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..."
Phucked
KRS-One Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
why'know when advice is in your face, you need to heed that
Word, you need to read that
why'know, I put this lil' joint together real quick
You know what it's called?
It's called - NOW YOU'RE FUCKED!
That's right, listen
Wasn't you the type to mimic what you saw on TV?
Wasn't you the type to mimic what you heard on CD?
You never wanted to work you wanted everything easy
You heard KRS and you said, "That's preachy!"
A wise young man says, "Father - teach me"
A foolish young man wants to live life freaky
Oh yes, Knowledge does Reign Supremely
When I said it eighty-nine you didn't believe me
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. that's right
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. life is over, finished, done
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. better heed that, read that
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED!
[Verse Two]
Listen - back in the days on the Boulevard of Linden
BROOKLYN! Kris was a, metaphysician
LOOKIN! For better ways to live without bein
TOOKEN! We started our own management and
BOOKIN! Makin moves with them live cats on
FULTON! I can't even 'member all the dough that we
TOOK IN! But you was lookin down on us
Cause platinum never astounded us, so
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. word, like that
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. ha, you shoulda heed that, you better
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. y'all was chasin the radio, remember that?
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. what they givin you back now?
[Verse Three]
Back when we was all singin "Monie in the Middle"
You wanted to wiggle, jiggle in a tight skirt and giggle
Even when outside was brittle, you still had on little
And KRS warned that you'll get played like a fiddle
Now you havin cravings for pickles cause you pregnant
and don't know where the dad went and you poppin them drugs like Skittles
When the baby is born it's little and sick
But it's no riddle, you was movin too quick, huh
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. word, look at this
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. you shoulda stayed home and read a book
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. literally, symbolically
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED!
[Verse Four]
When advice is in your life you need to take it
Cause frankly, everybody ain't gonna make it
Back in the days we, showed 'em the way
I put it there in the music but you weren't amazed
You would criticize, debate, and basically hate
But let it be known I wanted everyone to be great
But you would diss and not even try to do better
When we was at the U.N. you said "whatever"
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. word
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. we movin ahead, you still in the same spot
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. 'member all that back talk, all that?
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. takin over
In KRS-One's song "Phucked," he teaches listeners a valuable lesson about taking advice and heeding warnings. The song's title itself is thought-provokingly bold as it bluntly states the consequences of ignoring advice. KRS-One begins the song by emphasizing the importance of reading and paying attention to good advice that is readily available. He contrasts the approach of a wise young man who seeks knowledge and listens to his father's teachings, with a foolish young man who chooses to ignore it and live life frivolously.
KRS-One then walks listeners through various examples of this heedlessness, for instance, referencing people who mimicked what they saw on TV and in music without putting in the work. It isn't until things go awry that people realize the value of advice they previously ignored. The chorus re-iterates that people are left stranded after ignoring good advice. In the final verse, KRS-One underscores the idea that people who did not heed his message in music now find themselves lagging behind. He paints a picture of moving forward while others remained stagnant due to their lack of interest in reading or seeking knowledge.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah
The song is beginning
why'know when advice is in your face, you need to heed that
When someone gives you advice, you should listen to it
Word, you need to read that
You should pay attention to what is being said
why'know, I put this lil' joint together real quick
The song was created quickly
You know what it's called?
The song is referring to a specific title
It's called - NOW YOU'RE FUCKED!
The song is titled 'Now You're Fucked'
That's right, listen
The song is announcing that it is important to pay attention
[Verse One]
The first verse is starting
Wasn't you the type to mimic what you saw on TV?
Did you imitate what you saw on television?
Wasn't you the type to mimic what you heard on CD?
Did you imitate what you heard on CD?
You never wanted to work you wanted everything easy
You wanted everything to be handed to you without effort
You heard KRS and you said, "That's preachy!"
You dismissed KRS-One's message as preaching
A wise young man says, "Father - teach me"
A smart individual requests to be taught
A foolish young man wants to live life freaky
An unwise person desires to participate in irresponsible behavior
Oh yes, Knowledge does Reign Supremely
Knowledge is the most important aspect of life
When I said it eighty-nine you didn't believe me
In 1989, when KRS-One shared this message, you did not take it seriously
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. that's right
The consequences of your actions have caught up to you
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. life is over, finished, done
Your life has reached a negative point of no return
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. better heed that, read that
Take this warning seriously
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED!
The song's refrain, emphasizing the negative consequences of one's actions
[Verse Two]
The second verse starts
Listen - back in the days on the Boulevard of Linden
KRS-One is reminiscing about the past in a specific location
BROOKLYN! Kris was a, metaphysician
KRS-One had spiritual and metaphysical interests
LOOKIN! For better ways to live without bein
He was searching for alternative lifestyles without conforming to societal norms
TOOKEN! We started our own management and
They started their own business operations
BOOKIN! Makin moves with them live cats on
They were working with live performers
FULTON! I can't even 'member all the dough that we
They were generating a large amount of money
TOOK IN! But you was lookin down on us
Others were judging them
Cause platinum never astounded us, so
Being wealthy did not impress KRS-One or his group
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. word, like that
The refrain is repeated to emphasize the consequences of your actions
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. ha, you shoulda heed that, you better
You should have taken the warning seriously
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. y'all was chasin the radio, remember that?
You were too focused on being famous rather than your music's message
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. what they givin you back now?
You are not benefiting from your earlier choices
[Verse Three]
The third verse begins
Back when we was all singin "Monie in the Middle"
The group is referencing a song from the past
You wanted to wiggle, jiggle in a tight skirt and giggle
You wanted to dress and act provocatively
Even when outside was brittle, you still had on little
You still had on revealing clothing regardless of the weather
And KRS warned that you'll get played like a fiddle
KRS-One cautioned that people would take advantage of your behavior
Now you havin cravings for pickles cause you pregnant
You are pregnant and are craving unusual foods
and don't know where the dad went and you poppin them drugs like Skittles
You are taking drugs frequently without regard to the consequences
When the baby is born it's little and sick
The baby is born unhealthy
But it's no riddle, you was movin too quick, huh
Your actions led to these negative consequences
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. word, look at this
The refrain emphasizes the severity of the situation
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. you shoulda stayed home and read a book
The consequences of your actions could have been avoided with education
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. literally, symbolically
The negative situation has both literal and symbolic meanings
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED!
The refrain is repeated to illustrate how the consequences are inescapable
[Verse Four]
The final verse starts
When advice is in your life you need to take it
This line conveys the importance of considering advice
Cause frankly, everybody ain't gonna make it
Not everyone is going to be successful in life
Back in the days we, showed 'em the way
KRS-One and his group demonstrated how to succeed
I put it there in the music but you weren't amazed
KRS-One included his message in his music, but it did not impress you
You would criticize, debate, and basically hate
You would dismiss KRS-One's message, engage in arguments, and exhibit negativity
But let it be known I wanted everyone to be great
KRS-One's goal was to inspire greatness in everyone
But you would diss and not even try to do better
Instead of improving yourself, you would criticize others
When we was at the U.N. you said "whatever"
KRS-One encountered opposition even when addressing the United Nations
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. word
The refrain repeats to emphasize the consequences of your actions
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. we movin ahead, you still in the same spot
KRS-One's career is progressing while yours is stagnant
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. 'member all that back talk, all that?
All the negative comments you made earlier have now led to your negative predicament
NOW YOU'RE FUCKED! .. takin over
The final refrain emphasizes that KRS-One is taking over and succeeding
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Daniel Cage, William Goodrum
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind