KRS-1 is one of the top 3 rappers in all of hip-hop and probably the top mc of all time. He has advanced the art in a big way. He has also made 3 big mistakes. 1.Ms.Melody 2.Spiritual Minded 3.Calling for a boycott of Nelly

Nelly probably received most of his alternative ideologies from being influenced by KRS1. Although he is so apolitical it doesn't appear he has any opinions. I am familiar with the area where Nelly is from and when Nelly was coming up the city was basically being run by the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity (they still got St. Louis on lock) and other than that, it seemed like the hip choice for his generation was being a "so called" Blood. Unfortunately his generation was choosing between being known as Pretty Boy or Piru. The biggest discussion many of them were having was about how fast somebody could twirl their cane and some of these brothers were in their mid 30's. So if U R a kid like Nelly &, have big dreams of playing in the NFL, and U want to stay positive, then music of KRS is such an elixir.

So why has a battle ensued over a track that is over a year old called #1, which everybody knows was not to be taken as a diss to KRS-1. All rappers claim to be no#1. Upon a closer look it seems very contrived. Nelly released the track on the Training Day soundtrack, which came out around October 2001. KRS1 waited approximately 7 months and then released "Clear'em out" which disses Nelly. KRS1 then says it wasn't aimed at Nelly and he knows that Nelly's #1, wasn't aimed at him. However it is obvious that is a smug remark. Nelly may be no battle rapper but he's no stranger to controversy. In August of 2001 he told the host of the MTV show TRL that, he had no love for the Caucasian sensation {Eminem} and he chews M&Ms. This never escalated until a lyrical beef because he said they got on the phone and handled the situation like men. The truth is neither of them really wanted a situation that could be ongoing. Nelly just doesn't fight much. Recently he was personally prevented from coming into the local shopping mall in his hometown because of certain clothing he was wearing and although fans wanted to rally around this issue, he backed away. A Missouri politician denied him keys to the city for offensive lyrics and he was virtually silent, he just took it on the chin. He is not a fighter or a battle rapper. So the question becomes why couldn't all this end here also. If you can talk to the hot-tempered Marshall Mathers why can't you have a level headed talk with Chris Parker. Its simple, the ever loquacious KRS-1 was just a little bored and decided he wanted to battle somebody new. His earlier quotes prove that he once liked Nelly and was going to work with him. So how could he possibly be this corporate poster boy for what's wrong with rap now? All of a sudden Nelly's' so bad that you call for a boycott of him and what he represents, which is a very serious charge. KRS1 recorded a track in 1997 called "Real Hip Hop" on his I Got Next cd, today he is repeating that mantra in his battle vs. Nelly but we realize that KRS1 represents real hip hop and Nelly does not. But I can't figure out how this translates into a boycott of Nelly.

I will admit I have all of KRS-1 albums except Spiritual Minded and none of Nelly's. Although in this day and age of recognized Global Warming how could anyone not be feeling Nelly's "Hot in Herre" while the nation is experiencing heat waves all over. That song alone is making people want to get the cd. Nelly ended Eminem's five week reign at the top of the album charts as Nellyville sold 714 thousand copies in its first week of release. Nelly nearly tripled the debut of his first album Country Grammar that sold 252 thousand copies in its first week two years ago and eventually sold 8 million. Nelly is also number one on the singles chart with "Hot In Herre". It's going to be number 1 for a few more weeks too, never mind that KRS-1 admitted Nelly's "Air Force One" track on Nellyville is dope - a high compliment. Personally I couldn't purchase Nelly's cd just on the strength of two things 1.He is rocking with Nysnc on there and 2. That damn manila band-aid on his face. Besides I personally don't pay my money if the artist ain't talking about nothing. The hardest criticism I heard by KRS1 of Nellyville is that he disrespected the whole reparation movements. Krs1 said on his new album he says "F*ck 40 acres and a mule, I want 40 acres and a pool". KRS-1 says imagine that being sold to 10 million white kids. Implying that he just fucked up years of work cause he ain't connected to the community. But if you read that line, he isn't saying that he isn't with reparations, he modified it but was keeping the most important component, which is the land, and philosophically traded the mule for a pool cause as he said "It's Hot in herre". If KRS was serious he needed to single out all those commercial magazines that pushed Nelly on the cover like The Source, XXL, Vibe, etc. Call for a boycott of them.

