Why did KRS ONE solo career never really pop off?

[Goat poster]

Will Smith? Dude is more known for being a B-list actor/family man than a rapper. And when he considered himself to be a rap artist back in the 80's, nobody took his corny ass seriously.

B-list actor?

dude was arguably the biggest Hollywood star in the 90’s and the numbers prove it.

whatever you feel about his rap is one thing but c’mon man.

 

[AnonymityX1000]

To be fair, how many golden age 80s rappers were going gold past 1992? The changing of the guards was in effect. I don't think it had anything to do with the fanbase or quality of music, things were just moving quickly away from those dudes. Rakim, Kane, KRS. G Rap...basically everyone except LL fell off a mountain in terms of popularity. I know people are gonna say LL survived because women loved him and while that's partially true...the bigger thing was that he never completely lost a core fanbase of dudes, because he kept releasing good "street" songs and making great decisions in terms of beat selection. Someone should write an article comparing Kane's 90s decisions to LLs. One became a caricature and went 100% at women, the other understood you gotta feed the streets and the ladies. Same playbook that Hov later figured out, and Drake has completely mastered.

I think it can be boiled down to something as simple as release frequency. KRS and LL came out every year or every other year. BDK, Rakim G Rap took longee breaks in the 90s. BDK came out with Prince of Darkness in like 91', his next album was like 4-5 years later. Rakim took even longer.

 

[Eastside Get The Money]

nikkaz wasn’t trying to learn anymore or headbob to loves gonna get you. People were banging and selling dope on wax by then

 

[FreshAIG]

nikkaz wasn’t trying to learn anymore or headbob to loves gonna get you. People were banging and selling dope on wax by then

Funny thing is KRS probably has the first gangster rap "Album" released. At least on the East Coast.

 

[Sankofa Alwayz]

B-list actor?

dude was arguably the biggest Hollywood star in the 90’s and the numbers prove it.

whatever you feel about his rap is one thing but c’mon man.

That’s what I’m saying. He all the way lost me there

 

[Art Barr]

he endorsed the very culture thief faq nikka in puff.
who was completely juxtaposed from what the culture was and initially what we thought krs was about.
that is why,...

he endorsed the very culture thief shyt to where we are now.
just like he hid his hands for bambaata.

I already wrote definitively on this shyt.
go dig in the coli crate.



art barr

 

[FreshAIG]

First of all, krs IS BDP

His self titled album in 95 is a classic

Pulled out the album to head to the car wash couple of weekends ago. Still sounds as good as I remember it

That album is fire

 

[Crumple]

In comparison to boogie down production I’m talking about, before the old heads get upset...

Boogie down production had 4 straight gold albums (from 87-92)

then krs broke off and made 4 albums, only 1 went gold (from 93-2001) ..I won’t count whatever he released from ‘02 on because nobody has heard any of that shyt

Did he have a real fanbase? Why did the BDP fans not cross over and support his albums? Were BDP industry plants?

In hindsight, Was his solo career a disappointment? I’m sure the labels were thinking he’d have the same success when he was technically part of a group

let’s talk about it

I never looked at his career in terms of numbers until you mentioned it. I don't know the numbers. It's probably way more units sold than some lying rappers of today.

He has created so much timeless music since then and making shows worldwide. Teaching, speaking.

He's pretty much the blueprint of greatness in rap. It's a bit scary that fact could be clouded in these times. But Streetlight one if his current albums was incredible.

 

[Take It In Blood]

BDP was solo KRS as far as im concerned

 

[Damnshow]

Krs is one of the best emcees of all time. However, main reason why his solo career didn't go as good as BDP career was because gangsta rap and puff bad boy music took over the mid 90s. Did Krs do something about it? He even did the step into a world remix with puff, so apparently he was OK with it.

This is like when Nas made commercial sellout album IWW, then dudes wonder why rap is trash nowadays. When even some of the very elite emcees were ok with the music being dumbed down and commercialized.

 

[FreshAIG]

I never looked at his career in terms of numbers until you mentioned it. I don't know the numbers. It's probably way more units sold than some lying rappers of today.

He has created so much timeless music since then and making shows worldwide. Teaching, speaking.

He's pretty much the blueprint of greatness in rap. It's a bit scary that fact could be clouded in these times. But Streetlight one if his current albums was incredible.

Word. I never cared how much albums sold when I was growing up.

 

[Way Of The Gun]

NWA and the rise of gangsta rap.

 

[filial_piety]

Like someone said..by the time his solo albums came out in the mid 90s...his time was up. When I was in HS at the time, KRS was cool and all but he was considered OLD...no one was running out to buy his albums like that..not the youth anyway. Now Biggie, Snoop, Nas, Wu etc were a day 1 cop

 

[cheek100]

love this mf song to this day. Wish niccas put in this much heart on a track now days.

 

[*~queenbee~*]

B-list actor?

dude was arguably the biggest Hollywood star in the 90’s and the numbers prove it.

whatever you feel about his rap is one thing but c’mon man.

@Goat poster, who you calling a man?