ThaFormula.com - How is KRS-One doing in 2002?

KRS-ONE - I’m very happy… My kids are in school and they like school, which is kind of weird. Considering that I couldn’t like school, and the whole educational system, period. I’m happy cause my children are well, and also, the work of The Temple of Hiphop and the progress we have made is making me happy. Since we started The Temple in 1996, we have survived a lot of criticism, … people being down and then not being down. Seeing it grow is making me happy, the leaves are growing and Hiphop’s message is getting out… I don’t have any scandals, but I know scandal can start real easy, so I’m happy with caution..

ThaFormula.com - A lot of people have given up and lost all hope. For good reasons: Whatever causes people to disrespect themselves, others and Mother Nature is obviously not a problem that’s getting better. In today’s society where people are taking, abusing and murdering children at an alarming rate, kids are carrying guns and shooting kids, adults, everybody… Aids, cancer, heart disease (the #1 killer)… The air we breathe contains 15% oxygen and 10 years ago in contained 30%, etc… It appears to a lot of people that ‘self-destruction’ is inevitable. Is it?

KRS-ONE - The air we breathe today is different. This is real; the physical effects have affected our mental health… We have polluted air because; bankers view the destruction of the rain forest to make paper as ‘growth’. Capitalism and the system of economy have created a reality based on economy, first. But I don’t think ‘self-destruction’ is inevitable. I think hard times are ahead; there will be more wars and destruction. But human beings have an amazing ability to adjust. We have to train our children against our own evils. Yes, there is still hope. But I believe it appears as if craziness has taken over because the media uses more ‘niggertive’ depictions than positive of people. The sensationalism of the media doesn’t often include depictions of more fire fighters, law enforcement, teachers and regular people doing their part. These people usually get no press. So it appears everybody is losing his or her minds.

ThaFormula.com - You made your first big mark on this culture with Boogie Down Productions in 1986. What was your purpose with BDP and why did it end?

KRS-ONE - BDP was a production company that made conscious rap music to bring balance to Hiphop… We took Melle Mel’s cue from The Message and brought that side to the forefront. What happened was KRS-One was the only one doing anything on this level. Nobody else cared about the message, the principles, and metaphysics… Even if Scott would have not been killed, BDP was probably destined for death after a few years… Scott and I were total opposites… He respected me though, but Scott was into the gold, and I even made fun of Scott’s lifestyle on the Criminal Minded LP.

ThaFormula.com - How is your purpose with your KRS-One albums similar of different from your purpose with BDP?

KRS-ONE - BDP was free to do our own music, we were able to run our own production, I felt. This would never work today. I can’t do that now, I can add to it, but now I’m in a competitive reality… I have a family to support and a business to run…

ThaFormula.com - Your shows have been the same for quite a few years now. A lot of people (the 1%) want to know; Are you going to change your shows and are they ever going to include any of the original BDP fans’ favorites like Gimme Dat, Woy!, T’Cha T’Cha, Feel The Vibe Feel The Beat, Breath Control II, 30 Cops Or More…?

KRS-ONE - Maybe, but people want the same thing. They want repetitive. It’s not about the money though; it’s about the message. I’ll include maybe one of those songs, but when I do it, watch… The 1% will be the only ones still partying with it, the rest will look at me like, ‘What’s he doing’?

ThaFormula.com - Are you aware that most of the original BDP fans hear a big difference in the music and beats you have chose to perform your lyrics on over the past few LP’s and are either very disturbed, confused, sad, or all of the above?… And, is there anything you would like to say to the KRS-One fans that loved everything you made from 86-to-95 until somewhere between 96 and 2002? The fans that will always love you for what you have contributed to this art and this society, but wonder ‘why is he rhyming on those beats’ and ‘why would he ever work with a biter, a Hiphop enemy, like Puffy’?…

KRS-ONE - You are the 1%. And that 1% keeps changing… I have to compete; this is the whole real issue. People don’t want to ‘submit’, or give credit when it’s still fresh. The majority of the people have dissed everything I did when I made it. All of the records they call ‘classic’ now, where were they when I made ‘The Blueprint’, where were they when I made Sex and Violence? They said this and that, “Oh KRS, you’re being too preachy’… The real title of this interview should be ‘DO YOU RESPECT KRS-ONE OR DO YOU RESPECT KRS-ONE’S MUSIC’, that’s how I feel… I may not be able to continue my legacy as a classic Hiphop record maker. It’s like, either I get with the Neptunes and let them produce a hit LP for me or… I don’t know… I am not being supported. They (the 99%) are not spending on the soul music. So now it’s about the message.

ThaFormula.com - What about Premier and Pete Rock? A lot of your true fans (the 1%) think that your last classic LP in the tradition of classic BDP tradition was Return of the Boom Bap, which Premier worked on with you…

KRS-ONE - When I did Boom Bap, Premier was much less known and he charged about $5000 a beat back then. Now Premier charges $35,000 a beat. Everybody knows KRS-One never sold enough records to be able to afford to pay for beats like that. I feel like my hands and feet have been nailed to the cross… I might as well go and let the Neptunes produce for me…

ThaFormula.com - What if today’s future classic record producers, Hiphop’s current generation of tomorrow’s classic record makers, like People Under The Stairs, Stoupe (of Jedi Mind Tricks), J Zone or Edan came to you and said they wanted to ‘resurrect’ your legacy as a classic Hiphop recording artist?

KRS-ONE - I doubt they would care. I don’t think anybody cares. Call them and ask them. I bet they say no. But my next album, which will be titled the Kristyle LP, is about KRSs’ style, it WILL feature harder beats and it will prove a point. I might work with the Beatminerz, we’ll see…

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