Francais | English | Espanõl

KRS-One

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
KRS-One <tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Image:Krsone.jpg
</td></tr>
Background information

<tr><td>Birth name</td><td colspan="2">Lawrence Parker</td></tr><tr><td>Also known as</td><td colspan="2">KRS-1
Kris Parker
The Blastmaster
The Teacha</td></tr><tr><td>Born</td><td colspan="2">August 20 1965</td></tr><tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Bronx, New York City, USA</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Hip hop</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1986 – present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">RCA Records</td></tr><tr><td textalign="top" style="padding-right: 1em;">Associated
acts</td><td colspan="2">Boogie Down Productions
Channel Live
Mad Lion
Scott La Rock
Diggin' in the Crates Crew</td></tr>

Lawrence 'Krishna' Parker (born August 20 1965), known as KRS-One, is an African American hip hop MC. Over his career he has been known by several pseudonyms, including Kris Parker, KRS One, KRS-ONE (as given at his website), The Blastmaster and The Teacha. KRS-One is a significant figure in the hip hop community and is often referenced in works by other hip hop artists and critics as being the "essence" of an MC and one of the greatest rappers to hold the mic.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Name origin

Parker has fashioned KRS-One as a backronym: Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone. The name "KRS" originates as a Graffiti tag, which was an abbreviation of his nickname "Krishna" which he obtained by socialising with Hare Krishna's earlier in his life. Other graffiti artists also tagged "KRS", so he made his tag KRS1 to differentiate himself from the others.

Originally a member of the hip hop crew Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One is known for setting the path for both hardcore rap and socially conscious political rap.[1]

[edit] 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. He attracted many prominent MCs to appear on the 12-inch "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 KRS-ONE into the backronym "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone".

On his first solo album, 1993's Return of the Boombap, Parker 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.

KRS-One's 2004 album, Keep Right

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, Parker 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, Parker 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. He moved to southern California, and stayed there for two years, 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 music-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 album Life, was released in June 2006. Another album, Adventures in Emceein, is slated for later in the year. KRS-One has also confirmed that for his next album of new material — expected to be out in 2007 — he will be working with Marley Marl. Chinga Chang Records CEO DMAK has placed unreleased material from KRS-One on the upcoming European release Stackin Euros and on the soon to be released mixtape Residual Income Vol. 1.

[edit] September 11 comments

In 2004, KRS engendered a controversy when he was quoted in a panel discussion hosted by The New Yorker magazine as saying that "we 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."<ref>Widdicombe, Ben, et al. "KRS-One, decency zero." New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2005-09-06.</ref>

In late 2005, KRS released a remix of the song "Bin Laden", which blames U.S. conservatives, the Reagan Doctrine and U.S. President George W. Bush for the September 11, 2001 attacks. The song was originally released by Immortal Technique and DJ Green Lantern in Summer 2005.

Parker responded to the furor surrounding his comments with an editorial written for AllHipHop.com, stating:

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...

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo albums

Album cover Album information
Image:ReturnOfTheBoomBap.jpg
Return of the Boom Bap
  • Released: September 28, 1993
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #35
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #5
  • Singles: "Outta Here"/"I Can't Wake Up", "Sound Of Da Police"
Image:Krsselftitled.jpg
KRS-One
  • Released: November 7, 1995
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #19
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #2
  • Singles: "MC's Act Like They Don't Know"/"Represent the Real Hip Hop", "Rappaz R N Dainja"/"Ah Yeah"
Image:Krsigotnext.jpg
I Got Next
  • Released: May 20, 1997
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #3
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #2
  • Singles: "Heartbeat"/"A Friend", "Step Into A World (Rapture's Delight)", "Cant Stop, Won't Stop"/"The MC"
Image:Krsonesneak.jpg
The Sneak Attack
  • Released: March 27, 2001
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #43
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #9
  • Singles: "I Will Make It", "Hot"/"Get Yourself Up"
Image:Krsminded.jpg
Spiritual Minded
  • Released: January 22, 2002
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #64
  • Singles: "South Bronx 2002"
Image:Krsmixtape.jpg
The Mix Tape
  • Released: August 27, 2002
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #32
  • Singles:
Image:Prophets Vs Profits.jpg
Prophets Vs Profits - an alternate track listing to the Mix Tape
  • Released: October 10, 2005
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
  • Singles:
Image:Krsstyle.jpg
Kristyles
  • Released: April 22, 2003
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #186
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #30
  • Singles: "Underground"
Image:Krsdigital.jpg
D.I.G.I.T.A.L.
  • Released: November 25, 2003
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
  • Singles:
Image:Strictly for Breakdancers & Emceez.jpg
Stricly for da Breakdancers & Emceez - recorded 1996, originally released as two volumes
  • Released: September 19, 2004
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
  • Singles:
120px
Keep Right
  • Released: July 13, 2004
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #80
  • Singles: "Let 'Em Have It/Phucked" & "Illegal Business '04"
Image:Krslife.jpg
Life
  • Released: June 13, 2006
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
  • Singles: "My Life"

