Boogie Down Productions

Released: July 17, 1990

Songwriter: KRS-One

Producer: KRS-One

[Intro]
Hah, giddyap!
Ha ha ha hah..
Another dope dope dope style
By the massive BDP crew
Of course, I will now present to you
A different view. The 1990s!
Of course, eighty-nine is behind me
Check it out

[Hook]
It's called breath control, breath control, breath control stylee
Breath control a-lone, breath control A-LONE
Breath control, breath control, breath control stylee
Breath control a-lone..

[Verse 1]
It's KRS-One, yes the Teacher
I wear Clarks and only Nike sneaker
In your speaker, is the new style
Dedicated to the intelligent child
In the front row, or behind me
We're gonna pull somebody file for the 90's
You want lyrics? We come correct
BDP, only movin with respect
The other MC's, they can't believe me
A when I rhyme it sound just like a CD
We don't lip-sync, we go all live
On stage, I bring about four or five
That's D-Nice, Sydney, and Melodie
And myself, Harmony, and Willie D
We come humble, we just grumble
While other MC's crew just crumble
They want dancers, they want lighting
They want effects, to make them look exciting
But it's frightening, cause without that
The whole crew, is whick whick whick whack
BDP comes, with the cheapest
And perform miracles like Jesus
The total respect, we achieve it
And the big head-liner can't believe it

[Hook]

[Verse 2]
Ha ha ha ha ha hah..
Well the styles I, usually dish out
Are so dope that you don't wanna miss out
We got pages, of the dope stuff
So in the record store, you can't pass by us
Get the album, hear the music
And hold on so you just don't lose it
As a reference, for any MC
That wanna test, K-R-S, O-N-E
Cause I've been watchin, these other rap groups
They walk around like they're some kinda big soup
You can't touch them, you only see them
In a arena or big coliseum
So when you watch them, for a second
Them sound nothing like they do on record
Them sound cheesy, them sound wheezy
For twenty dollars boy you know them never please me
So I see this, and prevent this
It's like goin for a checkup at the dentist
Cause when you come to a BDP performance
The microphone, had better have endurance
Cause we'll check it, and then wreck it
And then the soundman has got to accept it

[Hook]

Coming from and named after the “Boogie Down” Bronx, BDP originally consisted of rapper KRS-One (the “Blastmaster”), DJ Scott La Rock, and the “human TR-808”, beat-boxer D-Nice (all pictured above). The personnel and subject matter would change over the years of the group’s existence. They would move from being gangster rap pioneers with their classic debut album, 1987’s Criminal Minded to a more positive and Afrocentric focus on later albums like the 1990 release Edutainment.

While BDP is no longer extant, group leader KRS-One continues to release albums, perform, and even write books.

more tracks from the album

Edutainment

From the album

Edutainment (1990)

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