Customer Reviews

Sex and Violence

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've attempted to write this review before but it would not post due to it's length, so I'll attempt to be brief, (notice I said attempt). Why would I run out of space writting about a seldom heralded little known BDP album?

Well, first being that I consider this album to be perfect. And I mean perfect in every sense of the word. Sex and Violence is my all time favorite album and I ain't scared to admit it...

But first, let's set the historical context. The Blastmaster was at a very strange time in his life when he made this album. He had just divorced his wife Ms. Melodee. He had split up from the majority of the BDP crew (hence the harsh liner notes for anyone but Kenny Parker and Ill Will to "Stop Frontin'"). He'd been subliminally dissed by X-Clan, (RIP Professor X), Wise Intelligent from Poor Righteous Teachers, and Prince Be of P.M. Dawn. Maybe even a little subliminally by Ice Cube and NWA, (although that one's gotta be read into really deeply). Hell, even D-Nice was talking bad about Kris in the Source. The Heal project had failed. BDP's live album and corresponding video did not move the units that he or his label had desired. Even worse, East Coast Hip Hop seemed to be on a decline, (this album was released prior to Illmatic). What to do? Well, for starters, Krs showed up impromptu at a P.M. Dawn concert and unceremoniously through Prince Be off the stage, ("Damn, Kris IS kinda big"), and then proceeded to rock the house to the tune of "I'm Still Number One". Proof positive KRS was not havin it in '92.

Unfortunately, all of these incidents led to a very confused fan base. Seems everyone had gotten used to KRS' Stop the Violence and Edutainment messages and forgotten Criminal Minded and By All Means Necessary. They also forgot that KRS is still a human being and not some sort of deity. Ultimately, his fan base left him as it has done and will probably continue to do for years to come. The fact that KRS is an artist and will express himself with how he is feeling at the time needs to be recognized. I'm sure ALL Hip Hop fans have felt alienated by KRS albums or ideas at some point (myself included).

Sex and Violence is the culmination of all of KRS frustration. The Blastmaster of old reared his ugly head and spit hard and fast. KRS bludgeons the competition with tracks like...well, everything except "The Real Holy Place" which is a sort of spoken word piece about God being within us all and "Drug Dealer". On the later, KRS brilliantly advises drug dealers of the world to unite and use their money to improve the community. Of course, all anyone heard was that the dealers should "Organize (their) business and open up a school. This was again interpreted by any of his fickle fan base left that KRS wanted to make Drug Dealer High School, (c'mon now, Open your mind and put a book in it!!!).

Other than those two songs, from the intro where KRS plays the role of a DJ dying from lack of vinyl, (a BIG issue back in 92, believe me) to the final grand indictment of the IRS on "Who Are the Pimps?" KRS seems to have no end of material for fueling his fire. For the sudden prevalence and dominance of Gangsta Rap, (and most specifically NWA's Efil4zaggiN album), the fire of the singles "Duck Down" and "We In There" came out punching with lines like "I spit on your #1 hit" and "in jail in a pair of panties you'll look just stunning". For X-Clan and PRT there's "Build and Destroy" where KRS scientifically breaks both crews and his philosphy down with classic lines like "Too many teachers in the class spoil the school/after awhile you've got blabbering f*ckin fools" (ouch!!!). For society at large there's the second single "13 and Good", "Say Gal" and "Poisonous Products". Here Krs edutains the masses about our musical and societal problems with infidelity, morality, vanity... Basically holding up a mirror for us to look at and ask "What the f*ck is wrong with you?"

To explain all this "madness", KRS supplies "Question and Answer". Here KRS breaks down the point of the whole album. In a format similar to "Imma Break It Down" by Eazy-E, KRS interviews himself about various times in his career, his overall message, his own sincerity, and what he's doing to help. Sadly, this track was never a single so no one ever heard KRS explanation and most of the singles fell on what were becoming deaf ears.

Next come the biggest surprises of all. The first is the crazy allout breath control fest of "Like a Throttle". This is the ABSOLUTE BEST exercise in breath distribution ever. I've memorized every line in this album and am amazed to this day how KRS rips this sh*t!!!! The second big surprise comes in the form of a newly invigorated Freddie Foxxx. While Foxxx had appeared earlier on Kool G Rap's Wanted Dead or Alive track "Money In The Bank", it is on tracks "The Original Way" and "Ruff Ruff" where Freddie starts repping the sound that made him the commodity he became a short while later. His LOOOOOOOOOOONG verse on Ruff Ruff is one of his best ever and, if you ever meet me or KRS or Freddie and are so inclined to hear, has a great story behind it.

