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..."
MCs Act Like They Don't Know
KRS-One Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause I'm KRS and I'm on the mic, and Premier's on the breaks
Goin' out to the hardcore hip hop
Goin' out to the hardcore hip hop
Of course we don't flip flop
If you don't know me by now, I doubt you'll ever know me
I never won a GRAMMY, I won't win a Tony
When I grab the mic to smash a rapper, girls go "eww"
Check the time as I rhyme, it's 1995
Whenever I arrive the party gets liver
Flow with the master rhymer, as I leave behind
The video rapper, you know, the chart climber
Clapper, down goes another rapper
Onto another matter, punch up the data, Blastmaster
Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody
Call up KRS, I'm guaranteed to rip a party
Flat top, braids, bald heads or knotty dread
There once was a story about a man named Jed
But now Jed is dead, all his kids instead
Wanna kick rhymes off the top of they head
Word, what go around come around I figure
Now we got white kids callin' themselves niggas
The tables turned as the crosses burned
Remember You Must Learn
About the styles I flip and how wild I get
I go on like a space age rocket ship
You could be a mack, a pimp, hustler or player
But make sure live you is a dope rhyme-sayer
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
This is what you waited all year for
The hardcore, that's what KRS is here for
Big up Grand Wizard Theodore, gettin' ill
If you see, then ya saw I'm in your grill with mad skill
MC's can only battle with rhymes that got punchlines
Let's battle to see who headlines
Instead of flow for flow, let's go show for show
Toe for toe, yo, you better act like you know
Too many MC's take that word 'emcee' lightly
They can't Move a Crowd, not even slightly
It might be the fact that they express wackness
Let me show ya whose ass is the blackest
I flip a script a little bit, you ride the tip and shit
Too sick to get with it, admit you bit, your style is counterfeit
Now tone it down a bit
My title you will never get, I'm too intelligent
I'll send your family my sentiments, my style is toxic
When I rock and shock and hip hop it unlock your head, I knock it
It split quick from the lyric
Direct hit, perfect fit, you can't get with it
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
Some MC's don't like the KRS, but they must respect him
'Cause they know this kid gets all up in they rectum
Slappin' and selectin' 'em, checkin' 'em, disrespectin' 'em
Just deckin' 'em, deckin' 'em, deckin' 'em
Who in their right mind can mimic a style like mine?
I design rhyme and get mine all the time
MC's standin' on the sidelines, always dissin'
When I roll up and rush they crew they start bitchin'
I don't burn, I don't freeze, yet some MC's
Believe they could tangle with the likes of these
Cross your t's and dot your i's whenever I arrive
Wide, magnified, live like the ocean tide
You dope, you lied, I reside like Artifacts
On the Wrong Side of Da Tracks, electrified
Comin' around the mountain, you run and hide
Hopin' your defense mechanism can divert my heat-seeking lyricism
As I spark mad izm
The 1996 lyrical style's what I give 'em
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
MC's act like they don't know
Yo, yo, it's Special K from the Awesome 2
Representin' the cause for the Blastmaster
And this the Ooh Child Teddy Tedd
And you know we down with the KRS
One, One, One
Since day one, aight
Awooga
Peace
The song "MCs Act Like They Don't Know" by KRS-One ft. DJ Premier is a message to all MCs that are not true to the art of hip hop. KRS-One is essentially saying that there are too many rappers who aren't keeping it real and making music for the sake of fame and fortune rather than the love of the culture. The song is an ode to the true and hardcore hip hop of that era, and KRS-One is celebrating it with the help of DJ Premier's brilliant beats.
The song starts with KRS-One introducing himself and Premier, acknowledging their credibility in the world of hip hop. He then goes on to say that the song is dedicated to the hardcore hip hop fans who appreciate their music and that they will never betray their true fans by trying to appeal to the masses. KRS-One also talks about the authenticity of his music, stating that many successful rappers have lost touch with their roots and are no longer authentic in their music. He asserts that he will never sell out and will always stay true to his craft.
