If you’re like me, your head spun around when you discovered out that KRS-One was teaming up wiht Buckshot. The “teacher” from Boogie Down Productions, the guy behind the stop The violence motion of the 1990s, joining forces with the very best part of undergound East-coast collective Boot Kamp Klick, who hail from the Raekwon “storyteller” institution of rap? It’s an unlikely pairing, to be sure. KRS is understood for a bombastic, remove as well as forceful delivery, while Buckshot is all about crooked style as well as substance. Yet, they’re both rap professionals with above-average vocabularies (and intelligence) who have survived over 2 decades in an market that eats its young. possibly it’s time to accept the forefathers?
When Jay-Z came out “retirement” with Kingdom Come, whatever you believed of the album, he did something new: He rapped about being a wealthy, settled down executive. He told of his responsibility to the art of Hip Hop without guilt or swagger, looking back matter-of-factly at his large experience as well as success. He even temed up with Coldplay. In short, Jay-Z did something no rapper had ever done before him: He acted his age.
On Survival Skills, KRS-One acts his age, too. however he’s not a hustler-turned-millionaire. He’s an idealist-turned-fairly-well-off-idealist. KRS has been an old guy because Scott LaRock’s death required him to grow up quickly. as for Buckshot, he hasn’t altered much, either. He’s still a gutter rhymer with a low-key, menacing delivery. Together, they balance each other out. as well much buck can get tiring as well as as well much KRS can get preachy. as well as both artists share mastery of the decidedly 1990s skill of the brag attack. Dis records nowadays are all about violence as well as profanity as well as fucking the other guy’s girl. Back in the 1990s, before Tupac crossed the line, we got innovative attacks such as this one, a KRS verse off the song, “Oh Really”: “All of you others is wack/I’m naturally dope/Like coke before crack/And these jacks are much more like seeds in this rap.” Buckshot offers similarly witty coverfire: “I don’t compose rhymes/I compose biographies/And I don’t requirement no punchlines/Or choreography.”
Throughout the album, the duo pay homage to the people who brought the genre out of the cornball eighties into its golden age, like Naughty By Nature, Grandmaster Flash, BDP (of course), as well as lots of other, mainly nyc rappers. The guest areas are good, practically without exception, with turns by Mary J Blige, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Slug Of Atmosphere, K’NAAN, Immortal Technique, rock of Heltah Skeltah (who blows both of his holds away on “Clean Up Crew”) as well as many of the Duck Down roster. The beats are A-list, too, with production byHavoc of Mobb Deep, 9th Wonder, Black Milk, Marco Polo, as well as KHRYSIS, among others.
Buckshot seldom disappoints–he’s been a preferred of mine for years–and KRS-One was most likely my preferred rapper back in the early 1990s. Combined, they’ve created an outstanding record.
We Made It (feat. Slug Of Atmosphere)