Between Nas, Rakim and Ghostface Killah, KRS-One has been my favorite emcee for years and his catalouge is definitey no laughing matter. While some of his post 2000 albums have been hit or miss, featuring both wack discs and terrific music, I still always check for Kris' new music either way, and although maybe the majority of his ouput lately has been quite so-so there's also albums such as "Survival Skills", "Kristyles" (the original version) and "Meta-Historical" are all excellent joints proving Kris is still a lyrical beast. Therefore I was quite stunned that Kris One actually released a full-length album in the summer of 2013. Physical copies "Never Forget" was sold exclusively directly by KRS-One during his US and European Tour last year, which explains the very little promotion it received. Since Kris is one of the few of my favorite artists I have yet to see in a live settng (M.O.P. being the otherr), this one flew right over my head until just a couple of weeks ago and I figure that if I missed it, I'm probably not the only one.
Remember back some time ago when KRS released a few singles produced by long-time collaborator Mad Lion which was supposed to drop in 2012 under the title "Just Like That". That album obviously never came to fruition but considering that this new album includes some of those songs (such as "Disaster Kit") I have a feeling that much of those recordings instead ended up on this. While "Never Forget" is far from Kris finet hour, it has its fair share of dope beats, edutainmment lyrics, and 13 cuts of Knowledge Reigns Supreme. Hopefully fans will be able to purchase the project in either stores or digital soon enough, but until then KRS has only uploaded 3 songs (with a bonus track for purchasers) via Bandcamp. Luckily enough we heads are able to hear the entire album through an upload to YouTube by user Shokdreamz who copped the album at one of the show dates of last years KRS-One tour, and he was kind enough to share the album on YouTube for our listening pleasure. Much thanks and props goes out to Shokdreamz for making it possible for heads to hear this gem in full.
"Never Forget" features typical socio-political, afrocentric and edutotational lyrical lectures by Knowledge Reigns Supreme over often strong beats provided mostly by Mad Lion, but also by KRS-One himself, Freddie Foxxx, Rick D., and Kwamé. It follows other recent albums ("Godsville", "Meta-Historical") by the BDP pioneer in that it clocks in at just over 30 minutes and features several intermissions - making it something between an EP and an album. Mini album is the term I would like to use in these cases. Fill this out with some of the other Mad Lion produced singles from 2012 like "AzTechnical", "Just Like That" and "We Must Become One" and you got a pretty damn fine album. As it stands now it's far from KRS's finest album, even in recent years, but as always with The Blastmaster it's well worth a listen or two so check it out below - and if you want to support you can purchase a four track EP from the embeded official Bandcamp page uptop.
01. "It Appears" [prod. by Essence & Rick D.]
02. "Transition #1"
03. "Nina" [prod. by KRS-One]
04. "They Are Taking Your Time" [prod. by Kwame]
05. "Disaster Kit" [prod. Mad Lion]
06. "Transition #2"
07. "Get Your Mind Right" [prod. Freddie Foxxx]
08. "Transition #3"
09. "The System Gotcha" [prod. Mad Lion]
10. "Transition #4"
11. "Never Forget" [prod. Mad Lion]
12. "Are You Looking At This?" [prod. Mad Lion]
13. "The Invaders" [prod. Mad Lion]
01. "It Appears" [prod. by Essence & Rick D.]
02. "Transition #1"
03. "Nina" [prod. by KRS-One]
04. "They Are Taking Your Time" [prod. by Kwame]
05. "Disaster Kit" [prod. Mad Lion]
06. "Transition #2"
07. "Get Your Mind Right" [prod. Freddie Foxxx]
08. "Transition #3"
09. "The System Gotcha" [prod. Mad Lion]
10. "Transition #4"
11. "Never Forget" [prod. Mad Lion]
12. "Are You Looking At This?" [prod. Mad Lion]
13. "The Invaders" [prod. Mad Lion]