KRS-One also talks about battling other rappers and how some MCs only have punchlines to battle with. He challenges other rappers to battle him with flow and skill, not just punchlines. He asserts that too many MCs take their title lightly and they cannot move a crowd. KRS-One then calls out MCs who diss him and mentions that he has gained respect even from his haters because they know he is the real deal.
Overall, the song is a celebration of the hardcore hip hop of that era and an assertion that KRS-One and DJ Premier will always stay true to their craft and never sell out.
Line by Line Meaning
Clap your hands everybody, if you got what it takes
If you feel like you can keep up with me, then show your support by clapping your hands.
'Cause I'm KRS and I'm on the mic, and Premier's on the breaks
I am KRS-One, the rapper on this track, and Premier is the DJ behind the beats.
Goin' out to the hardcore hip hop
This song is dedicated to the fans of true, hardcore hip hop.
Of course we don't flip flop
We remain true to our roots and original style, and we don't switch things up on a whim.
If you don't know me by now, I doubt you'll ever know me
If you are not familiar with my music and who I am as an artist, it's unlikely that you will ever truly understand or appreciate me.
I never won a GRAMMY, I won't win a Tony
While I may not have won mainstream awards and recognition (like a Grammy or a Tony), I am still a respected MC in the rap community.
But I'm not the only MC keepin' it real
I am not the only rapper who values authenticity and honesty in their music.
When I grab the mic to smash a rapper, girls go 'eww'
When I rap aggressively and put down other MCs in battles, some people might not like it and react negatively.
Check the time as I rhyme, it's 1995
This song was released in 1995, so I'm giving a shoutout to the year as I rap.
Whenever I arrive the party gets liver
When I show up to perform at a party, the energy level and excitement get turned up a notch.
Flow with the master rhymer, as I leave behind
Follow along with me as I rap with expert skill and leave other, lesser MCs in the dust.
The video rapper, you know, the chart climber
I am dissing rappers who prioritize music videos and mainstream success instead of authentic, hardcore hip hop.
Clapper, down goes another rapper
I am metaphorically hitting other MCs so hard with my rhymes that they fall down, like a boxing reference.
Onto another matter, punch up the data, Blastmaster
Let's move on to another subject, and I, KRS-One, will bring the punchy lyrics and rhymes.
Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody
My rap acronym KRS stands for 'Knowledge Reigns Supreme' and I believe that knowledge is more important than nearly anything else.
Call up KRS, I'm guaranteed to rip a party
If you want a party with expert-level MC-ing and the real hardcore hip hop feel, call me, KRS-One, and I will deliver.
Flat top, braids, bald heads or knotty dread
I am calling out different hairstyles and saying that it doesn't matter what you look like or how you present yourself - it's about the rhymes.
There once was a story about a man named Jed
This line is a reference to the theme song of the TV show 'The Beverly Hillbillies' as a way of saying that there's no real story there.
But now Jed is dead, all his kids instead
I am emphasizing that the story has no relevance to modern times and that we should be focused on the present and future of hip hop.
Wanna kick rhymes off the top of they head
I am endorsing freestyle rhyming as a way to show real skill and ability as an MC.
Word, what go around come around I figure
I believe in karma - whatever you put out into the world comes back to you in some form.
Now we got white kids callin' themselves niggas
I am acknowledging that some white kids today are appropriating black culture and language by using the n-word, which I find problematic.
The tables turned as the crosses burned
This line is a reference to the history of racial tension and conflict in America, where crosses were burned by white supremacists to intimidate and terrorize black people.
Remember You Must Learn
This line is also the title of another famous KRS-One song, and it means that we must all educate ourselves on important issues and history to grow and progress as people.
About the styles I flip and how wild I get
I am highlighting my own unique style of rhyming and rapping, and how I push boundaries and get intense.
I go on like a space age rocket ship
I am calling myself an innovator and a trailblazer in the world of hip hop, always searching for new frontiers like a rocket ship.
You could be a mack, a pimp, hustler or player
It doesn't matter what your occupation or background is - as long as you can rhyme, you can be a dope MC.
