Lawrence Krishna Parker (born 20 August 1965) used to hang out with Hare Krishnas in South Bronx. He adopted his graffiti tag ‘KRS-One’ as his stage name, later devising the backronym ‘Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone’. Known aliases include ‘Kris Parker’, ‘The Blastmaster’, ‘The Teacha’ and ‘The Philosopher’.
He began recording with Scott La Rock (né Sterling), a social worker. They formed ‘Scott La Rock and the Celebrity Three’. It stiffed when the other two quit. They rebranded as ‘Boogie Down Productions’ because ‘Boogie Down’ is a nickname for the Bronx. They fused dancehall reggae and hip hop to show that having Jamaican roots is OK.
KRS dissed Mr Magic and Marley Marl as well as their known associates, sparking The Bridge Wars. KRS also disliked an MC Shan song, which he reckoned said that hip hop came from Queensbridge (a fact that Shan repeatedly denied). All the same, KRS dissed it with a bunch of songs, eventually giving Shan a right good licking on stage. Many said that KRS was the dopest MC.
Criminal Minded (1987) set the stage for what would eventually become gangsta rap. Scott La Rock was then shot dead after trying to sort out some beef between D-Nice and some local hoodlums, so KRS made some politically and socially conscious hip hop.
BDP’s membership changed continuously, the only constant being KRS. Collaborators included, inter alia, Keith Murray, Ms Melodie (his wife for a bit) and McBoo. In the Sex and Violence (1992) liner notes, KRS writes: ‘BDP in 1992 is KRS, Willie D and Kenny Parker! BDP is not D-Nice, Jamal-ski, Harmony, Ms Melodie and Scottie Morris. They are not down with BDP so stop frontin’. Ms Melodie was no longer his wife.
The group essentially ended because, after four largely solo ‘BDP’ albums, KRS recorded Return of the Boom Bap (1993) under his own name.
In 1997, KRS came on Tim Westwood’s show. He cussed him and Radio 1 more generally, accusing them having a boner for commercial artists (eg Puff Daddy). Although not having been in the UK since 1991 (he does not fly), he claimed ‘to be in touch with the people’, and said that ‘they weren’t feeling Westwood, he’s a sell out and has sold his soul’.
My philosophy
Poetry
Edutainment
Breath control II
100 guns
Remix P is for free
I’m still no. 1
T’cha t’cha
Gimme dat (woy)
Illegal business
The style you haven’t done yet
Bo! Bo! Bo!
The racist
Mortal thought
Sound of da police
KRS-One attacks
MCs act like they don’t know
Step into a world
