KRS-ONE & Boogie Down Productions - "My Philosophy," By All Means Necessary.
You could make the argument that KRS and Scott LaRock, as the two primaries of Boogie Down Productions, are responsible for introducing gun violence to hip-hop, creating rap original sin. They certainly weren't the first to inject the gun/gang/gangster trope into hip-hop songs. Schooly D's "P.S.K. What Does it Mean?", with it's overt drug and gun lyrics, as well as it's veiled reference to Philadelphia gangs in the song title, predates BDP's "Criminal Minded." They were not responsible for the idea or language of guns in rap songs (though "9mm" was a rather on-the-nose song title). Rather, KRS and BDP created Hip-Hop's first martyr when Scott LaRock was killed after trying to mediate/intimidate in a fight between D-Nice, a young BDP crew-member, and another kid from the South Bronx. He died only months after the release of their first album, Criminal Minded.BDP's 1987 Criminal Minded was widely and wildly influential. And while the group initially became famous for their dis tracks and rap battles with Marley Marl and MC Shan, this album paved the way for mainstream hip-hop to expose, embrace, and exploit the violence of the late 20th Century ghetto. The art-form that began as a live-performance experience in city parks and dance clubs transitioned quickly into a highly lucrative niche in the record industry. By 1988 Ice-T had recorded Rhyme Pays and West-Coast gangster rap began in earnest. N.W.A had already released N.W.A and the Posse and were in the process of recording Straight Outta Compton and Eazy-Duz-It. BDP's last album in 1992, before KRS-ONE went solo, was titled Sex and Violence, an obvious commentary on the two most surefire ways to sell records. Eazy-E, Biggie Smalls, and Tupac would be dead less than ten years after Criminal Minded was released.
After the death of their musical leader, LaRock, BDP followed up with By All Means Necessary. KRS-ONE, still a young man of 23, matured quickly while processing the loss of his best friend. As evidenced on the album cover imitating Malcom X, KRS did not immediately distance himself from the idea of ghetto violence. Instead, he became possessed by the belief that hip-hop must address the problems in the poor black neighborhoods, as it was one of the few popular art forms that was explicitly poor and black in its content (as opposed to Jazz, Blues, and Rock which were poor and black in genesis, but were often marginalized when themes of the African-American experience were introduced.) The idea of the white performer as invader or cultural pilferer was far more entrenched in hip-hop as a result of this. Although, D-Nice helped introduce the world to Kid-Rock, so go figure. But that is a story for another thesis project.
"My Philosophy," while perhaps not as dense with poetic devices as a Rakim or B.I.G. track, is lyrically as strong as nearly anything being released today. Sure their are plenty of colloquialisms that sound dated in the minuscule geologic time of hip-hop. But some of his phrases are still quoted and sampled. "It's not about a salary, it's all about reality," ring any bells? "When some clown jumps up to get beat down?" Brand Nubian made a career off that line.
While it took time for KRS to reconcile some of the troublesome dichotomies of conscious rap--strains of misogyny, the idea of solving violence with more violence--he matured much faster than the rest of hip-hop and the world at large. He's still recording regularly and touring, but like many trailblazing artists, his newer recordings can't ever achieve the monumental, sea-change impact of his first two albums.
And not to be an old fogey, but the whippersnappers of today could use a dose of KRS, who has quickly gone from a recognized and respected progenitor to a grossly underrated influence on one of the few genres still actually selling records.
Listen to it Here: "My Philosophy"
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