Written on 7/16/04 but slightly updated on 11/18/04

If you dont know who KRS-One is, then you dont deserve to call yourself a Hip-Hop head. The emcee who's otherwise known as Kris Parker got his start as part of the legendary emcee/DJ duo Boogie Down Productions, along with his partner DJ Scott La'Rock. In 1987, their first album "Criminal Minded" was released, and it broke new grounds for the Hip-Hop community. Sadly, in the production of their second album "By All Means Necessary" Scott was murdered. Though Kris was alone, he kept using the BDP moniker for that album and a few albums afterward until 1993, when he started releasing albums under his single emcee name. The first of those CDs, "Return of the Boom Bap" is considered by many as one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums ever. He then released five albums in the coming years. In 2003, Kris dropped his 12th album "Kristyles" on Koch Records. Unfortunetly, it wasnt the finished version of the album, excluding four or five tracks that were supposed to be on it, including a tribute to the late Jam Master Jay. Koch had released it without Kris' permission. He soon left Koch Records, and released the complete version known as "The Kristyle" himself in August, but most people didnt know about it, so it went pretty much unnoticed. In November of 2003, KRS signed to Grit Records and began working on his newest album "Phonetics". But by the beginning of 2004, a inspired KRS pulled the plug on the original album and locked himself in the lab with longtime engineer Harold English and a handful of beats for three solid weeks. Mayhem ensued but by the end of January, an entire new album was produced. Along with this new album, he included a new DVD containing some footage dating back to 15 years, as well as his newest music video. He originally planned it to release it during Hip-Hop Appreciation Week but it was pushed back to July for some reason. Well after a lot of waiting, he has released his 13th effort "Keep Right", his first independant release since his debut.

The minute you pop the CD in your stereo, you'll see there is something different from past KRS albums: The production, which is handled by Boston based Inebreated Rhythm. The production has more of a mainstream feel to it than his other releases. Now is this good or bad? It depends on how you look at it: Some believe the production like this is what he's been lacking since his 6th album, "I Got Next". Others see this as a step backwards, they see it as KRS using a more commercialized route just to attract some of the industry fans. Another debate that has followed this album is whether or not this album is a classic. Some have said this is one of Kris' best releases in years and consider it a classic. Others say Kris has fallen off, watered down his music and used wack beats for years; they also say he has not made a good record since Return of the Boom Bap. One of those people did the review for this album for RapReviews.com, and to me, it came off a little biased. But no matter, this is about my view of the album. The albums from KRS that I considered to be Hip-Hop classics were the following: "Criminal Minded", "Eduatinment", "Return of the Boom Bap", "KRS-One", and "The Kristyle". His others are considered great, but not good enough to be TRUE Hip-Hop classics. Keep in mind KRS has never, and i mean NEVER dropped a wack album. What about this one? Is this album a classic or is it the first wack album KRS has ever dropped? Read the review to find out...

1. Club Shoutouts (NOT RATED)
2. Are You Ready For This? (4 Stars)
3. Illegal Business '04 (3 1/2 Stars)
4. The Prayer of Afrika Bambaattaa (NOT RATED)
5. You Gon' Go? (5 Stars)
6. Phucked (3 1/2 Stars)
7. A Call To Order (NOT RATED)
8. Everyone Rise (feat. L Da Headtoucha) (5 Stars)
9. Stop Skeemin' (feat. Joe) (2 1/2 Stars)
10. And Then Again (3 Stars)
11. My Mind is Racing (feat. NYCE)(3 1/2 Stars)
12. Here We Go (NOT RATED)
13. Me Man (1 1/2 Stars)
14. Feel This (feat. NYCE) (3 1/2 Stars)
15. Dream (NOT RATED)
16. I Been There (5 Stars)
17. Freestyle Ministry (Server Verbals) (feat. Minister Server) (3 Stars)
18. The I (feat. Mad Lion) (3 Stars)
19. Bucshot Shoutout (NOT RATED)
20. Rap History feat. Afrika Bambaattaa (NOT RATED)
21. Let' em Have It (5 Stars)
22. Still Spittin' (feat. Akbar, L Da Headtoucha, Illin' P, Supastition and An Ion) (4 1/2 Stars)
23. The Cutclusion (NOT RATED)

