KRS-One

Artist Information

Biography

A pioneering Bronx-based hip-hop group with a socially conscious message, Boogie Down Productions (BDP) is the hip-hop vehicle of rapper Kris "KRS-One" Parker. Parker originally formed the group with DJ Scott LaRock who was gunned down in 1987 while trying to break up a street fight and help spark KRS-One's ambitious antiviolence crusade. But it was BDP's Productions' blend of hip-hop with reggae dancehall and rock influences that set the group apart from other message-oriented rappers, as well as KRS-One's dexterous verbosity and blunt beat sense.

Growing up poor in Brooklyn and the Bronx, Kris Parker was introduced to rap music through his mother's collection of discs, including some by the Treacherous Three and Grandmaster Flash. Parker ran away from home at 13 and began living on the streets. During the day he would read about philosophy and religion at the library, and at night he'd practice rapping at the homeless shelters where he lived. At 17 he got his GED.

While staying at the Franklin Armory Shelter in the Bronx, Parker met social worker Scott Sterling, known on weekends as DJ Scott LaRock. The two formed BDP and released Criminal Minded on the independent B-Boy label in 1987. The album's smooth grooves and hard rhymes foreshadowed gangsta rap. In August that year LaRock was murdered.

Parker kept going with his brother Kenny, releasing By All Means Necessary (Number 75 pop, Number 18 R&B, 1988) the following year. The album introduced the rapper's "edutainment" style of rap in songs like "My Philosophy" and "Stop the Violence," the latter of which Parker turned into a movement in 1989 to help curb black-on-black violence. BDP's albums sold relatively well. Both Ghetto Music (Number 36 pop, Number Seven R&B, 1989) and Edutainment (Number 32 pop, Number Nine R&B, 1990) went gold and continued Parker's message of nonviolence, with the latter scoring a modest MTV hit with "Love's Gonna Get'cha (Material Love)." Although Live Hardcore Worldwide failed to make it onto the pop chart, Sex and Violence reached Number 42 (Number 20 R&B, 1992). Return of the Boom Bap, KRS-One's solo debut (in reality BDP was increasingly a solo project), reached Number 37 (Number Five R&B, 1993), while the commercial success of KRS-One (Number 19 pop, Number Two R&B, 1995) and I Got Next (Number Three pop, Number Two R&B, 1997) bolstered his fan base.

By the late 1980s, Parker had begun doing college lecture tours wherein he would touch on a range of topics including Afrocentrism, religion, politics, violence, and his own revisionist views of American history. In 1991 he organized a group of artists including Chuck D, L.L. Cool J, Queen Latifah, British folkie Billy Bragg, and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe for the consciousness-raising compilation H.E.A.L. (Human Education Against Lies): Civilization Vs. Technology. Toward the end of the 1990s KRS began erecting the Temple of Hiphop — an organization dedicated to the teaching of hip-hop history — and became a mentor/tutor at Harlem's Riverside Church. He also took an A&R gig with Reprise Records in 1999, which he held for two years.

In 2000, KRS-One finished his contract with Jive by releasing A Retrospective; the following year, on Koch/In the Paint, he released The Sneak Attack, his first studio album in four years. In 2002, he shocked many fans by issuing Spiritual Minded. He continuing releasing new music through the decade, most notably with 2007's Hip-Hop Lives, a collaboration with Marley Marl — the DJ-producer KRS had explicitly dissed on 1986's "South Bronx" — thus bringing to an official end to hip-hop's "Bridge Wars," where Bronx MCs battled their Queens counterparts. In 2008 KRS-One released Maximum Strength which was something of a returned to form with "The Teacher" waxing poetically and skillfully on everything from politics to corporate malfeasance to ancient history.

In March 2009, KRS-One is scheduled to release his new book entitled “Gospel of Hip Hop.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q6OQlX_sFg
http://www.myspace.com/templeofhiphop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWa4UpajKTc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxyYP_bS_6s

Instrumentation

Hakim Green of Channel Live, DJ Premier (if available), 2 other MC's in training.

