Boogie Down Productions

Released: July 17, 1990

Producer: KRS-One

[Kwame Ture]
History can never be made by one man, we must smash this one quickly
History is made only by the masses of the people, this is clear
Even a, cursory glance at the falasfallacious presentation
Of history by the American capitalist system, will demonstrate just this
Take George Washington, as bad as he is
Put him in the middle of Valley Forge, by himself, surrounded
By the British, he can do nothing
*laughing and applause*
Mhmhmmmhmm
Take Martin Luther King as righteous as he is
Put him in the middle of Birmingham by himself, speaking out against racism
He would be lynched
But you take this same King, you take this same Washington
Put them in Valley Forge, put them in Alabama
Surround them with thousands of people who have the same ideas they do
Willing to make those ideas reality and the situation changes drastically

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)

Boogie Down Productions popular songs

Exhibit BBoogie Down Productions

Boogie Down Productions

Edutainment