After a short intro, the album starts out with "Are You Ready For This?", as KRS drops the conscious knowledge that He's known for. The production, handled by Domingo, is pretty nice; its has an orchestra-like feel with the nice violin loop. Lyrically, he's still on point, mixing his trademark braggadocio with some preaching: "I Dont know about pimpin, sellin' women like retail / or turning coke into crack for resale / but I do know if we fail / in 2020, our children by the million are gonna be jailed". The track isnt a classic by any means, but its still a pretty good track to open the album with. Domingo gets behind the boards again for the album's second single, "Illegal Business '04", the sequal to the classic from his sophomore effort, "By All Means Necessary". The beat gives us a dramatic landscape and is a real head-nodder. As for the actual track, KRS adds the diamond and oil business to the list of the cocaine and ganja businesses from the original. The big problem with this track is that he goes way off topic. The track lacks the insight from the original, as he strays from the normal subject matter, and begins to spit some battle-type braggadocio in the second and third verses. See the original was a classic, as KRS spit an elaborated story of a kid selling drugs on the street and the police hounding him to bribe them so he could still make some money; he also broke down the difference in leagal and illegal drugs. Here, he just talks about the drugs a little bit in the first verse: "I will open the minds of thugs / Who you think really bring in the drugs? / 60 million people smokin' the bud / cause the American way of life is bugged / You never peep it, yo, this ain't a secret / They confiscate it, re-sell it, and you retrieve it / so believe it while you sit there weeded". He doesnt even really explain how the "diamond business controlls america / the oil business controlls america". Its a good track but as a sequal, "Illegal Business 04" cant really compare to the original (except in maybe terms of production).

Things things pick up quickly though; after a short interlude, "You Gon' Go?" hits your ears. The production, handled by a new producer Ten will definitely give you a DJ Premier-esque feeling. It seems as if these emcees STILL act like they dont know, because KRS gets into some battle braggadocio once again, slapping up the sucker emcees. Kris has yet to fall off, as you can see he still shines lyrically, using a multi-syllable flow, and some pretty tight similies and metaphors. He touches on the fact that a majority of people consider emcees like Pac, Biggie, and Pun as the G.O.A.T. ("I'm still standing and rappers be mad-mad / cause they know they get burned like the American flag in Baghdad / All they do is blab blab, that head chatter / Why is the dopest emcee always a dead rapper?") and takes shots at commercial femcee Trina ("You talk that shit till I come out and school / and all y'all sound like Trina sayin' 'That's cool!'") and the TV station BET ("You might not see me on this station / cause this is a 'Rap City', KRS leads a Hip-Hop nation"). Overall, its a awesome track, showing that KRS can still murder a microphone just as he did in the 80s. This is followed by the B-side to the first single, "Phucked". Ten handles the production for this track too, and it is just straight up funky, containing a thumpin' bass. It sounds like a club beat to me, Ten should give Lil' John some lessons. As for the subject matter, Kris returns to preachin' here, and spits a few short verses storytelling about some people who have screwed up their lives when they didnt take the advice of a friend when they gave it. The track is tight, but he could've elaborated the story a little more, like he did in "Uh Oh" from his first solo album "Return of the Boom Bap". He would've done better spitting three 16-20 bar verses instead of 5 verses with 8 bars each. The track was good, but it could've been a lot better.

