KRS-One

Released: May 9, 2019

Songwriter: KRS-One

Producer: Młody

[Chorus: Malcolm X]
To have once been a criminal, there’s no disgrace
To remain a criminal, is the disgrace (That’s right)

[Verse 1: KRS-One]
Politics is a pile of tricks
Eight years, what do we get out of it?
More chatter, more gun splatter
More dumb rappers, and dumb athletes and actors
My name’s revolution, open your eyes
I'm not on TV, 'cause the revolution will not be televised
They telling lies, we better rise and get a plan
The US President? He’s endorsed by the Klan
Damn
You don’t understand what’s going on?
Slavery coming back and most of y’all just gonna go along
Not me, they ain’t veiling me
You can see, I ain’t vote for the president or Hillary
America tryin’ to put the fear in ya
They the reason for the fake war there in Syria
So when I grab the mic, I spit a full-clip
Wake up, you ain’t got time for this bullshit

[Chorus: Malcolm X]
To have once been a criminal, there’s no disgrace (That’s right)
To remain a criminal, is the disgrace (That’s right)

To have once been a criminal, there’s no disgrace (That’s right)
To remain a criminal, is the disgrace (That’s right)

[Verse 2: KRS-One]
This what the boom bap sound do
Since way back in the Bronx, I had a sound view
If you hearin’ this, the truth, it just found you
I’m in his town, her town, your town too
Man, I stay ahead like a crown do
Look around you
Knowledge reigns supreme, this is what it comes down to
People talkin’, but ain’t doin’ nothin’
KRS ain’t about frontin’, let me tell you somethin’
We need unity at all cost, or everything is all lost
These lessons are hard, that tweeter shit is so soft
Brothers killing brothers killing brothers with the sawed off
No remorse, brothers are hauled off up north
We off course, believe in the hype
Honesty, we ignore; but that deceiving, we like
These rappers are corny, but you like, “He aight”
You lyin’ from the pulpit
You ain’t got time for this bullshit

[Chorus: Malcolm X]
To have once been a criminal, there’s no disgrace (That’s right)
To remain a criminal, is the disgrace (That’s right)
To have once been a criminal, there’s no disgrace (That’s right)
To remain a criminal, is the disgrace (That’s right)

[Outro: Malcolm X]
I formerly was a criminal. I formerly was imprisoned, I’m not ashamed of that. You never can use that over my head. And—that—He’s usin’ the wrong stick, I don’t feel that stick

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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