KRS-One

Released: November 23, 2015

Songwriter: KRS-One

[Refrain]
(fresh)
The real hip-hop is (fresh) x8

[Verse 1]
Bass, treble, c’mon, look around, man
The thump, the level, all that’s the sound man
When the boom bap dumps hard on the ground, man
It’s a good sound, man, that’s never caught pounding
Fingers on levels, eyes on the session
Pump the bass bottom, [?] that compression
Sound engineer it, you’ve got to have the ear and
You’ve got to know what you hear, never overbearing
You bring the sound blaring hot like you ain’t caring
The level’s in the red, but no, you ain’t staring
You pushing more bottom, you make the sound crack
Like the snare going “blap” on a boom boom bap
Sound man, I hear you, better yet, I see you
Yeah man, you free to adjust the EQ
Pump up the reverb, mess with the delay
Gimme more [?] and turn up the DJ

[Refrain]
The real hip-hop is
The real hip-hop is (fresh) x3

[Verse 2]
From the time I come out, I do a line check
I spit a freestyle to get you in the right mind set
It ain’t time yet to spit a rhyme yet
My right frequency the sound man he didn’t find yet
So while he searching for it, I’ll keep on working on it
We want that big sound before they close the curtain on it
So let’s turn it up, so let’s turn it up
Don’t be afraid, turn it up, word is up
We wanna thank the sound people that’s with me
When the music is low, they turn it up quickly
When the sounds are low, they brighten and lift me
When the feedback comes, they killin’ it swiftly
The sound can be tricky when you see me play
No computers, just a mixer and some [?] DJs
Never no frontin’, we showin’ all y’all something
Sound man, just keep the music bumpin’
It ain’t nothing

[Refrain]
The real hip-hop is
The real hip-hop is (fresh) x3

(fresh)

[Verse 3]
I’ma keep rapping while tours they keep happening
Got a [?] of rhymes for people to keep [?]
Boom bap beats with rhymes to keep attractin’ ‘em
That’s why the sound man gots to have rap in ‘em
Cordless, hardwire, fifty-eight mics
Wring ‘em out ‘cause all rappers don’t sound alike
I found a light, it’s at the end of the rear
It’s the sound engineer that really cares about what he hears
It’s the bass and snares, he understands the music
He’s a fan of the music, he makes plans for the music
He sets the EQ, how his hands gonna choose it
It’s not a band, but he still plans for the acoustics
This is the sound man that I be looking for
These are the dudes that I request when I’m booking tours
So if you like the sound of this brown man
Give it up for the sound man
Overstand

[Refrain]
The real hip-hop is
The real hip-hop is (fresh) x7

Give it up for the sound man

Give it up for the sound man

The legendary MC from the South Bronx, New York, Lawrence “KRS-One” Parker has been steadily rapping since 1985. His name stands for “Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone”.

KRS came to rapping only by chance. In the Something from The Art of Rap documentary, he recalls watching an MC cypher when suddenly “a dude” randomly picked him out of the crowd and made fun of him. Feeling compelled to defend himself, KRS performed a little freestyle which impressed the crowd and eventually kicked off his rapping career.

His breakthrough onto the hip hop scene began with “The Bridge Is Over” – an answer record to the popular Queens rapper MC Shan’s song “Queensbridge”. From 1986 to 1992, KRS-One fronted the groundbreaking hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, scoring six top 20 hits on the US Rap Chart. In 1993, he began a solo career spanning three decades, racking up six more top 20 Rap Chart hits with “Sound of da Police”, “MCs Act Like They Don’t Know”, “Step Into A World” and “Men Of Steel” also achieving mainstream pop success on the Hot 100.

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