Discography

* 1987: "The Bridge Is Over"
* 1993: "Sound of da Police"
* 1993: "I Can't Wake Up"
* 1995: "MC's Act Like They Don't Know"
* 1995: "Rappaz R. N. Dainja"
* 1997: "East Coast West Coast Killas"
* 1997: "Men of Steel"
* 1997: Step Into A World (Rapture's Delight)
* 2002: "Clear 'Em Out"
* 2007: "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)"

Album information
Criminal Minded

* Released: January 1, 1987
* Billboard 200 chart position: -
* R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #73
* Singles: "South Bronx"

By All Means Necessary

* Released: 1988
* Billboard 200 chart position: #75
* R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #18
* RIAA Certification: Gold
* Singles: "Stop The Violence"

Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop

* Released: June 28, 1989
* Billboard 200 chart position: #36
* R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #7
* RIAA Certification: Gold
* Singles: "You Must Learn", "Why Is That?" & "Jack Of Spades"

Edutainment

* Released: July 17, 1990
* Billboard 200 chart position: #32
* R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #9
* RIAA Certification: Gold
* Singles: "Love's Gonna Get'Cha"

Live Hardcore Worldwide

* Released: March 12, 1991
* Billboard 200 chart position: #115
* R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #25
* Singles:

Sex and Violence

* Released: February 25, 1992
* Billboard 200 chart position: #42
* R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #20
* Singles: "We In There", "Duck Down" & "13 And Good"

Visit KRS-One TV online at:
http://krsone.biz/KRSTV.html

Audio

• Self Construction
  Listen   Download

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• KRS One Embodies His Stop the Violence Message After Fan Throws Bottle Toward Stage, Injuring Performer and Inciting Intense Reaction from Crowd [+ Show ]
  

  For Immediate Release April 19, 2008 Hip Hop artist and activist, KRS One, demonstrates incredib...For Immediate Release
  April 19, 2008
  
  Hip Hop artist and activist, KRS One, demonstrates incredible restraint after overzealous fan throws bottle at a New Haven, CT nightclub, striking the icon in the face and fracturing his right hand. By doctor’s orders, all performance and lecture dates have been postponed until after May 1, 2008.
  
  In the midst of an intense, multi-city mission in support of the Stop the Violence Movement, KRS One has been visiting some of the nation’s roughest neighborhoods, spreading his message of nonviolence to those who need to hear it most. During his latest stop in Chicago, the Teacha visited tragedy-plagued Crane High School, released the star-studded “Self Construction” single on Power 92.3 radio and held a press conference to promote peace with Illinois State Representative John Fritchey. His New Haven, CT stop brought him to the Toad’s Place nightclub where his true Stop the Violence message was tested.
  
  Standing firm on his platform of peace, KRS One calmed the crowd and security staff, which came to his defense after a fan lost control of himself, lashing out in anger by throwing a bottle in the direction of the stage. After being struck in the face and hand and still holding the microphone, the legendary performer pleaded, “Let it go. Let it go. When negativity comes your way, let it go. Let this be an example as to how we stop the violence.” Amazingly, the veteran emcee finished the last 15 minutes of his set as his right hand swelled to painful proportions, and he was rushed to Yale-New Haven hospital in an ambulance and treated for a fractured hand as well as dehydration.
  
  Though KRS One expressed his preference that the fan not be charged, his management team and the staff of the nightclub insisted upon an arrest for legal purposes related to the unfortunate impending postponement of future engagements.
  
  Doctor Jeff Midgley of Yale-New Haven Hospital instructed the performer to postpone all previously scheduled commitments until he rehydrates and his fractured hand heals. A longtime fan, and hospital staffer, Deirdre Gill, told KRS, “Over the years, you’ve instructed us to take care of ourselves, now it’s time to take care of yourself. Get some rest.”
  
  A disappointed KRS One sincerely apologizes that the following dates must be postponed due to this unfortunate incident:
  
  April 19. Panel Discussion and Performance at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
  April 19: Performance at Higher Ground, S. Burlington, VT
  April 21. Performance at Harper’s Ferry, Allston, MA
  April 22. Performance at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, Providence, RI
  April 28-30. Community Meetings and Planning, Chicago, IL

Setlist

Do free style rap over classical pieces by Bach. Famous songs are "South Bronx", "Criminal Minded," "Sound of da Police," etc. To get an idea of my set, see the YouTube below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yeHZVBxnNk&feature=related

Basic Requirements

Calendar