But make sure live you is a dope rhyme-sayer
At the end of the day, only the MCs who can really bring the rhymes and perform live will truly stand out.
MC's act like they don't know
This is the chorus of the song, where I am calling out other MCs for pretending like they don't know how to really bring it in the world of hardcore hip hop.
Some MC's don't like the KRS, but they must respect him
While some MCs may dislike me for calling them out and being real about the state of hip hop, they must admit that I am respected and accomplished in my own right.
'Cause they know this kid gets all up in they rectum
This line is a bit graphic, but it means that I really dig deep into other MCs when I battle them and call out their weaknesses and faults.
Slappin' and selectin' 'em, checkin' 'em, disrespectin' 'em
I am saying that I put down other MCs in battles with my rhymes and attitude, and disrespect them in the process.
Just deckin' 'em, deckin' 'em, deckin' 'em
I am emphasizing the physicality of my battle rhymes, saying that I metaphorically knock out other MCs with my lyrical punches.
Who in their right mind can mimic a style like mine?
I am proud of my unique and original rhyming style, and I challenge other MCs to try to copy it.
I design rhyme and get mine all the time
I am saying that I not only create rhymes and music, but I am successful and respected in the rap game.
MC's standin' on the sidelines, always dissin'
I am calling out other MCs who criticize and try to undermine me, but don't have the skill or courage to really battle me one-on-one.
When I roll up and rush they crew they start bitchin'
When I arrive on the scene and challenge other MCs, they get scared and start complaining and making excuses.
I don't burn, I don't freeze, yet some MC's
I am saying that I am always the same, always dope and never faltering, but some other MCs can't maintain that level of consistency.
Believe they could tangle with the likes of these
Other MCs think they can compete with me, but they are mistaken and out of their depth.
Cross your t's and dot your i's whenever I arrive
Be prepared and pay attention to every detail when I come on the scene, because I will notice and call out any flaws.
Wide, magnified, live like the ocean tide
This is a reference to my immense and impactful rhymes, which are like the motion of the ocean tide - unstoppable and powerful.
You dope, you lied, I reside like Artifacts
This line is a reference to the hip hop group 'Artifacts' and means that I am the real deal and live up to my reputation as a true MC.
On the Wrong Side of Da Tracks, electrified
This is another reference to an Artifacts song, and it means that I come from a rough background but I have been able to harness that energy and transform it into powerful rhymes.
Comin' around the mountain, you run and hide
This is a playful reference to the children's song 'She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain', but I am using it to say that other MCs are scared and try to avoid me when I come around.
Hopin' your defense mechanism can divert my heat-seeking lyricism
I am saying that other MCs try to deflect my attacks and rhymes with their own defenses, but they are no match for my powerful, 'heat-seeking' lyrics.
As I spark mad izm
This line is a reference to smoking weed, which is a common theme in hip hop slang and culture, and means that my rhymes are as potent and intoxicating as marijuana smoke.
The 1996 lyrical style's what I give 'em
This line is the final statement of the song and means that I am always evolving and pushing the boundaries of what is considered 'good' rap, and I will continue to deliver true, hardcore hip hop to my fans.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Christopher Martin, Lawrence Parker
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Thatsdax
Up early listening to greats
@rob4689
Dax you are going to be up there with krs one and 2pac one day
@wasabi2787
Robert Lindsay no, no he isn’t......
@ClitPizza
Robert Lindsay no
@SGA01
It's great to see a great singer like you being humble and appreciating the roots. Wish you luck mate.
@nejc7593
Up early smoking weed listening to greats😁
@jeisonmayabuitragopublicis4390
The voice, flow, delivery, punchlines, wordplay PERFECT!
@calvinfolan1736
I'm eternally grateful to say I've seen KRS live at least once in my life. Quite possibly the greatest mind that hip hop has ever seen.
@souloniceheartbeat
me too and it was all the way in nz
@seandacosta2421
Me too him and immortal technique in Manchester 💎💎💎