27 years after his solo debut, Lawrence Parker continues to release music. It's been 25 years since the last studio album labeled Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody, that can be called classic. If the expectation of one of his records cannot be the same as in the mid-nineties, at least the welcome should be celebrated: instead, it's not so.
This record goes unnoticed, released almost secretly at the end of the year, going so deep into the dark tunnels under the radar of the underground circuit, that it could make all the noise it wants, nobody would hear it. Since the beginning of the 2000s, KRS has stopped attracting the attention of hip-hop listeners and after the collaborative record with former enemy Marley Marl, practically everyone has stopped listening to his projects. The Boogie Down Productions rapper worked with Black Moon's Buckshot, Wu-Elements' True Master, DITC's Showbiz and Flavor Unit's Bumpy Knuckles, but was unable to get back on top. His albums, while dignified, have been ignored.
His effort number 23 is a personal record with no guests. KRS takes 47 minutes to close it, thirteen tracks that are not too long, but often run around four minutes. The album relies on the production of Sun-One and the Polish Mlody, reserving a rhythm each for DJ B Original and KPrymeTheJäger, while only Sun-One and Pascal One perform together with the MC, with the task of making some hooks and the vocal background. Unlike most of his previous efforts, this record is solid and consistent: it's one of KRS-One's most successful attempts lately, his best tape in the last ten years.
The rapper brings out socio-conscious project layered with braggadocio stanzas, delivering his bars with a hardcore, powerful and energetic rapping, and with an immaculate flow, sometimes dusting off his reggae-sque style. Production, as usual, doesn't help him: there are dance beats ("Opening Remarks"), simple boom baps ("Tight", "Organize"), lo-fi rhythms ("Don't Fall for It"), ambient downtempo ("Black Black Black"), tense and dark ("Boom Bye Bye"), weak and cheap productions ("Murder She Just Saw", "Turn the Volume Up"), midtempo ("Stay Real", "Free [The Book Song]"), hardcore ("Medu Neter"), light oriental ("We Are the Gods") and a rock rhythms ("Who You Are").
Most of the samples are simple and cheap, while the drum is functional to the rhythm, the soundscape chosen by the beatmakers changes with each track, however, KRS delivers straight with a gritty hardcore style that gives meaning to the various songs. Overall, the record is far from his best works, but it's an honest tape that ends up in the good section of his crowded discography.
Highlights: "Tight", "Boom Bye Bye", "Stay Real", "Medu Neter", "Free (The Book Song)".
Rating: 7/10.
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