The second Gem you'll hear from this album is the collab, "Everyone Rise". The beat, produced by Soul Supreme, is just unbelieveable to say the least; an ill drum loop and some tight violin samples make this beat completely head nodding. This song features a young emcee named L Da Headtoucha. They both come off raw as hell, working wonders over the amazing production. L spits first, coming off fresh with some a multi-syllable flow, using some tight wordplay and even outshines Kris at one point. Check it: "I'm trying to tell 'em theres more to it than rhymin' / it's now or never, all together we climbin' / lets rewind to the beginning of time and back again / words merge over tracks like I'm shackled in / I'll crack your cabbage in, we aint no average men / My pen takes people to places they havent been / like the streets or the gutter, when I speak over beats, they discover / I drop heat, dont compete with this brother / No, just compete with each other / I'm deep in your gutter, this underground sound, and I'm keepin' it gutter". Then KRS grabs the mic, and though L outshines him, still shows that hes got experience with this Hip-Hop shit, telling the young cats (like Nelly) not to test him: "Forgive me, I've always been an inde-pendant / Hip-Hop started on my block, I remember it / Its in me, others want to spit what's trendy / while I take it back to Mark and Mindy / Tellin these young cats 9-0-9-0 / Keep my name out your mouth, its too much to swallow". He goes on to give shout out to Peedo and Gato of the Luna Emprie (who worked with him "The Kristyle"). In the end, we see KRS can still spit with the best of 'em but he needs to keep working if he wants to compete with the younger, hungrier cats of today.

Unfortunately, the album takes a turn for the worst here. The next track "Stop Skeemin'" is just average. For one, its an old track, one that was released on a promo version of KRS' 97 album, "I Got Next". The production is unique to me, featuring some nice bongo drums and a low guitar loop. It sounds very R&B-ish, which is why Kris recruited R&B star Joe for the chorus. As for the subject matter, KRS visits a jail and talks to a friend of his, who has been sentenced for murdering his girlfriend. A very unique concept, but its just approached all wrong. His lyricism is just bland and plain, using eight bars a verse, spitting three verses. At some points, it sounds as if hes switchin from rapping to a spoken word piece, he should've just chose one or the other. Check out the first verse: "Yo, i'm here to see a friend, he came in last night around 12:10 / the charge? He killed his girlfriend / Huh? Fill this out? You got a pen? / What time did I come in? / yeah, yeah I'll follow you / Oh there he go, yo whats up man? Your in it now yo! / Yo, how you shruggin your shoulders? / You lookin a double life here soldier!". Its an average song, but we know Kris could've done this a WHOLE lot better. "And Then Again" is a little bit better, though it still doesnt acheive classic status. Kris' lyrical display has stepped up from the last track, mixing preaching in with battle lyrics once again but the extremely weak production just brings the track down a couple of points. "My Mind is Racing" suffers the same fate as "And Then Again": Kris continues to mix introspective subject matter with battle lyrics, speaking on the economy and the troubles Hip-Hop has been facing, but the production is just weak. The last two tracks serve as nothing other than filler.

Without a doubt, "Me Man" is the one of the weakest tracks Kris has done in years. The production is ok, with a nice violin loop, but it could've been improved. As for his lyrical content, Kris keeps his lyricism simple and basic, ending every line with 'me man'. Its similar to what he did on his self titled album with the track "Hold", when he ended every line with 'hold' or 'hole'. The only difference is in "Hold", Kris spit an elaborated story, so when he rhymed 'hold' over and over, the direction the story was going overshadowed the repetitiveness. Here, KRS is just spitting the regular braggadocio, with no actual story or anything of that nature to it, making the repetitive use of 'me man' just annoying: "You told me man, You needed me man / Who The Teacher? Me man, Who gon' lead you? Me man / Who gon' free you? Me man, Well not mostly me man / But come up close to me man, Make a toast with me man / I'm not starving me man, I be feeding me man / You wont be seeing me man, cause I be booking me man / Them lights be cooking me man, while people look at me man / They sing the hooks with me man! Yo, read this book with me man!" The album gets better quickly though. "Feel This" is a pretty tight track, containing a boom bap beat. Kris is back to spitting the braggadocio, as he spits some tight battle lyrics. Next comes "I Been There", one of my favorite tracks of the whole album. KRS-One is just on top of his game with this track, featuring a great combination of hardcore production and insightful lyricism. He shows that he has the right to talk and brag like he does, because he's been on every level of the food chain in his career. He solidifies his position as a Hip-Hop legend, spitting some thought provoking lines "I walk the same path that Mase do / but he went in the church, I stayed out to face you". B Creative steals the show here with the mesmerizing production, one of the best beats of the whole album. Its just tight, I dont know how else to explain it.

