KRS1: The Teacher

As the leader of Boogie Down Productions, at the height of his career in 1987-1990, KRS-One was best known for his furiously political and socially conscious raps. He then got the nickname ” The Teacher”. After his peak, his targeted audience began to vanish as they thought his raps were too ” preachy”. In response KRS-One decided to reestablish himself and his street credibility and become a lot harder in his music. He increased his sparer beats and raps. in 1992 he released  Sex and Violence as the first sign of a harder approach to the life.   

KRS-One’s first solo album, 1993’s Return of the Boom Bap. He then decided o have a high-quality self-titled 1995 effort and 1996’s Battle for Rap Supremacy, a joint effort with his old rival MC Shan. After 1997’s I Got Next, he put his solo career on hiatus for several years, finally returning in early 2001 with The Sneak Attack. The following year brought two full releases: the gospel effort Spiritual Minded and The Mix Tape, the latter including a single (“Ova Here”) that stood as a response to Nelly, only the latest hip-hop figure to feud with the Blastmaster. 

In 2003 KRS-One released two albums, Kristyles and D.I.G.I.T.A.L., while the next year brought only one, Keep Right. In 2006 Life came out on the small, California-based Antagonist Records. The following year KRS-One reunited with Marley Marl to create Hip Hop Lives, an attempt to preserve the golden age of hip-hop. His 2012 effort, The BDP Album, was nostalgia from a different angle, reuniting the rapper with former BDP DJ Kenny Parker.