KRS-One: KRS-One (2LP) [JIVE]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set gives the 65-minute album room to breathe across four sides. It reached No. 19 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart, with production from DJ Premier, Diamond D and Showbiz.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Jive / Legacy edition

About the album

Two years after Return of the Boom Bap, the Teacha came back with a record that put his own name on the cover, which tells you roughly how confident he was feeling. KRS-One had already spent a decade at the front of conscious hip hop, from the Boogie Down Productions days onward, and this album lays out his case with real authority.

DJ Premier handles the big moments: "Rappaz R. N. Dainja" opens the album, "MC's Act Like They Don't Know" became the lead single, and "Wannabemceez" brings in Mad Lion. Diamond D cooks up "Build Ya Skillz" with Busta Rhymes and "Squash All Beef," Showbiz produces "Represent The Real Hip Hop" with Das EFX, and Fat Joe drops in on "De Automatic." KRS produces plenty himself too, including "Hold," "The Truth" and the closing "Health, Wealth, Self," with Sadat X and Rich Nice on backing vocals and DJ Dice on the cuts.

"MC's Act Like They Don't Know" also topped Billboard's dance singles sales chart, a rare honour for a lecture on lyrical standards. Class remains very much in session.

Also at Kops: more KRS-One on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Listen

On Jive / Legacy, a reissue of the 1995 album.