KRS-ONE  (September 2006) | Interview By: Yash

   

As ever you can read this exclusive Dubcnn interview and we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to yash@dubcnn.com.

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Interview was done in August 2006

Questions Asked By: Yash

Krs-One Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here (Video)

Full Interview Video available Here
 

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Dubcnn: Can you tell us about the elements of hip-hop and how they are being used in today's culture?

You sure this is picking up?


Dubcnn: Yea

*Coughs* got a little cough from last night coming out from the cold weather. This tour is grooving and that is the difference between hip-hop and rap. Hip-hop is something we live, we didn’t come out here to do a show we came out here to inspire a community and hopefully we did that.

Last night on my way out a lot of people were I guess cheering me on with the message that I guess I laid down last night. The show was good and I enjoyed it!


Dubcnn: The show was crazy!

We spoke about the message about women, about hip-hop as a culture and about not allowing the corporate structure to tell you who you are. These things are what is called hip-hop. That’s the world view, that’s the consciousness, the behaviour. Those people who believe that there is peace, love, unity and having fun in the world. You can actually be that. People who ain’t caught up in the race, religion, class, gender we are beyond all that. We judge people based on their character and their skill. Can you break? Can you MC? Can you DJ?

I said that last night as well in the freestyle and the crowd was screaming. That was great this is hip-hop. Rap is basically the selling of that. The artificialness of that and the effect of that. Rap is not bad Rap music industry is worth 10.5 billion dollars.


Dubcnn: Just the music?

Just the music!


Dubcnn: How do you feel about the state of rap music today? Is it too commercialised?

Na no if anything I think that...See people tend to criticize the commercial or the “bling bling” part of hip-hop and their rightful to do so. Because to much of that will lead you down the wrong path. But I ain’t going to front I like luxury myself. I’m a poor righteous teacher to be honest with you. I don’t chase after jewels, money you know this kind of thing. But I do want my family to live a certain quality of life and it cost money. I do want to live a certain quality of life it cost money!

I want to learn stuff; that cost money! I want to eat right and be able to meditate, these things cost money as well. But if you chase after the money you will never get these other things so the idea is to live the hip-hop lifestyle but live within your means. Live according to who you are and what you do. Don’t worry about if 50 Cent is getting a 100 000 or a million dollars a show make sure with you little bit of what you get; it could be 50 or 500 dollars you got at the end of the night and what you do with your 500 dollars is going to determine if you are even worthy to sit next to 50 Cent and his 100 000 so work with what you got.


Dubcnn: Any plans on a new album?

I got a bunch of albums coming out. I just dropped an album in the States called “life”. It might be on the internet you can go to templeofhiphop.org or you can go to temple of hip-hop at myspace(www.myspace.com/templeofhiphop). The one at myspace gives you more music and .org gives you more learning. But umm I just put out an album called “Life”. Great album with Image entertainment.


Dubcnn: Who produced it?

A guy name Dirt. Just an unknown producer in Los Angeles California!


Dubcnn: How’s it living on the West Coast?

It’s beautiful I don’t want to live anywhere else.


Dubcnn: You hooked up with any artists from the west coast?

Of course for years actually it was Ice-T that actually got me out to the west back in 86 or 87 something like that. Ice-T brought me out and yea I been coming out there for ages.


Dubcnn: Can we get a little political?

Sure!


Dubcnn: There’s a lot of DVD’s about Bin Laden attacks on America and do you think the attacks on America on 911 was organized by Bush himself or he had anything to do with it?

Yea, yea the general sense in hip-hop is I mean even though Bush had something to do with it. The government itself! The United States government. Wait a minute first of all there is no United States government that’s a game, that’s like slang that’s like I’m bad but I mean I’m good.

When you say government you really mean corporate America. Business, commerce that’s what this is all about. Knowing that what happens is you live in a country that boasts democracy yet on the ground level it’s a dictatorship of the corporation. Their like puppets.

On another level what makes America such a great country is that it has no laws the corruption is so high that you can do anything. You can do anything and get away with it. If you can manage to make your plan right and execute your plan.


