KRS ONE Responds to EUR Feedbacker
I visit the www.eurweb.com to get my daily news on my fav singers, and I found this gem from KRS-ONE. Like Prince, he has alot to say about the current state of Rap and the music biz. Its a very interesting read from a deep brotha who like Chuck D deserves some props and pounds!


KRS-One
(May. 2, 2002) Ya gotta love that Kris Parker, better known as KRS One. A recent feedbacker (04-23-02 EUR), who interestingly, didn't leave his/her name seems to have made quite an impression on Kris. Yes he/she did. So the Blastmaster is responding, and brothers and sisters does he ever have something to say!


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First of all, why is there an assumption that my career is somehow over, and I need to 'jumpstart or try to re-ignite' my career by dissin' Nelly. I don't believe my 16 year, 5 gold album career is over yet. And if it was, how does dissin' Nelly actually re-ignite my stagnated career? In fact, my so-called career is more vibrant than it has ever been! I just completed a ten city tour, performing before packed houses. I recently released a Gospel rap album (Spiritual Minded) that charted at number 4 on the Billboard Gospel charts.

I continue to lecture at hundreds of Universities, and everywhere I go I am publicly praised and sought after by people of all backgrounds. How is my career over? I am not broke? I am not sick? How is my career over? Why do I need to dis Nelly to get my career started? Just because I do not regularly appear on MTV does not mean my career is over. Just because radio programmers refuse to acknowledge my work does not mean my career is over.

For your much needed information, it is the people of Hiphop Kulture that sustain my career, not broadcast media outlets! Very simply, my performances pay me in respect, admiration, and money. My choruses and music are sampled continuously, and whenever dope emcees are mentioned, my name appears. How is my career over? Your letter, to me, seems to lack knowledge, or it is simply another attempt to save a wack rapper from the ass whipping you know he's about to get! People are tired of the mindless drivel continuously passed off, and pumped into our homes as authentic Hiphop Kulture, and it is time to draw the line!


Your letter states that 'KRS is a very good lyricist … one of the best, but when was the last time he had a hit?' What do you mean when you say 'hit?' What is the criteria for a 'hit' … record sales? I don't think so! I write songs, not records. I write lyrics that influence people toward right thinking, right action and self-empowerment. If these concepts fall below your criteria, or are simply above your head, that's fine! But do not try to diminish the content of a 16 year cultural campaign to a 'hit' recording. Your very premise proves that you are not part of our Hiphop Kulture, nor do you know Hiphop's history and thus speak from ignorance. Everything about your cowardly unnamed letter speaks to what is being bought and sold as if this is a criteria for Hiphop success. Sorry, it is not. Rap is something we do, while Hiphop is something we live. Hiphop is the name of our culture. We do not sell our culture. We do not rate our culture on charts that monitor the sales of products. Hiphop is not a product, and KRSONE is not a rapper!

I thought my position was clear when I stated on my 500,000 unit selling album 'I Got Next' .….. now quote this, emcees are just hopeless, thinking record sales make them the dopest! (Step into a world) I thought I was clear when I said on the same song that I am 'relying on talent, not marketing and promotion.' Something you seem to be a victim of. Finally, you stated 'Hip Hop has evolved…,' and you advised me not to 'hate the next man for being original and profiting, no matter what genre it sells to!' Here's where you fu*ked up again! First of all, Nelly is not original. Secondly, Hiphop is not for sale! Rap music product is for sale. And no, I don't 'hate.' As a leader of Hiphop Kulture, it is my cultural responsibility to point out when (and how) our culture is being abused, and offer some possible solutions. Yes my ignorant friend, it does matter how rap music is being sold, and who is buying it, because rap music product teaches the world about Hiphop Kulture. And if our culture (through rap music) is depicted exclusively as a bunch of drunk and high, irresponsible and immature niggers, bitches, hoes, pimps and playas; with our own hands we send ourselves and our children to the cemetery, the penitentiary or a life of depression and insecurity when they reach adulthood!

