The solo projects for KRS-One officially start in 1993 with ‘Return Of The Boom Bap;’ considered to be a classic and one of the best albums in KRS’ discography. It was KRS’ third solo album ‘I Got Next,’ which would be the start of the downside of his albums but ironically it went Gold. For the majority of the 2000’s KRS’ albums were not very appealing. Persistence has been the attribute that the legendary M.C. has been able to survive and maintain his celebrity. 2007’s ‘Hip-Hop Lives’ produced by Marley Marl, gave KRS-One another stipe on his catalog. It also was a time for fans of “Tha Teacha” to realize we might get a good one every five albums.
By 2019 KRS had put out 15 albums since 1993. 2017 he was able to break through the internet with a bit of a buzz about an album called ‘The World is MIND.’ The album might not have lived up to the bit of chatter that it created and unfortunately that harmed ‘Street Light: First Edition’ in my opinion.
‘Street Light…’ is a twelve track project that really gets to the point and does not have much filler tracks. It features vocalist such as his wife GSimone, M.A.D. Mike and Jade Hendricks. Production is handled by Mlody, D.J. B. Original, Ollie, D.J. Static, KPrymeTheJäger and Enrico Wolf, who are all virtually unknown. However Jesse West and Mad Lion provide a couple of beats giving this album music that mainly fits KRS’ rhyming style.
“Tha Teacha” is going to beat you over the head with maintaining the integrity of Hip-Hop culture but a track like ‘Invader (2019 version) stand out with it’s very descriptive tale of the consequence of colonization. ‘GOD’ is another track that is unique on this album as the spirituality of KRS is brought forth, but more importantly his rhyming pattern on the song just shows KRS’ strives to never get rusty on the mic.
‘Street Light: First Edition’ deserves more credit but unfortunately it proceeds some less than stellar releases. The album cover is not appealing and as I have stated many times, the title of albums can harm releases if it feels like there is some sort of “part 1” to it. I feel if this album had been a comeback record after not hearing from KRS-One in about a decade, it would have been better received. What did you think of the album?
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