What I Know
Not On Label · Brooklyn, USA
- Artist
- KRS-One
- Title
- What I Know
- Release
- What I Know
- Label
- Not On Label
- Format
- Digital · Archival
- Language
- English
- Country
- Brooklyn, USA
- Genre
- Hip Hop · Hip Hop
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation — Civil Rights Songs
KRS-One (Lawrence Krisna Parker), born 20 August 1965 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, East Coast Hip Hop artist, who rose to prominence as a member of Boogie Down Productions. In 1989 he started The Stop the Violence Movement in response to violence in black communities, which brought together prominent hip hop artists. This came soon after the death of DJ Scott La Rock, another member of Boogie Down Productions. The song "What I Know" was unreleased, originally intended for his self-titled 1995 album. It referenced two students killed by Mississippi state and Jackson city police, at Jackson State college ("Jackson State Killings") on 15 May 1970, part of a Vietnam War and Civil Rights protest: "police killed two African students at Jackson State University" - as well as other instances of racial killings in the US, noting "for years America been killing us - sisters, brothers". Note that Boogie Down Productions released the song Stop the Violence (1988), one of the first hip songs to mention Vietnam, discussed above.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Born 20 August 1965, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Currently Bronx, New York, USA. Outtake from KRS-One album (1995)
Themes
In collections
Civil Rights Songs · Kent / Jackson State Songs · Rap / Hip Hop Songs