I don't know what 'Whites' you are talking to, but the 'Whites' I am talking to wonder why 'Blacks and Browns' depict themselves as 'thugs' on national television when 'Blacks and Browns' are over represented by the thousands in the criminal justice system. I don't know what kind of 'Whites' you are talking to, or living with, but many 'White families' (Black and Brown families as well) refuse to expose their children to rap music because of the irresponsible and immature content it is believed to present. This is a problem for Hiphop Kulture and those that participate in it, because Hiphop (as you have stated) has '... many styles.' Why then is only the irresponsible image of Hiphoppas presented to the public when Hiphop has 'many styles' while you claim '… just because a mass majority, including whites, like your music doesn't mean you sold out ...?' Yes, it means you sold out if 2.5 million kids are getting arrested every year -- yet you decide to promote yourself as a criminal, knowing that our children will be influenced by your behavior. Yes, you are a sell-out when you teach young men that woman are basically sex toys for boys, in a society that is still very sexist toward women and continues to destroy the very fabric of family life. Yes, you are a sell-out when you say, some say 'I'm wrong but f*ck it I'm grown, if you ain't bout this money you best be gone (Nelly).'

Is this consistent with the Civil Rights struggle? Is this consistent with the teachings of Malcolm X, Kwame Ture, or even Jesus Christ! Is this attitude consistent with the intentions of Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D, or even our parents? If it is not, it is destructive to our collective well being, and the performer of such lyrics is a sellout. Yeah, you're right; 'a one track mind will leave you broke…' But I am a multi-dimensional thinker and according to the IRS I am not broke! So I suggest, you take your little response and shove it! Some of us care about the future of Hiphop Kulture. Some of us are not just doing rap music, some of us are Hiphop! This issue is not even about Nelly, it's about the corporate exploitation of our intellectual property and the image of our collective consciousness through out the world. It's not about how much money you can collect, it's about how many lives you can empower. Therefore, as long as my children (and the children of others) must bear the brunt of the images portrayed by today's rappers, I shall always be there as an alternative voice to our obvious self-destruction whether you like it or not! Long live real Hiphop!! There it is!

KRS ONE

Yeah, go Kris!

fonkywonder said:

Good Morning Everyone,

YES AMEN TO THIS!!!!! Much props to KRS-ONE for telling it like it is, but then again....he always does. This need to be printed in THE SOURCE magazine. Once again excellent!!!

* Brother 9/15 aka CR3

now as prince would say "that's deep yall"

i agree

I listened to Boogie Down Production a lot growing up. Here is a partial list of favorites: South Bronz, The Bridge is Over, Criminal Minded, My Philosophy, Sound of the Police, and the P-Diddy sampled Jimmy.

FUCK!!

krs-one is still the dopest, and the deepest.that anonymous cat got SCHOOLED.

like my man said back in the day:

TAKE THE PILLOW FROM YOUR HEAD AND PUT A BOOK IN IT!!!

alx

Krs one had his day.....his time is past tho' doesnt mean hes not good....

I've never been a fan of KRS One, but he laid down the law with that one. Much respect.

LOL! Btw, did you notice how he started out asking why he had to diss Nelly to re-ignite his career then later on he does just that by saying he's not original and calls him a sell-out? Somebody got on One's nerves!

Still, much respect!

KRS-ONE's day is not over by any means. He is STILL the dopest lyricist out there (I dare anyone to name a better mc, Rakim excluded). Just because the snakes and frauds don't want to allow his wisdom and art to be seen by the masses does not make him washed up. I'll take his "washed up" art any day over the crap being pushed as rap today.

Mad props to him, especially on this reply. He is on point about the sellouts in hip-hop. Ive said the same thing around here about those who are destroying our communities for their own personal gain. In many ways these wack, sellout rappers (nelly, cash money, no limit, and many more) are WORSE than dope dealers in that not only do they destroy from within, they broadcast the self-destruction of Black America to the world as they are visibly representing our community. People then take it to be license to join in the destruction since "we" are the one doing it to ourselves.

Todays hip hop artists need to wake up and realise what they are doing. Getting rich is not worth destroying even one young life.

codshort said:

Carlton Ridenhour, aka Chuck D.