Don't get it twisted; records sales don't prove who wins in a rap battle. We live in a time where Ludacris will outsell a lyrical legend like Rakim. So why KRS1 would make record sales an issue escapes me. However, Nelly will quit before KRS1 budges. It just seems to me, that this boycott Nelly stuff is a weak idea and if you have been paying attention you can see that even those who support KRS1 over Nelly, don't support the boycott of Nelly. You will need a planetary telescope to find, the rappers who publicly supports the Boycott. Ironically Nelly is getting blown up bigger than ever, which can be interpreted as a diss to KRS1 by the majority.

I think that MCs have mics in their face so often they sometimes get trapped and say the wrong stuff, even the great Chuck D, probably wished he never said that Tupac was still alive in Vegas a few years ago; a statement he quickly retracted. It's a shame that the rappers who are daring to address the issues of corporate control of rap are doing it with a personal vengeance now. Nas talked about Hot 97 (owned by Emmis Broadcasting) on Power 105 (owned by Clear Channel Communications) but these are 2 sides of the same coin. In Mid June of this year Nas was outspoken on the state of hip hop music and calling names. http://www.whudat.com/realtxt/nas_blastshot97.ram (Click on Lick to hear Nas attack rappers for being lazy and uncreative, being pimped by corporate radio stations who dictate what's popular, as well as record labels who are notorious - for paying radio stations to play their artists) NAS said, "I like Camron but his album is wack". Camron who is the new VP for Rocafella records heard this and shot back the next day with a diss track. Which was about the most ignorant rebuttal in the history of rap. In the rebuttal Camron questions Nas about his "drug knowledge" or his "Cocaine Mathematics" inquiring about nonsense such as- how many bricks, equals how many kilos? and what makes up an eighth? etc. What kind of backwards shit is that, ultimately trying to show if you don't know the drug game like that than you must be some kind of sucka. Camron then brags about having R.Kelly tendencies and that he would rape Nas' daughter and ultimately he violates even more by disrespecting the name of Nas' recently deceased mom. Camron should be the last one to talk about somebody's parent since his own father died of AIDS recently, a topic he refuses to talk about. After the mother of Nas' daughter held a press conference and told the community about how he and others were using her child as a pawn. Camron came on BET in less than a week and apologized for saying what he did about the daughter and mother. Although he still implies at each opportunity that he will hurt Nas for his comments about him if he keeps saying these things. Everybody on the streets knows Camron ain't that healthy between his Ulcer and hernia so he should ease up on the physical innuendo. He is about 150lbs soaking wet. At the same time though, Nas needs to realize that Clear Channel Communications has no love for him and they are only using him. To my knowledge he was to meet with Talib Kweli, MOP, KRS1 and others on the state of hip hop last month. KRS1 said they planned on shutting the industry down but no plans were revealed. I hope its something serious.

If you understand KRS1 like I do. You know his history lends itself to conflict. KRS1 has dissed anybody he felt like dissing including a pioneer like Melle Mel who came before him. He took a serious swipe at RUN DMC in 1990. If you recall the blast master was annoyed at Run DMC for a rap/rock remix collaboration with the rock and roll group Aerosmith for their song called Mary Mary from their Tougher than Leather album a year prior. So on his "House Nigga" track the lyrics were, “I write rhymes on plain stationary/Mary, Mary, quite contrary/Doesn't make sense in my vocabulary/Uncle Tom house niggaz, do scare me”. Of Course he tongue lashed Mc Shan, Roxanne Shante, Marley Marl etc chronically, classic stuff. He thought PM Dawn dissed him so he pushed him off the stage. According to Nelly he dissed LL cool J also. The only time that somebody has directly initiated a beef with KRS1 was the group XClan. They tried to call KRS1 out on the conscious tip. This is probably hip-hops only public feud involving conscious rappers. XClan took shots at him on 2 tracks on their debut album on a track called "Grand Verbalizer", warning “Sit back and take heed, brother /You Must Learn/Swimming in the books, but the books ain't hittin./” and a track called "In the ways of the Scales" rhyming “TEACHERS and preachers remain confused/talking about humanist and ya true black ways/ token revolution and ya out to entertain”.