[edit] With Boogie Down Productions

Album cover Album information
120px
Criminal Minded
  • Released: January 1, 1987
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #73
  • Singles:
Image:Byallmeansnecessary.jpg
By All Means Necessary
  • Released: 1988
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #75
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #18
  • Singles: "Stop The Violence"
Image:Blueprintkrs.jpg
Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop
  • Released: June 28, 1989
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #36
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #7
  • Singles: "You Must Learn", "Why Is That?" & "Jack Of Spades"
Image:Eduboogie.jpg
Edutainment
  • Released: July 17, 1990
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #32
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #9
  • Singles: "Love's Gonna Get'Cha"
Image:Livenadbdp.jpg
Live Hardcore Worldwide
  • Released: March 12, 1991
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #115
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #25
  • Singles:
Image:Bdpviolence.jpg
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"

[edit] Compilation albums

[edit] Guest appearances

[edit] Cameos and roles in film

  • I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) - KRS One and BDP walk behind Jack Spade performing his theme music
  • "Who's the Man?" (1993) - Rashid
  • "SUBWAYstories: Tales from the Underground" (1997) - Vendor
  • "Rhyme & Reason" (1997) - Himself
  • "Boricua's Bond" (2000)
  • "The Freshest Kids" (2002) - Himself
  • 2Pac 4 Ever (2003) - Narrator
  • "Beef" (2003) - Himself
  • "Hip-Hop Babylon 2" (2003) - Himself
  • "Soundz of Spirit" (2003) - ?
  • "5 Sides of a Coin" (2003) - Himself
  • "War On Wax: Rivalries In Hip-Hop (February 2004) - Himself
  • "The MC: Why We Do It" (2004) - Himself
  • "Beef 2" (2004) - Himself
  • And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop (2004) - Himself
  • "Hip-Hop Honors" (2004) - Himself
  • "Keep Right DVD" (2004) - Himself
  • "Zoom prout prout" (2005) - Himself

[edit] Popular culture

KRS-One is also the title of a song on Sublime's 40 oz. to Freedom album. The song is a tribute to the aforementioned musician.

[edit] Commercials

KRS-One's song "Steady Bounce", from his 2001 album Strickly for da Breakdancers & Emceez, is played throughout the 30-second commercial for Chrysler's Jeep Compass which began airing in the U.S. in July 2006. The commercial features dozens of bobblehead characters bouncing their head up and down while the song is being played. The sample used by KRS-One in this popular commercial is a sped up vocal sample which loops the phrase "Steady bouncing in Jeeps on the New York Streets", a line from 1990s rapper Nine's popular song "Whatcha Want?". Also in this commercial, the phrase KRS-One is seen on the vehicle's car display.

KRS-One's song "Get Your Self Up" from his album The Sneak Attack was used in a Lugz commercial.

[edit] References

<references />

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Parker, Lawrence
ALTERNATIVE NAMES KRS-One, Kris Parker
SHORT DESCRIPTION American musician
DATE OF BIRTH August 20 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Bronx, New York City, USA
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
de:KRS-One

es:KRS-One fr:KRS-One it:KRS One he:KRS ONE nl:KRS-One pl:KRS-ONE sv:KRS-One

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/KRS-One"
Personal tools