I wonder why Prince ain't never tried to catch up w/ KRS-1???

Supernova said:

I like talib kweli. 8)

wow!! now how come prince cant respond to a question like this?

and someone needs to shoot this letter over to eminem.....or however u spell *its* name..

Good Morning Everybody,

I feel you Codshort on your comments brother. Here is my rough overview list of best lyricists in the history of hip-hop from 1979 to present.

***Sugarhill Gang(WonderMike, Big Bad Hank,Master Gee)-What can you say.. these guys scored the first Billboard top 40 rap song ever. "Rapper's Delight" is a monumental classic. This song will never sound dated and the lyrical and rhythmic dexterity these guys display are astonishing. All three of these guys lay down free-wheeling skillful rhymes with stunning ease.

"Have you ever went over a friend's house to eat and the food just ain't no good...I mean the macroroni's soggy, the peas all mushed and the chicken taste like wood. So you try to play it off like you think you can, by saying that you're full and your friend says Mom he's just being polite , he ain't finished uh-uh that's bull" (LOL) Well you get the point.

***Sponnie Gee

***Sequence Female rap trio, before there was Salt N Pepa there were these ladies

***Melle Mel- Who can deny the voice and tone of this MC. "The Message" released in spring/summer of 1982 is one of the most influential and important hip-hop/rap songs in the history of the genre.

***Run DMC- The Kings Of Rock, Just when critics started to write off the hip-hop genre. Run DMC came in saved the genre in a sense with their combination of style, strong rhymes, and their unorthodox fashion statements. The way they were booed during The Source Hip Hop Awards in 1995 by younger MC's without a sense of their history was pitiful considering what they have done for the genre.

***Whodini(Jalil and Ecstasy)- "Five Minutes Of Funk" is another mounmental hip-hop classic and a song I used to get seriously busy on the dance floor to at high school parties back in 84. One of the best songs of the 80's period. These guys had nice rhymes and a style that was unique during their time. A lot of their songs like Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five featuring Melle Mel had lyrics that made you think.

***Beastie Boys...Before their was Enimem there was these guys with one of the best consistent hip-hop albums in history "Licensed To Ill". Eveybody in my high school had a copy of this cassette in 86'. These guys opened for Madonna back in tha day!!!!! They also went on to make some interesting experimental hip-hop records like "Paul's Boutique"(89).

***Ice-T- One of the hardest and brillant MCs ever. A superior lyricist who has actually lived the hardcore player,hustler, gangster lifestyle he raps about. Unlike a lot of rappers that are just using figments of their imagination.

*** Slick Rick- Awesome storyteller.

*** LL COOL J- A great lyricist blessed with a career of longevity.

*** Kool Moe Dee- Very underrated. His 89' hit "I Go To Work" is one of the best lyrical hip-hop songs EVER. Moe Dee rhymes very hard,fast and intelligent simultaneous. This song is a true testament to his genius. Got to be heard to be believed.

*** Big Daddy Kane- He's a smooth operator and a lyrical guru.

*** Rakim- The Hip Hop Community calls him the God Of Lyricists so there's not much more you can add to that.

***Salt N Pepa- These ladies are nothing to play with. The first female rap supergroup.

***Chuck D.- Great voice, great lyrical execution,and a very knowledeable dropping science every chance he gets.
One of the great lyrical gurus who rhymes out the box.

***Ice Cube- A West Coast Rapper with a brillant writer/lyricist and an awesome storyteller. Until 2PAC came on the scene he was West Coast most celebrated rapper. He created two of the greatest hip-hop albums ever...."AmeriKKKa Most Wanted"(1990) and "Death Certificate"(1991).

***De La Soul

***KRS-ONE...This brother constantly drops knowledge. A great MC in every sense of the word.

***A Tribe Called Quest(Q-Tip and Phife)- One of the first to fuse hip hop with jazzy rhythms which made them a breath of fresh air in the hip hop community. These guys had an amazing flow and can freestyle very well. Their albums Low End Theory(1991) and Midnight Maurauders(1993) are acknowledged by hip-hop fans as true classics in the hip-hop genre and to this I agree.