Dubcnn: It’s like they love bad guys..

Yea America is the place for the bad guy and that’s what I like about the United States to be honest with you but then again am I really proud of that? When the bad guy that runs into somebody else’s country and starts changing governments I mean there’s a darker side to it.


Dubcnn: 20 years into your career what keeps you growing and motivated? Coming out overseas maybe has something to do with it?

Look for me it starts with God that’s what it starts for me and that’s a word God. The real force behind that word I’ve been living with since I was homeless since I left home when I was 14-15 to persue MC'ing and hip-hop as a philosophy. The force that I have lived with, I don’t know what name because it has no name it has no…it’s just a force that I’ve been living with that leaves impressions upon my being it just is impressions and that’s how we communicate I leave and impression it leaves an impression plus there’s a sensitivity to even how life is conducted in this force.

For example yourself I didn’t know this interview was going to occur today Wise Intelligence is my man Big up Wise Intelligence no question but this is also how hip-hop should operate you should be able to call and shout out a general’s name I’m sent by Wise Intelligence and I should be able to acknowledge that. Right now I’m on tour I’m running around with my wife and kid.

We running back and forth nonetheless here we are now able to sit down and talk. This is the event, this is what I call the great event if I was to call God anything she would be called a great event. And to live in that event and to go with the flow, here’s a ?? for flow Follow life’s outcome willingly F.L.O.W. Flow!

Go with the flow and that’s what keeps me going when things get down; this tour has a bunch of mistakes with it. It’s all kinds of things going on we just had a meeting about it just now.
Today what’s today?


Dubcnn: It’s Thursday.

Oh yea it’s Thursday isn’t it. Well where I come from in the United States. I’m a 40 year old man I’m married 17 years I have 4 children ok? I’m what they call middle aged. Where I come from middle aged men they go to work every day, their going to places and their doing things that their not willing to and don’t know why they are doing it. Their just going through the motion because they got to pay bills they have to do it.

So even though my tour may have a error here a mistake there we may get to somewhere late in my own personal life I’m at peace because I’m just a kid from the Bronx and now I’m in Sweden chilling on a Thursday *laughs* What great problems to have?

“Oh they cancelled the tour they cancelled the show they didn’t get your money.” Well you didn’t get your money in Sweden. You didn’t get your money on half way around the world with 500 people screaming your name how bad can it possibly be?


Dubcnn: Real talk right there. Do you have any advice for young upcoming MC’s who are just doing their craft and just started doing their craft?

Give it away. If you’re really talented give your art away the more you give your stuff away the more people will pay for it. That’s the wildest thing and I’ve never experienced anything like this but in my 20 year experience the more you say I ain’t doing nothing unless I’m getting paid you don’t get paid.

You’ll never get no money but the more you say here man take this tell me what you think about it and call me back or the more you say “hey you trying to be an MC, I’m trying to be an MC let me write you something that’s dope here take that and you go ahead. When you get to where you’re going give me a shoutout.

That’s how people get on. You have to empower someone else that’s how you get on but nobody wants to empower somebody else so they never get on.


Dubcnn: Where do you see the Conscious hardcore rap going in the future?

It’s flourishing in a minute that’s all you going to want to hear. People don’t realize that MC'ing… Wait hip-hop in general is going to be here in 2020 this tape were making right now is already old but right now were making it fresh in 2006 but in 2026 just 10-20 years from now there is going to be old footage of Krs-One talking in Sweden with my man just like this.

Now if you’re aware of that right now then your actions today are not just for today their for 2016 and 2026 their for the future as well. What I say it’s not just for now it’s for the future but it’s also for the past. I represent Malcolm X, I represent Martin Luther King, I represent Marcus Garvey, Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Duncans, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Moses; these are the people I represent.

This is the line by which I come from so when I speak I speak for the past present and for the future and if you keep that awareness then of course nothing can disturb you really you can escape from your present to your future. Like the story about the cross Jesus and the cross. He jumped on the cross because he already knew the future. “I will be resurrected in three days” if you know that going in then it’s easy to jump on the cross and get your hands nailed up. In three days I’m going to be back y’all going to be suckas.