That situation is the only situation involving KRS1, which almost got into the streets all the rest of the situations were easily squashed and KRS1 laughs about them now. If you remember Freddie Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles appeared on the track Ruff Ruff from the Sex and Violence album. Xclan at the time were calling themselves pimps and KRS1 and Foxx talked some real rough street shit to them. Foxx was basically saying when I see you its on! At the time there was probably no diss song like that, whereby somebody had said the things those two were saying. It was tense in New York when this shit jumped off. As history would have it a community elder, Sonny Carson intervened and called for a meeting with BDP crew and X Clan on 125th st at the Harlem State Office. A meeting that was a halfway point between the Bronx and Brooklyn factions. KRS1 respected Carson who the widely viewed black exploitation film The Miseducation of Sonny Carson is about. Carson had somewhat of a cult figure status because of the movie and his community activism. He is also the father of the leader (not the main lyricist-Brother J) of the Xclan, Lumumba Carson. The beef was ended but for a second those close to the action say BDP had forgotten about the tragedy of Scott La Rock and was ready to get buck wild! Right at the same time Ice Cube came with some shit that people say was a diss to KRS1 when he said Self Destruction don't pay the fucking rent but in all fairness to KRS1 Self Destruction was not his song it was a compilation piece that was about promoting peace within the industry and on the streets, he never named anybody. Ice Cube was basically just ranting from his limited vision in music and his big confusion at the time. Flip-flopping between being in the NOI (Nation of Islam) and a gang-banger. Some might have called him Oh'Shea Muhammad. However KRS1 rarely, let's shit slide. He swiped at Ice Cube on the humorous and hardcore "Like a throttle" from the Sex and Violence CD just in case Ice Cube was talking to him. He poked him with the "lyrics/some MCs becomes Muslims on the mic only when its it is convenient/ and I seen it/ real Muslims praise Allah and they mean it/others are screaming with that sex me and do me in/I rather listen to the Brand Nubians". I was like whoa. I mean fresh off Xclan drama and promoting peace he still didn't let it slide. That was 1992, he was calling names, his album cover said BDP is KRS1, Willie D and Kenny Parker not D-Nice, Jamal-ski, Harmony, Ms.Melodie, and Scottie Morris. They are not down with BDP so stop frontin'. It's 10 years later and since nobody will start shit with him he is needs a challenge. Ironically an opportunity veiled itself that should have arched KRS1 eyebrows, cause two Rocafella artist rocked with Nelly on the track where he dissed KRS-1 (Rock the Mic [remix] ) and then claimed they weren't co-signing the diss. Allegedly Beanie Sigel and Freeway did not know what Nelly recorded. They tell KRS1 they were not in the studio when he recorded his lyrics. They simply did their part and sent the record out. C'mon man this game don't work that simple.

When I entitled this essay "Boycott - why is that" I am coming from the position that 1) 90% of the other popular rappers are more harmful than Nelly with lyrics that perpetuate senseless black on black violence and boastful drug selling in the community and we are to bypass all of them for "harmless" Nelly. 2)KRS1 has not shown any serious attitude about this boycott, he called for it and expected it to take on a life of its own without any organizing and planning on his behalf. Which means he is not serious. So why should others, I am not going to buy Nelly anyway but to really send a message to the corporate powers means boycott all artist, who they represent but not singling out Nelly. A boycott is an active duty sort of call. People don't just call boycotts and expect them to work; it requires planning, organization and effort by the organizer. This is how it has always worked. Even if the boycott was justified it still had very little chance of working. For example in my old hood there is a Chinese immigrant (Lee) who owns one of the six Chinese restaurants in a 3-block span. This guy disrespected a black woman because she returned her order of chicken fried rice. She returned it because it was rumored that Lee had cooked a dirty chicken. It was rumored to be a dirty chicken because it came off the street, allegedly it had escaped from a Puerto Rican lady who was going to sacrifice it for her Orisha as the rumor goes and nobody could catch it. Lee caught it at later that night and many assumed he cooked it and sold it. Rumor spread and people said don't eat the chicken from his store. So when she returned her order Lee called her a "stupid black bitch" and cussed her out. So the boycott cry in the neighborhood was "don't buy chicken" from Lee. Instead of boycott this store cause this guy comes into the community and calls our women black bitches. Of Course he's still doing business. Anyway this is the status of things.

KRS One says he respects Nelly for having the courage to take him on in a verbal duel: "Battle KRS for street credibility...I respect that. Do you know how much heart it takes to battle KRS? I respect that. I respect Nelly's heart for that because he knows I'm going to smash him up against the wall like a mosquito. He knows it. That's the Christ. He's willingly going to his death, but he will be resurrected. And the way he'll be resurrected is, he will finally join the hip-hop community. What he always wanted". You can't be talking about a boycott and then talking about ok after I smash him up, it's all love again.

In the end, no hard feelings by either man. KRS1 will probably guest appear on Nelly's upcoming sitcom TV shows in the future with a cameo role because this is an emcee battle not beef. KRS is an awesome force in rap but no artist is so great that they can issue a boycott on the grounds that he has. I was just kidding on the opening Ms.Melody comment, and Spiritual Minded was ok if it was honestly intended to be a Gospel album and not a rap album.- peace to Scott La Rock- Nuff said!

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