*** 2PAC-rapper,poet,philosopher,actor,workaholic and great lyricist. R.I.P

***Snoop Doggy Dogg- Upon his arrivial, this MC had dozens of imitators of his laid-back vocal delivery(MCs like DaBrat)

***Notorious B.I.G.(Christopher Wallace)- One of hip-hop's greatest loss. A lyrical wizard that can flow to any beat, flow in any style and was a master of using analogies. You can still hear his influence in MCs today in 2002. To me he was to hip-hop what Charlie Parker was to jazz emerging on the scene with a style so unorthodox he took the world by storm. R.I.P.

***Nas

***Jay-Z

***Outkast Got to give props to my homeboys from the A.T.L.(Dre and Big Boi) These brothers really help put the south on the map with their down home southern fried funk and lyrical skills. So Fresh...So Clean ...baby!!!!!

***DMX


There are a few that I haven't mentioned,but again this list is a rough overview. Much props and love to all the MCs out there.

* Brother 9/15 aka CR3
***Queen Latifah

***MC Lyte

fonkywonder said:[quote]KRS ONE Responds to EUR Feedbacker
I visit the www.eurweb.com to get my daily news on my fav singers, and I found this gem from KRS-ONE. Like Prince, he has alot to say about the current state of Rap and the music biz. Its a very interesting read from a deep brotha who like Chuck D deserves some props and pounds!

Well Put!! Why'd they Light his Fire? (Double LEO)

Yes -- The Sequence! Cool female rap group back in the seventies; was also Angie Stone's first group (as Angie B).

Brother915 said:

What????


[This message was edited Tue May 7 17:05:41 PDT 2002 by Supernova]

Supernova said:

Several reasons why this song still sound fresh TODAY!!!And probably will ALWAYS sound fresh.


1)Lyrical analogies- Rappers are still using analogies like these guys were using then {Biggie, Nas, Rakim} to name three lyricists use analogies in the same way these guys use. Unless something drastic happens, analogies will always be an essential part of the hip-hop form.Also in addition to this, people may laugh now-a-days at Wonder Mike's lines. like...." I don't mean to brag , I don't mean to boast....but we like hot butter on a breakfast toast" People may laugh at Big Bad Hank comparing himself to Superman, but a closer listen to a lot of lyrics today in hip-hop and you can detect the same things. And MasterGee's flow on this landmark track certainly sounds fresh even compared to today's hip-hop standard. I don't know whether he rapped from lyrics already composed or whether he freestyled it. But at any rate his verses was as he stated" right on time".

2)Musicality/Sampling- OK this goes without saying,Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" lifted a sampled from Chic's classic "Good Times" which was released earlier that year in 1979. And WE ALL know or SHOULD know how prevalent sampling is in today's hip-hop/R&B climate. So in that aspect, that still makes the song relevant.

3)Club/Radio Airplay-When a DJ at a club put this song on even NOW, people still run to the dance floor to get their groove on. Simply put, it's just a blazing party track that will never sound stale. The groove,beat and the lyrical content still hits HARD!!!!

These are just three examples.....

A lot of the concepts and ideas put down by these dudes in 1979 are still being used and enforced today in the hip-hop community.And unless somebody comes along and drastically alter the rap game, their concepts and ideas will still pretty much be in vogue. So in that regards, the Sugarhill Gang deserves all the acclaim and respect that can get. Peace, I'm out!!!

* Brother 9/15 aka CR3

Brother915 said:

I just can't agree. Analogies and every other type of lyrics are hip hop mainstays. That's not the problem. But when you hear "said a hip, hop, da hip, da hop, da hip, hop and ya don't stop to rock baby to the boogedy beat"...that just sounds corny and dated in ANY context (years after the fact) to me. The production also sounds especially dated and lightweight. But even with all that, I don't detest it actually, I just don't usually listen to it anymore. I respect it for what it is/was, one of, if not THE (Fatback Band's "King Tim III" was released during the same year in '79) first rap records. Prior to it, I think only people in New York actually were familiar with Hip Hop during its earliest stages. Historically it's important, but in the context of Hip Hop history it now sounds dated and corny to me. When I think of my all-time favorite hip hop recordings "Rapper's Delight" wouldn't be on my list. But if you're talking historically alone, it has to be on everybody's list.