So if you know that.*pauses* Let me put it this way vision gives you strength when you have a firm vision and you know your vision is real you get strength to do anything you know what I’m saying then nothing can stop you at that point.


Dubcnn: You mentioned a lot of legends in your show that have past away like ODB and Tupac. So I was wondering if you could share a memory you had that brings a smile to your face about ODB? Like when I say ODB what you think about?

You know it wouldn’t bring a smile to my face it would bring more like a euw *makes grimace of being disgusted*.


Dubcnn: *laughs*

But ODB I remember we did the Palladium one day and I remember ODB you know he at some times you be talking to ODB and he be talking straight science and knowledge to you. Real profound views on life then he would snap and I think like in his last part of his life he changed his name to Osirus. Now imagine the same mind that is thinking Old Dirty Bastard is also thinking Osirus. Osirus is the Christ hands down ok?

You look at that and I used to see Osirus and the Old Dirty Bastard. I think we all have an Osirus and an Old Dirty Bastard within us and their both right and their both wrong sometimes we’re to self-righteous and sometimes we beat ourselves up and criticize others as Osirus. Other times we’re growling in the dirt doubting ourselves and doing things we know we ain’t supposed to be doing as an Old Dirty Bastard.

My experience with Osirus and Old Dirty was always one of euw *makes grimace* It’s sort of like my experience with Biz (Biz Markie). He is the man I can’t take nothing away from Biz he’s a legend and that’s the end of it. But I’ve seen Biz in some nasty situations *laughs*


Dubcnn: *laughs*

Real nasty situations and I’m trying to remember one now but I just can’t come to mind. It’s just some nasty situations. Like remember Biz Markie is the guy who makes a record called “Pickin Boogers”; which was a big record for him *starts to rap the part of the song*- That was a huge record for Biz everybody loved it but it’s picking boogers.

I saw ODB actually do that dig up his nose yank up something big and green and wipe it on the side of a speaker I was like euw oh my god. What is wrong with you?

I’ve seen these guys in Wu-Tang back in the day when ODB was rolling with them. I mean were pretty wild, they were pretty wild as a group. Kind of mellowed out now I guess growing up into manhood they have become more professional but when ODB was rolling it was wild and to me that’s the memory of ODB who was constantly fighting between the Old Dirty Bastard; this jumping through windows and kicking cab windows out and then Osirus; who can clearly tell you straight up we’re trapped and here’s how you get free.

Another thing about Old Dirty, he was part Native American which we call aboriginal American. He belongs to the Wopanoa Tribe. That’s supposed to be the tribe that sold Henry Hudson Manhattan and there’s a deep story about that about the transaction that went down. But when Old Dirty Bastard when he used to do “Uuuh Ooooh” he used to always have these long screams where actually Native American screams umm spiritual cries that were coming out of him at that particular time; A very fascinating person Old Dirty.

Last night though I went through a bunch of people and um I mentioned Big Pun, talk about a funny story. You got to tell Fat Joe to tell this story as well when Big Pun fell off the stage in Bronx and fell on to my wife Simone and they both fell on to the floor. Funny it’s hilarious. *laughs*


Dubcnn: Damn *Laughs*.

About 5 guys had to get Pun up and you seen the size of Simone who’s a small woman and Pun is just about the biggest guy. He slipped off the stage no more than like this size to the floor *shows with his hands how big it was* and somehow he slipped off and Simone was filming him in the front row and he fell on to the camera and they all fell to the floor. It was crazy and that was funny and big up to Big Pun!


Dubcnn: Bro that’s about it for the questions anything else you want to tell the fans?

Templeofhiphop.org if you really want to know the secrets the accumulated wisdom of hip-hop from the day it began to the present day and even in the future join the Temple Of Hip-hop no matter where you may see it. This is a hip-hop reservation society that is designed to preserve hip-hop. Discussions like we just had things like that you can go to templeofhiphop.org to get more information.