KRS-One

KRS-One is one of the most caustic emcees ever to rap, and he's also one of the best. On "Da Automatic," he curiously claims "division in rap is whack," but he spends much of his sophomore album attacking "fake ass rappers," dismantling "video emcees" and making a case for himself as hip-hop messiah. Like his Jewish counterpart, he spent "forty days and forty nights in the wilderness." Even by hip-hop standards, Kris is an egoist, but he has the authority to pull it off. It also doesn't hurt that DJ Premier and Diamond D produce a large chunk of the album.

The Wu-Tang clan and their offshoots have returned an elevating spirit to the New York
hip-hop scene in a way that hasn't been experienced there since the mid-'80s, when rivals
KRS-One and MC Shan traded lyrical barbs with "Kill That Noise" and "The Bridge Is Over."
New albums by KRS-One, Mobb Deep and Fat Joe bring the spotlight back to New York's
South Bronx and Queensbridge Projects, but rather than fighting for borough su... More >