Finally, the results. After all that, the album didn't sell. In fact, it remains the worst selling BDP album of their carreer. The first album to receive a "Mic" in the source, (they were records before this album was reviewed), received a 4 1/2 rating. The label released 3 singles (all of which have near classic, must have extra tracks). They did three videos. Everything was in place except for the alienated fan base. Maybe they'd all jumped on the West Coast band wagon of Gangsterism and Mysogyny. More likely, they just weren't ready for the new Boom Bap. I figure when the revolution that Nas, Wu-Tang, Boot Camp Clik, and DITC was brought to the table, KRS had to feel like he was slapped. The Teacha and more importantly innovator was ahead of his time again. Pick it up so you can make it your time now.

(Guess that wasn't very brief, huh?)

KRS 1 has always been light years ahead of the rap game, and the Sex and Violence CD is just one more item of proof for that statement. Rappers like Emenem and Rakim have recieved an abundance of well deserved credit for their lyrical witticism. KRS-1, however, takes lyrical wit to another level by using his tounge twisting talent to speak on more complicating issues such as the ethnic history of drug dealers, the hipocrisy of 5% NOI rappers, The IRS as the true pimps of the world and more.
The tragedy of this CD and KRS has nothing to do with KRS's tendency to "preach" but rather with the immaturity and low level gratuities of a rap industry that has gone mainstream. In fact, THIS is exactly what this CD is all about. It may very well be that KRS will sadly go under recognized by an industry that he helped revolutionized. But I believe that will only be temporary. If hip-hop ever grows up and evolves beyond thugs, drugs and adolescent narcisstic content, then it may very well reflect on artists like KRS 1 and give him the props he deserved since his introduction to the rap game.

BDP is a rap group. On this lp there is rap that turns away most who want to hear uninspired songs with just loud bass riffs so their ford escorts and honda civics can rattle as they drive. As far as I am concerned they can "Back their thing" up into a lake with Slim Shady and Dre in the trunk.

On this album, BDP forgoes the Exhibit "skit" type rap album and just drops it with, to quote Q-Tip, " beats that is hard, beats that is funky, beats that get you hooked just like a crack head junky."

And now BDP does that rarest of things - two albums in a row with no reference to hanging out smoking blunts and getting skins from b*tc*es.

Perhaps there wasn't a "single" on this album like Material Love or Criminal Minded. So be it. This album I enjoy more than Edutainment. No disrespect to Edutainment, perhaps BDP's 9th Symphony, but this is rap at its finest. Hard beats and KRS One's intellectual utterly superior lyrics and style.

Give this one a chance before you let a few trifling reviews turn you away from it. You will not regret it.

No way this gets 4 stars! I liked it when I heard it in 1992 and I'm still listening to it!

First of all, for all the dumbasses who took KRS literally on "13 and good", you obviously missed the whole point of the album (which is titled SEX AND VIOLENCE!!), to mock the sexual and violent culture of america.

Anyways, this album has many different sides to it. It starts out on "The original way" on the reggae tip, with him and freddie foxxx spitting over a simple but tight beat. It then goes into the best lyrical battle verse of the album, Duck Down, where he proclaims "theres more wit in one of my turds of sh...". Black Drug Dealer gives a history lesson about illigal business, and can be interpereted in many ways. "Build And Destroy" is mostly about politics, but over a bass heavy beat.

The highlight of the album would have to be "Poisonous Products". Over one of the craziest beats ive listened to that has many layers, KRS drops his best political song on the album. Along with some deep rhymes dealing with Christianity, the bible, and humanity, he still manages to sound incredible.

The rest of the album is good except for "say gal", which doesnt have too much to it.

OVERALL: Lyrics-9 Beats(handled by many people, from Prince Paul to Kenny Parker)-9
Replay Value-10 (there is much to think about from what he says)
TOTAL-9.5 out of 10

Many have dismissed this album failing to give it more than one listen. This is my favorite BDP album. Criminal Minded, the first record, is definetely their greatest and contains some of hip hops greatest tracks ever, but this BDP album gets the most rotation from me (and I have them all!). This album includes some classic production from Prince Paul and some great concepts throughout. This was KRS One at his rawest!. Anyone who was a fan of BDP back then or anyone who considers themself a true hip hop head now should give this classic a few spins and (re)discover for themselves.