Im guessing that the next track, "Freestyle Ministry", is a freestyle session. On this track, Kris collabs with Minister Server, who has also appeared throughout the album on skits. In his first line of the first verse, Server said "This aint complex, I keep it mad simple", which is the absolute truth. Server doesnt really do that good, keeping his lyricism plain and basic. KRS does a little better, but he only spits one short verse, while Server spits two. Its a freestyle though, so I guess I'd understand. "The I" comes up afterward, where Kris comes back to the preaching, with Mad Lion rapping along with him. Kris comes above average with his lyricism, but Mad Lion is still wack. He doesnt really add much to the track, except his annoying voice. Dont worry, the album picks up with the final two songs, the first being the lead single, "Let 'em Have It". The production is awesome here, Soul Supreme shows us what a real digger can do behind the boards. Kris' lyrics are pretty tight, as always, but his flow here is just perfect and on point. After this is the final song, "Still Spittin'", a posse track. The production is unique, containing some nice organ work and a tight drum loop. It aint the best, but its still pretty tight. The track features five other emcees who spit with KRS for over four minutes straight. They all kick a verse; KRS-One is up first, followed by Akbar, L Da Headtoucha, Illin P, Supastition, and An Ion. They all come pretty tight, but its Supastition who kicks the best verse in my opinion. Heres a sample: "Forever loved in your city thanks to rap / my album is continuously sellin' like fitted Yankees caps / I'm like a demon crossbread with a ragin' bull / I'm from the south but I relate more to 'Paid in Full' / So focused on my grind, I'm potent when I rhyme / tell niggas close your fuckin' mouth and open up your mind". All in all, its a pretty straight track. It might not be as good as other KRS posse tracks, such as "5 Boroughs" or "Stop The Violence", but it was a good way to end this album

So is this album a classic or not? Its a pretty good release from The Blastmaster, but it is NOT A CLASSIC. Most of the tracks were tight, but the album was absent of the normal Boom Bap production that we're used to. There are too many weak tracks here to call this an automatic classic. Kris should've spent more than three weeks on this album. One of the things that really annoy me about this album are the numerous interludes. In the amout of time KRS could've kept hitting us with better tracks, he decides to fill up the album with spoken word interludes by Minister Server and Afrika Bambaattaa and it just gets boring after a while. Dont get me wrong "Rap History" is an awesome look back at the history of Hip-Hop, but KRS could've done schooled us on this subject in a song, instead of just throwing it all together in a short interlude. Also, there was a track that was left off of the album that should've made it. They said on GritRecords.com (before it was renovated) that the song "Chosen Few", which was done with Large Professor, didnt make the cut for the album. Its too bad, he could've taken one of the weaker tracks off (like "Me Man") and add that track. As of right now, it is currently unavaliable. As to whether or not the original album he was planning, "Phonetics" will come out or not, its still unknown. I have heard that he has planned on releasing it later this year, but theres still the possibility that it suffers the same fate as "Maximum Strength", the album that he planned to drop on Jive Records in 2000 but scrapped at the last minute. Anyway, what can I say about "Keep Right"? I like the album, its a solid effort, but its just not as good as the others. If I had to describe it in one short sentence, it would be as an unnecessary sequal to "I Got Next". Despite that fact, its still a good album that is worth picking up, no matter if your a KRS fan or just a fan of the REAL Hip-Hop. As he said on the album, he's 'still spittin'', and hes gonna keep spitting for a LONG time. Lets just hope he plans on spending more than three weeks on his next album.

FINAL GRADE: 3 1/2 Stars


Other KRS-One/BDP Reviews:

KRS-One - Return of the Boom Bap

Recommended: Yes