This letter was originally published on EURweb.com in response to a reader critical of the Blastmaster.
First of all, why is there an assumption that my career is somehow over, and I need to 'jumpstart or try to re-ignite' my career by dissin' Nelly. I don't believe my 16 year, 5 gold album career is over yet. And if it was, how does dissin' Nelly actually re-ignite my stagnated career? In fact, my so-called career is more vibrant than it has ever been! I just completed a ten city tour, performing before packed houses. I recently released a Gospel rap album (Spiritual Minded) that charted at number 4 on the Billboard Gospel charts.
I continue to lecture at hundreds of Universities, and everywhere I go I am publicly praised and sought after by people of all backgrounds. How is my career over? I am not broke? I am not sick? How is my career over? Why do I need to dis Nelly to get my career started? Just because I do not regularly appear on MTV does not mean my career is over. Just because radio programmers refuse to acknowledge my work does not mean my career is over.
For your much needed information, it is the people of Hiphop Kulture that sustain my career, not broadcast media outlets! Very simply, my performances pay me in respect, admiration, and money. My choruses and music are sampled continuously, and whenever dope emcees are mentioned, my name appears. How is my career over? Your letter, to me, seems to lack knowledge, or it is simply another attempt to save a wack rapper from the ass whipping you know he's about to get! People are tired of the mindless drivel continuously passed off, and pumped into our homes as authentic Hiphop Kulture, and it is time to draw the line!
Your letter states that 'KRS is a very good lyricist ? one of the best, but when was the last time he had a hit?' What do you mean when you say 'hit?' What is the criteria for a 'hit' ? record sales? I don't think so! I write songs, not records. I write lyrics that influence people toward right thinking, right action and self-empowerment. If these concepts fall below your criteria, or are simply above your head, that's fine! But do not try to diminish the content of a 16 year cultural campaign to a 'hit' recording. Your very premise proves that you are not part of our Hiphop Kulture, nor do you know Hiphop's history and thus speak from ignorance. Everything about your cowardly unnamed letter speaks to what is being bought and sold as if this is a criteria for Hiphop success. Sorry, it is not. Rap is something we do, while Hiphop is something we live. Hiphop is the name of our culture. We do not sell our culture. We do not rate our culture on charts that monitor the sales of products. Hiphop is not a product, and KRSONE is not a rapper!
I thought my position was clear when I stated on my 500,000 unit selling album 'I Got Next' .?.. now quote this, emcees are just hopeless, thinking record sales make them the dopest! (Step into a world) I thought I was clear when I said on the same song that I am 'relying on talent, not marketing and promotion.' Something you seem to be a victim of. Finally, you stated 'Hip Hop has evolved?,' and you advised me not to 'hate the next man for being original and profiting, no matter what genre it sells to!' Here's where you fu*ked up again! First of all, Nelly is not original. Secondly, Hiphop is not for sale! Rap music product is for sale. And no, I don't 'hate.' As a leader of Hiphop Kulture, it is my cultural responsibility to point out when (and how) our culture is being abused, and offer some possible solutions. Yes my ignorant friend, it does matter how rap music is being sold, and who is buying it, because rap music product teaches the world about Hiphop Kulture. And if our culture (through rap music) is depicted exclusively as a bunch of drunk and high, irresponsible and immature ******s, *****es, hoes, pimps and playas; with our own hands we send ourselves and our children to the cemetery, the penitentiary or a life of depression and insecurity when they reach adulthood!
I don't know what 'Whites' you are talking to, but the 'Whites' I am talking to wonder why 'Blacks and Browns' depict themselves as 'thugs' on national television when 'Blacks and Browns' are over represented by the thousands in the criminal justice system. I don't know what kind of 'Whites' you are talking to, or living with, but many 'White families' (Black and Brown families as well) refuse to expose their children to rap music because of the irresponsible and immature content it is believed to present. This is a problem for Hiphop Kulture and those that participate in it, because Hiphop (as you have stated) has '... many styles.' Why then is only the irresponsible image of Hiphoppas presented to the public when Hiphop has 'many styles' while you claim '? just because a mass majority, including whites, like your music doesn't mean you sold out ...?' Yes, it means you sold out if 2.5 million kids are getting arrested every year -- yet you decide to promote yourself as a criminal, knowing that our children will be influenced by your behavior. Yes, you are a sell-out when you teach young men that woman are basically sex toys for boys, in a society that is still very sexist toward women and continues to destroy the very fabric of family life. Yes, you are a sell-out when you say, some say 'I'm wrong but f*ck it I'm grown, if you ain't bout this money you best be gone (Nelly).'
Is this consistent with the Civil Rights struggle? Is this consistent with the teachings of Malcolm X, Kwame Ture, or even Jesus Christ! Is this attitude consistent with the intentions of Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D, or even our parents? If it is not, it is destructive to our collective well being, and the performer of such lyrics is a sellout. Yeah, you're right; 'a one track mind will leave you broke?' But I am a multi-dimensional thinker and according to the IRS I am not broke! So I suggest, you take your little response and shove it! Some of us care about the future of Hiphop Kulture. Some of us are not just doing rap music, some of us are Hiphop! This issue is not even about Nelly, it's about the corporate exploitation of our intellectual property and the image of our collective consciousness through out the world. It's not about how much money you can collect, it's about how many lives you can empower. Therefore, as long as my children (and the children of others) must bear the brunt of the images portrayed by today's rappers, I shall always be there as an alternative voice to our obvious self-destruction whether you like it or not! Long live real Hiphop!! There it is!
