News: KRS-One - Social Justice Preacher
Santa Cruz, California's liberal atmosphere traditionally draws revolutionary artists and speakers, which could explain why rapper / activist KRS-One has chosen to visit this small town for the third time in two years.
In his performance Sunday, the artist takes the Catalyst stage with opening acts Lyrics Born and the Serendipity Project.
But don't expect the 38-year-old artist to spout sexist rhymes. With a name that means "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everything," this rapper has a clear political agenda.
More social justice preacher than commercial musician, KRS-One teaches his Temple of Hip Hop gospel from his musical pulpit, assuming his role as one of the more passionate and articulate artists ever to hit the charts.
KRS-One began his professional career in the mid-1980s with help from friend and fellow rapper Scott La Rock and their group Boogie Down Productions (BDP). After La Rock's death in 1987, KRS-One began to speak out against rap's traditionally misogynistic vocabulary, took a firm stance against violence and even promoted safe sex in BDP's 1999 album, "By All Means Necessary."
But four albums later, the group's positive politics fell out of fashion with gangsta rap's growing influence and their success began to wane.
Not one to give up on his goals, KRS-One continued to release solo albums throughout the 1990s and began to tour the university lecture circuit. A big supporter of higher education, KRS-One said in a Vibe Magazine interview, "You want to influence America, your ass better be in university."
According to KRS-One, "(hip-hop) is that course at the university that will tell you what to do with every other degree you've got." The artist may be pleased to know UC Santa Cruz is one step ahead with a hip-hop culture class taught by American Studies faculty member Tricia Rose and an appearance by Chuck D as part of the UCSC Lecture series.
In the past five years, KRS-One has released four records. After he educated the public on African-American culture and history in "KRS-One Presents: The Temple of Hip Hop Culture" (1999), the rapper explored religious and spiritual perspectives in the 2002 album, "Spiritually Minded."
The artist is currently touring to promote his new album, "Keep Right" (2004). A collection of pumping political beats and soulful contemplative tracks, the album maintains KRS-One's tradition of combining politics and pleasure.
But while KRS-One may be the most famous artist playing the show, opening acts Lyrics Born and the Serendipity Project are far from inferior in talent.
Up-and-coming rapper Lyrics Born raced to the top of San Francisco Bay Area hip-hop charts with his 2003 release, "Later That Day." The Tokyo-born rapper began his professional career in the 1990s with his group Latyx on the Quannum label.
Since then, Born has continued to develop his relationship with the label as well as perform in collaboration with acclaimed hip-hop groups Blackalicious, Joyo Velarde and the Lifesavas.
The Serendipity Project has been renowned for socially conscious lyrics and funky, sophisticated, beats. Known for hosting monthly MC battles, the Santa Cruz group has shared the stage with the Pharcyde, Tha Liks, Fishbone, Z-Man, Soul Majestic, Dub Congress and Wisdom.
With the powers of KRS-One, Lyrics Born and the Serendipity Project combined, the Catalyst show will not only entertain and invigorate audiences but provide lessons in social consciousness and tolerance.
In today's rap world, swollen with misguided egos, blood and guns, twisted lyrics and sickly beats, the Hip-Hop everyman wonders what has become of the culture he once knew. It is for this man that KRS ONE writes and raps!
And so, Life, the latest release from KRS ONE is, above all, an album that makes sense. To be sure, this is a body of work that emerges from the same place known to other legendary musicians who've spoken up for America's working class; Bruce Springsteen, Otis Redding, Neil Young.
KRS is strong liquor for the Hip-Hop community. "When you're young you want sweet water, you want sweet juice, KRS says. But when you get older, you want to pass that Courvoisier, you want to taste this beer, this liquor. That's what I am to Hip-Hop: Strong liquor for the common man."
Indeed, this is an album, not unlike KRS ONE's earliest music, complete and consistent, which speaks to the pain, suffering, and unending banality of everyday existence. Replete with stark, vivid narratives and winding, articulate parables that touch on everything from the temptation of easy money, to the idea of fooling ourselves with hollow talk of grandeur, to the dreams we have as we search for our own true identity. Life is desperately relevant on numerous levels!! "I offer life skills or should I say, I speak a life language and offer hard life skills for the hard events many of us go through" KRS ONE explains of his latest release. No doubt, from first to last listen, Life rings true.
Produced by Dax Reynosa and Dert, AKA The Resistance, the album's story moves to a varied and complicated rhythm, whether providing bass-heavy bangers, sample soaked reflections, or stripped-down, reggae inflected beats. "I was looking for a real producer for this album KRS says. "If you're going to do my album you're going to have to PRODUCE. You can't just come with some tracks. So I wanted someone who could meet that challenge, someone whom I could feel comfortable submitting myself to completely in putting together this album."
And so, they went to work giving KRS a list of exquisitely simple topics to rhyme about, and the Teacher responded by digging deep into the annals of his own legendary career as well as the hearts and minds of Hip-Hop fans to create a powerfully compelling story; like "Gimme The Gun" a haunting tale that conveys the allure of temptation when one is pushed to the limits, illustrates KRS' rapid-fire delivery, as he hurls bolts of rhyme at the listener at break neck speed, over an equally chaotic beat. The song, visceral and melancholy, touches on a man's breaking point and ends in chilling fashion; it's certain to leave the listener clamoring to dissect every line.
"Have Mercy Mr. Percy," styled after an old Jamaican song, is a direct take on the consequences of not being able to pay the rent, losing one's job and having your life crumple before your very eyes. "This song was inspired by some time I spent in San Francisco and seeing the homeless people living there" KRS says. "You know, I've traveled a lot of American cities and San Francisco has a more prevalent homeless population than other cities. I thought the old Jamaican song was the perfect way to convey what I was feeling at that particular moment."
"Bling Blung" a catchy, almost humorous song with a deadly serious undercurrent, features KRS as you've never heard him before, rolling tongues, vowels and syllables over a symphonic backdrop, to create his own take on the interminable quest for material wealth. "It don't matter no more. You got the Benz, you got the jewels around your neck, ¦but cats are scheming on you" KRS explains. "You might get jacked for that car, you have to tuck in your chain and that's blung! It's about the downside to those material possessions."
What makes Life such a remarkable album is that it reminds the listener, the Hip-Hop community, all of us, of who KRS ONE truly is: The man who brought us classics like Criminal Minded, By All Means Necessary, Sex And Violence, and Return of the Boom Bap. The man that, deep down, ain't no different than you or me. The man that, when it comes down to it, is, after all, the Hip-Hop everyman, embodied in mind, soul, spirit, and rhyme.
"I think the average cat wants to hear style, originality--rhymes with subject matter they would not normally hear" KRS concludes. "That's what this album is about. I will break off some street life or battle lyrics. I will also discuss philosophy, history and the state of Hip-Hop. But in the end, this is an album about Life."
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