Survival Skills [PA]

Performer: KRS-One
Artist: DJ Revolution; Mary J. Blige; Rock Of Heltah Skeltah; Talib Kweli; Smif-N-Wessun; Immortal Technique; K'naan; Pharoahe Monch; Loudmouf; Sean Price; Bounty Killer; Slug Of Atmosphere; Naledge; Melanie Fiona
Engineer: Giambi; M Nasty; Killa Ben; C-4
Distributor: E1 Entertainment

Notes: Audio Mixer: Dan the Man. Recording information: Daman Studios, New York, NY. Photographer: Alexander Richter. A meeting of two of hip-hop's great veterans (and keenest minds), SURVIVAL SKILLS brings together KRS-One and Buckshot. When a hip-hop forum combines this level of talent, it rarely disappoints and this 2009 effort is no exception. The album opens on the title track, and it's a standard intro/reminder boast cut, an artform in which both MCs excel (particularly KRS), and it sets the tone. Leave it to this pair to fire the most reasoned analysis of autotune and unoriginal hip-hop, as they do on "Robot," with Buckshot paying tribute to Roger Troutman's vocal manipulations, while KRS-One shouts out to Afrika Bambaataa and Kraftwerk to point out how all rappers owe debts. And from there the album never lets up, as the two intelligent rappers trade riffs with ease, flipping insight on a powerful record by two hip-hop teachers. With old-school legend KRS-One teaming with Boot Camp Clik member Buckshot, you can expect high-caliber rhymes and an anti-sellout attitude, but Survival Skills is a diverse, welcome surprise. The radio-friendly, and more importantly, radio-worthy single "The Way I Live" with Mary J Blige is a slicker package than usual from this revolutionary duo, but the polished production is actually from Black Milk, an underground tastemaker who provides a beat right in line with the ambitious spirit of the album. The guest list is an unexpected mix of Slug, K'naan, Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price, and reggae singer Bounty Killer, while production is ably handled by the likes of Nottz, 9th Wonder, Ill Mind, and Mobb Deep's Havoc. It's Havoc who outshines them all on the key cut "Robot," an anti-Auto-Tune track with a massive hook and KRS shaking the stick at the younger generation with the usual disgust ("Go online, look up Kraftwerk/Everything you doin' is past work/We already wore that hat, those pants, and that shirt"). Buckshot is hardly a household name and KRS-One's post-2000 discography is alienating with too many releases, but casual fans of more literate hip-hop should check Survival Skills since it's easily accessible and rewarding at the same time. Loyal hip-hop heads with a taste for the old-school boom-bap shouldn't think twice and won't be disappointed. ~ David Jeffries

Spin (p.80) - "Thankfully, their oratorical skills remain undiminished." CMJ - "KRS-One's charismatic from-the-diaphragm boom sits congruently alongside Buckshot's creamy yet no less commanding flow..." XXL (Magazine Publisher) (p.126) - "The duo's chemistry is apparent on the anti-Auto-Tune single `Robot,' as Buck's laid-back delivery offsets KRS' booming timbre over a straightforward beat from Mobb Deep's Havoc."

Kris "KRS-One" Parker was the driving force behind the group Boogie Down Productions, purveyors of a politically conscious rap style dubbed Edutainment. KRS-One, which stands for Knowledge Reigns Supreme, began his solo career with 1993's RETURN OF THE BOOM BAP, and devoted himself to defining, promoting, and preserving the true spirit of hip-hop. (The Blastmaster even went so far as to start the Zulu Nation-esque Temple of Hip-Hop Kulture in the late 1990s.) Though controversial, and occasionally inconsistent in his politics, KRS-One remains one of the most respected and sought-after MCs ever.

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