SEX AND VIOLENCE, Although commerically his worst selling album of all the BDP albums, lyrically and production wise, is his best as he ridded the rap world of X-Clan, Poor Righteous Teachers and the soft as mallow pie PM Dawn on the singles "We In There" and "Build and Destroy". The 12" single remix of the "We In There" single includes a track on the other side called "Feel The Vibe, Feel the Beat" where he basically massacres that track and ended PM Dawn's and his former homey D-Nice's career.

This had to be the first KRS-ONE lp that I could actually listen to the tracks more than I could just the lyrics. KRS-ONE was going through a lot personally before this album, the divorce from his wife Ms Melodie, the beef with former homie D-Nice, and the fact that east coast rap at that time in 1992 had taken a back seat to West Coast Rap being dominated by NWA, ICECUBE, Ice-T, Too Short, Snoop, D.O.C., Geto Boys, Compton's Most Wanted, DJ Quik. West Coast rap had become the rage and the afro-centric, edutainment rap that the KRS's, the Rakims, the Public Enemy's, the Queen Latifah's, Jungle Brothers and Tribes of the East had continue to build on top of the foundation already laid down, had started to crumble. East Coast rap was being largely ignored by Yo MTV Raps, The Video Jukebox at the time, the two largest video players of rap videos. Unfortunately, this album like a poster said earlier came two years before Illmatic started the resurgence of East Coast rap again but lyrically was one of the better albums hands downs that was released that year. Though, this album will never get the mainstream props that Criminial Minded, By All Means Necessary, Edutainment, Return of the Boom Bap and his self titled, KRS-ONE albums receieved but real hip hop heads know that no MC would have dared come at KRS on any level after this.

If this album was released today, everyone would think it was so new and fresh and diverse. A shame since this album came out in 1992. What does that say about our current hip hop now?

Sex & Violence--

Released in the winter of 1992, this fifth studio album from Boogie Down Productions found its frontman, KRS-One in a state of transition. In his personal life, he was recently divorced from wife and fellow rapper Ms. Melodie, and had been recently sued by a former manager; the `BDP crew' was whittled down to DJ Kenny Parker and sideman Will `Willy D' Broady (in the liner notes a bitter KRS takes the time to point out that others "are not down, so stop frontin'"). West coast-based rap acts were coming into their own as a collective, from Ice Cube to Cypress Hill. The Geto Boys gave a southern face to gangster rap and east coast-based rap had a handful of new faces like Black Sheep and Naughty by Nature. What's more, a trend of infighting began with some of BDP's fellow politically-minded peers like X-Clan and Poor Righteous Teachers, who took to criticizing KRS on records or interviews. KRS-One's response to all of this was not as the pacifist he had gained a rep for being, but to come out with guns blazing, Criminal Minded style. The stark cover art by Robert Williams lets listeners know this will not be the average hip-hop statement. This was perhaps KRS-One's angriest album since his first, taking swipes at various perceived enemies, both internal and external to hip-hop culture.

Throughout the LP there are superb production values by the artists (DJ Kenny Parker & KRS-One), and guest collaborators Prince Paul ("Who are the Pimps?", title track) and Pal Joey ("Duck Down"). "Questions and Answers" takes on hip-hop journalism with a skeptical eye; "Build and Destroy" questions whether Islam-influenced rappers are just bandwagon-hopping; "Say Gal" bashes backstage groupie behavior. "Drug Dealer" admonishes street-level drug merchants to at least try to go legit; appealing to civic-mindedness in drug lords may seem uncouth, but in KRS' worldview, "organize and legitimize your business; remember, everybody else did this." The album's other subversive track is "13 & Good", a tale of a disco club hookup gone terribly wrong: Guy meets girl at nightclub, they go home to be intimate, girl admits to being 13, gets mad, calls her cop father who's apparently on the `down-low'... This predates R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" songs by over 10 years, by the way. The album hearkens back to By All Means Necessary with a spoken-word closer, "The Real Holy Place", where KRS waxes philosophic about contemporary religious trends.

The anger reflected on this album spilled over into real life, as KRS & crew would bum-rush alternative-rap act PM Dawn at a performance and physically remove them from the stage. Album sales were overshadowed by rap's newer superstars (and likely the Soundscan system which wasn't kind to anyone who didn't post big numbers in their first week). As a result, this is arguably the most slept-on release from BDP. A deluxe re-release should include the excellent remix to "We in There" and any other bonus material.

This release shows an attacking KRS-One with blazing and controversial lyrical content. Why this album was so slept on and not noticed is a mystery. This CD is definitely worth picking up and includes very tight beats.

This album has profound subject matter and was majorly slept-on.
Pick this one up, and check the beat, lyrics, and introduction of Freddie Foxxx.