KRS ONE
Feedback.
First of all, why is there an assumption that my career is somehow over, and I need to 'jumpstart or try to re-ignite' my career by dissin' Nelly. I don't believe my 16 year, 5 gold album career is over yet. And if it was, how does dissin' Nelly actually re-ignite my stagnated career? In fact, my so-called career is more vibrant than it has ever been! I just completed a ten city tour, performing before packed houses. I recently released a Gospel rap album (Spiritual Minded) that charted at number 4 on the Billboard Gospel charts.
I continue to lecture at hundreds of Universities, and everywhere I go I am publicly praised and sought after by people of all backgrounds. How is my career over? I am not broke? I am not sick? How is my career over? Why do I need to dis Nelly to get my career started? Just because I do not regularly appear on MTV does not mean my career is over. Just because radio programmers refuse to acknowledge my work does not mean my career is over.
For your much needed information, it is the people of Hiphop Kulture that sustain my career, not broadcast media outlets! Very simply, my performances pay me in respect, admiration, and money. My choruses and music are sampled continuously, and whenever dope emcees are mentioned, my name appears. How is my career over? Your letter, to me, seems to lack knowledge, or it is simply another attempt to save a wack rapper from the ass whipping you know he's about to get! People are tired of the mindless drivel continuously passed off, and pumped into our homes as authentic Hiphop Kulture, and it is time to draw the line!
Your letter states that 'KRS is a very good lyricist ? one of the best, but when was the last time he had a hit?' What do you mean when you say 'hit?' What is the criteria for a 'hit' ? record sales? I don't think so! I write songs, not records. I write lyrics that influence people toward right thinking, right action and self-empowerment. If these concepts fall below your criteria, or are simply above your head, that's fine! But do not try to diminish the content of a 16 year cultural campaign to a 'hit' recording. Your very premise proves that you are not part of our Hiphop Kulture, nor do you know Hiphop's history and thus speak from ignorance. Everything about your cowardly unnamed letter speaks to what is being bought and sold as if this is a criteria for Hiphop success. Sorry, it is not. Rap is something we do, while Hiphop is something we live. Hiphop is the name of our culture. We do not sell our culture. We do not rate our culture on charts that monitor the sales of products. Hiphop is not a product, and KRSONE is not a rapper!
I thought my position was clear when I stated on my 500,000 unit selling album 'I Got Next' .?.. now quote this, emcees are just hopeless, thinking record sales make them the dopest! (Step into a world) I thought I was clear when I said on the same song that I am 'relying on talent, not marketing and promotion.' Something you seem to be a victim of. Finally, you stated 'Hip Hop has evolved?,' and you advised me not to 'hate the next man for being original and profiting, no matter what genre it sells to!' Here's where you fu*ked up again! First of all, Nelly is not original. Secondly, Hiphop is not for sale! Rap music product is for sale. And no, I don't 'hate.' As a leader of Hiphop Kulture, it is my cultural responsibility to point out when (and how) our culture is being abused, and offer some possible solutions. Yes my ignorant friend, it does matter how rap music is being sold, and who is buying it, because rap music product teaches the world about Hiphop Kulture. And if our culture (through rap music) is depicted exclusively as a bunch of drunk and high, irresponsible and immature ******s, *****es, hoes, pimps and playas; with our own hands we send ourselves and our children to the cemetery, the penitentiary or a life of depression and insecurity when they reach adulthood!
I don't know what 'Whites' you are talking to, but the 'Whites' I am talking to wonder why 'Blacks and Browns' depict themselves as 'thugs' on national television when 'Blacks and Browns' are over represented by the thousands in the criminal justice system. I don't know what kind of 'Whites' you are talking to, or living with, but many 'White families' (Black and Brown families as well) refuse to expose their children to rap music because of the irresponsible and immature content it is believed to present. This is a problem for Hiphop Kulture and those that participate in it, because Hiphop (as you have stated) has '... many styles.' Why then is only the irresponsible image of Hiphoppas presented to the public when Hiphop has 'many styles' while you claim '? just because a mass majority, including whites, like your music doesn't mean you sold out ...?' Yes, it means you sold out if 2.5 million kids are getting arrested every year -- yet you decide to promote yourself as a criminal, knowing that our children will be influenced by your behavior. Yes, you are a sell-out when you teach young men that woman are basically sex toys for boys, in a society that is still very sexist toward women and continues to destroy the very fabric of family life. Yes, you are a sell-out when you say, some say 'I'm wrong but f*ck it I'm grown, if you ain't bout this money you best be gone (Nelly).'
Is this consistent with the Civil Rights struggle? Is this consistent with the teachings of Malcolm X, Kwame Ture, or even Jesus Christ! Is this attitude consistent with the intentions of Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D, or even our parents? If it is not, it is destructive to our collective well being, and the performer of such lyrics is a sellout. Yeah, you're right; 'a one track mind will leave you broke?' But I am a multi-dimensional thinker and according to the IRS I am not broke! So I suggest, you take your little response and shove it! Some of us care about the future of Hiphop Kulture. Some of us are not just doing rap music, some of us are Hiphop! This issue is not even about Nelly, it's about the corporate exploitation of our intellectual property and the image of our collective consciousness through out the world. It's not about how much money you can collect, it's about how many lives you can empower. Therefore, as long as my children (and the children of others) must bear the brunt of the images portrayed by today's rappers, I shall always be there as an alternative voice to our obvious self-destruction whether you like it or not! Long live real Hiphop!! There it is!
KRS ONE
Feedback.
