KRS-One on one: Hip-hop needs more women

​Interview and words by Cheverly Council and Rebecca McDonald
Photos by B FRESH Photography

The vibe was live at Epic on Saturday night for the Stop the Violence Movement/Temple of hip hop show, with B-girls and boys out in full effect, a local hip hop lineup with over a dozen acts such as Illuminous 3, Lila T, and Ill Chemistry (Desdamona and Carnage), the Twin Cities Battle League, The Source Magazine's "Spit 16" battle, and hip hop heads old and new. It's safe to say, though, that most came out to get an earful of "The Teacha" KRS-One, who quietly passed through downtown but performed classics from "South Bronx" to "Sound of Da Police" with unmatchable thunder. He invited dancers to the stage to engage with him, as he yelled, "If you get your hip hop from the radio, step to the back!"

The show was reminiscent of local street ciphers spotted regularly on the streets of NYC back in the day, minus the rope-a-dope gold chains. It was grassroots, inclusive and down to earth - even KRS asked for tape of the show because he'd done a mic juggling freestyle that he had never done before, saying, "I hope y'all got that shit tonight. The two mics- I lost control. I was buggin'!...I gotta figure out how to do it again."

City Pages sat down with KRS One after the show to ask him a very important question (and we even got a peek at his new, controversial bible-formatted text, The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument, to be released in November, Hip Hop History month)...