2)Musicality/Sampling- OK this goes without saying,Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" lifted a sampled from Chic's classic "Good Times" which was released earlier that year in 1979. And WE ALL know or SHOULD know how prevalent sampling is in today's hip-hop/R&B climate. So in that aspect, that still makes the song relevant.

Not exactly. The Sugarhill Records had an in-house band of its own reproducing the music. Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish is playing the bass on the record. There were no samples on the song. Of course, Chic's Rodgers & Edwards are credited, and that's as it should be since they wrote the music.

Supernova said:

I can take several currents tracks that are out NOW and they will be a line or two that will sound CORNY. But the kind of analogies that they presented on this will never sounded dated..PERIOD. And every now and then if you listen very closely you will hear a rapper rephrasing or referencing that very line by Wonder Mike you just used. Interesing... indeed. Yes as a funk fanatic who grew up on funk, I'm well aware of that Fatback tune from that year. It's important to remember that although some of the lines may be corny it is not dated because rappers are still using these lines and the overall concepts on the record in today's hip-hop climate. Hey you think it's corny. Naturally there's not much I can state regarding this as you are entitled to your own opinions. However COMMA(LOL), the concepts presented on this 79' track are still being used and enforced today(in hip-hop) and unless someone comes along and alters greatly the way rap is performed and structured, the road is going to continue to lead back to these guys. BTW, there were rappers rapping before the Sugarhill Gang and even Fatback up in NY but this is not documented for us to hear...so you know how that goes.

Yes, I know that was the Sugarhill Records house band. And yes Doug PLAYED a SAMPLE from Bernard Edwards riff. My apologies for worded it like I did on my last post. So they didn't sample it in the sense that they lifted the basic track right off the original "Good Times" records, however the band (Doug) PLAYED a sample from "Good Times". Still their CONCEPT of using another previous riff or beat as the nucleus of a song influenced the hip hop climate of today. There is no denying that!!!!!

So corny yes, dated NO!!!!! Forget about Jay-Z, in 1979 these guys laid down the REAL BLUEPRINT.

NOW SUPERNOVA.....MY MELLOW....ITS ON YOU...SO WHATCHA GONNA DO?????(LOL).....

Later,
Brother 9/15 aka CR3

Brother915 said:

Well you're saying those kind of analogies. I wasn't talking about any analogies, just the specific lyrics at the beginning and end of the song and the production.



I don't pretend to have listened to the vast majority of hip hop records coming out nowadays, but I do hear a lot of it, and the only other time I've heard the exact lyrics I quoted as being corny was on a cover version of "Rapper's Delight" a year or two ago.



Again, we're talking about two different things. You're talking about concepts and analogies, that's not what I was talking about.



That's why I said,



I don't know if you missed my point or not, but the fact that they played instrumentally what already existed as a piece of music is what I was getting at - as opposed to using a sampler or looping any of the music. Not the fact that they did it from scratch, which obviously isn't the case.



In the context of how much hip hop has evolved, lyrically, and production-wise it'll forever be dated to me.



There ya have it.

Well you're certainly entitled to your opinions as to it sounding dated and corny. So I'll RAP it up now and depart. Have a DELIGHTful day

* Brother 9/15

Brother915 said:

What, no Guru - major props are due to Gang Starr - Just To Get A Rep is still one of the best street tales. Also, only Salt N Pepa to represent the ladies - Roxanne Shante & Lauryn Hill are sorely missed. Glad to see you got Slick Rick in your list - Children's Story is one of my all time greats - can't tire of this storytelling.

GoldTimer said:

Yeah, you're right Goldtimer. Like I said at the end of my post, there were a few (o.k. a lot of MCs) that I missed. Much props to Guru, Gang Starr and Roxanne Shante. And yes when I hit the post response button, I immediately said "oh SNAP" for not putting Lauryn Hill on the list. That lady got mad "5 mics" skills!!!!!

* Brother 9/15 aka CR3