In 2021, KRS-One had one of his highest-profile years in the last decade. Da Blastmasta flaunted his charisma and catalog in an October Verzuz against longtime friend and collaborator Big Daddy Kane. As much of the Hip-Hop community tuned in, they celebrated Kris Parker's groundbreaking with Boogie Down Productions as well as his solo discography over the last 28 years. Following the appearance, he released "Knock 'Em Out", a competition-minded single, as well as a short film, Save The Studio.
Now, KRS-One follows with "The Beginning", featuring background vocals and production by Connecticut representative SUN-One. This week the song became a music video. He opens up with pungent rhymes: "Heaven-sent, I can prove this / Any crowd, turn me up loud, K-R will move this / Long before Eazy-E, this MC, he was ruthless / Kickin' rhymes, spittin' rhymes, written rhymes, freestyle-I do's this / Who's this? / You don't know me homie, I'm the one and only / I will turn your tool into a toll, tell you that you owe me." Kris is loud, clear, and energized. He also insists that "my power is now", as a reminder that he wishes to duck the past tense on his relevance.
True to nature, Kris spends much of the track dogging on inferior MCs: "These rappers are bony and lonely / I catch you comin' outta Shoney's / I don't Oscar or admire their bologna / No phoney / I spit for the time from the mind / So when I spit off the head, of course I'm ahead of my time." He later rhymes, "I'm the guru, so when my teaching premieres, it's gang-ster / Hittin' you and your man in your same car." Wordplay like this has been a staple of KRS-One's music for 35 years. He also switches his flow a few times to flex his versatility.
"These wack rappers, f*ck who they are / KRS is like a hooligan, hittin' em all with the same bars / Hooligans, hittin 'em with the same bars / Yo' wack style just ain't ours, Venus to Mars / I'm teaching with bars, spitting these bars / But youngin's under 21 can't even get into these bars / So I don't blame em if they not seeing these bars / 'Cause when I hit em with my uni-verse all they seeing is stars," raps the MC, in front of an array of digital backgrounds. He also charges that his content is focused on impact ahead of income. Moments later, KRS-One announces that "10 of my first 20 albums are all collectables". The boast comes with some humility too, making for interesting discussion among fans over the best parts of Kris' catalog.
#BonusBeat: Ambrosia For Heads' What's The Headline podcast offers a round-by-round breakdown and analysis of KRS-One and Big Daddy Kane's 2021 Verzuz match-up:
