lyrics but by the Earth Shaking beats!
Crazytaru1
So far from what i've heard by KRS, he stands out from all those artists you labeled because his lyrics challenge the mentality most people have, not because he has clever punchlines. His rhymes from what ive heard so far are simple, but they carry so much weight. He's making me consider taking some history classes at school just from some of the songs ive heard lol.
Terrence Bowden
My man KRS ONE comes hard to the ever changing sound of the HIP HOP landscape.
jim ckd
krs one..one of the best mc's ever..
MP Longboard Surf
The best ever
Trolu Mistrz Yoda
prawdziwy raaaaap kuuurrreelllaaaaka
jim ckd
@insaneone86 Exactly!
insaneone86
You know your good when Cube mentions you in his TOP 5!!!!
FVCK1 OFFICIAL
EL MEJOR RAPERO DE TODOS LOS TIEMPOS
coffla21
THE MC. The Teacher. Nuff said. Anything else takes away from his greatness.