Hip Hop’s icon KRS-One is arguably the greatest emcee artist of all time. World renowned battles, industry impact, discography, styles, skills, longevity – you’d be hard-pressed to leave Kris out of your top 5. Hop has never seen one artist dominate and then remain relevant over such an extended period of time. Perhaps there is only one word that accurately describes Laurence Krisna Parker – “legendary.”

Possibly the most prolific Hip hop artist ever, KRS’s current discography is 18 albums deep and spans from 1987 to the present. As the prominent member of the group Boogie Down Productions, KRS created 6 classic or near classic albums. BDP’s debut Criminal Minded is popularly accepted as the group’s best work, and credited as the platform and inspiration for hardcore hip hop and eventually gangster rap. KRS-One’s combination of confrontational, aggressive material and intellectual poetry was the political voice of urban America from 1987-1992. BDP along with Ice-T and Public Enemy brought the social consciousness and experience of the hip hop generation to the world in a very raw, unapologetic tone. However, the music wasn’t gangster rap but more revolutionary hip hop. KRS was more El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and less 50 Cent, bucking the political system for social change as opposed to material gain. As Tavis Smiley asserts on the Temple of Hip Hop website,

...you are going to encounter a man who has sincerely sought to develop a relevant, honest and contemporary interpretation of world history, culture, religion, and philosophy. In many ways, his work actually rests in the tradition of great thinkers like W.E.B. DuBois, Carter Woodsen, and John Henrik Clarke, men who have sought to develop a cultural veil through which to interpret the seeming insanity of America. Regardless of whether or not you agree with his analysis, you must certainly appreciate that there is a profound mindat work, and a definitive spiritthat is searching to discover what is right and exact.

Outside of Criminal Minded, Blastmaster Kris wrote, produced, and performed the man’s share of all subsequent BDP albums. Think about that... Every year over a 5 year period, one artist wrote, produced, and performed a classic album! Sounds legendary...

In 1993, KRS officially went solo and dropped the classic LP Return of the Boom Bap. By this time, a new wave of hop artists was emerging and the lyrical skills and styles of the Golden Age emcees (roughly 1986-1992) were becoming obsolete. Kris’ capacity to adapt and elevate his talent was not only impressive but unprecedented. He was the only one of his contemporaries (Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Slick Rick, etc.) to make the transition from the Golden Age to the New School and remain dominant. Return of the Boom Bap was a top 5 album during what is possibly the greatest year of hip hop output ever. Rather than being overshadowed by the likes of Midnight Marauders, 36 Chambers,and 93 ’til Infinity, it successfully competed with them. The shift from group member to soloist also marked a distinct change in KRS-One’s career. His works under the title of BDP were best categorized as “socially conscious” and focused on the uplifting of humanity, by all means necessary. But beginning with Boom Bap, Kris started to truly embrace hip hop as an actual culture. While his music remained conscious, it also included such songs as “Outta Here,” “I Cant Wake Up,” and, “Return of the Boom Bap.” He was now making Hip hop songs about Hip hop itself, through music that was informative, entertaining, and sonically more impressive than his previous works. This was due in large part to Kris relinquishing the majority of his production responsibilities and focusing more on his ever-advancing lyrical skills and content. Boom Bap relies on outside producers, specifically, the incomparable DJ Premier. The diversity of this production provides the solo albums with a more updated and fuller feel.

Following Boom Bap, Kris continued to create albums in the mold of the 1993 LP. In ’95, he created his best solo work with the self titled, KRSONE. Imagine, after 7 straight years of producing classic albums, Kris drops his best work. Lyrically, musically, contextually and thematically, this is his masterpiece. Fittingly, the album features Hip hop artists, industry players, and radio personalities all paying tribute to the Blastmaster in small segments throughout the LP.

Since 1995, Kris has dropped a whopping 10 more albums, none as tremendous as KRSONE, but each highly relevant and creative in its own right. With his 1997 certified gold LP, I Got Next, the Blastmaster proved that conscious music can also be commercial.

2003’s Kristyles features a seasoned 16 year Hip hop veteran willing to pass the torch onto hip hop’s new generation (“How Bad Do You Want It?”), yet competitive enough to battle any artist, past or present (“Gunnen ’Em Down”). Even still, 2007 shows a 20-year-in-the-making compilation with the legendary Marly Marl titled, Hip Hop Lives – more impressive than at least 85% of the hop music created today.

Also worthy of note is the fact that KRS-One is the only emcee who dominated his craft at his debut, then amazingly elevated his skill for 10 consecutive years. Beginning with Criminal Minded in 1987 and ending with I Got Next in 1997, KRS evolved from battle rhymer to teacher to philosopher to artist to prophet. Many view Criminal Minded as his best album based on the classic South Bronx/Queensbridge beef that ensued and the album’s impact on hardcore hip hop. Consequently, they assume he was at his best. Criminal Minded features a hungry, confrontational, gun-toting youngster eager to make a name for himself. Songs such as “The Bridge is Over,” “South Bronx” and “Word From Our Sponsor” show him strictly as a dope battle rapper. He lacked the versatility of a complete artist and was especially inexperienced at making actual songs. Kris’ skills as an emcee and artist were juvenile when compared to the lyrical greatness that he professed on I Got Next. Within a decade, we find KRS as hip hop itself, mastering storytelling (“Cant Stop, Wont Stop”), philosophy (“4th Quarter-Free Throws”), consciousness (“A Friend”), spoken word (“2nd Quarter-Free Throws”) and freestyle/battle rhyme (“Blowe”). Simply put, Kris debuted as a battle rap specialist and maxes out as a legendary master emcee Guru.

No other Hop artist will ever match Kris’ level of production… qualitatively or quantitatively. His ability to remain an artistic threat and create relevant music for the last 20 years alone makes him legendary. KRS-One, he’s down with us.