What can be said about KRS-One that hasn’t already been said over the last 20 years? Not much. What should be noted however is that after two decades in the game The Teacha is still kickin’ knowledge and reigning supreme in the eyes of nearly everyone who’s ever heard Kris Parker speak.

Now on the heels of his most recent release, the critically acclaimed Hip Hop Lives (recorded with foe-turned-friend Marley Marl), The Blastmaster is fresh for 2008 with a slew of new projects. First up is the January 22nd release of his 12th solo album, Adventures In Emceein'. Following that release will likely be his debut on Duck Down Records. And if that isn’t enough KRS for you, the self-proclaimed living embodiment of Hip Hop will be blessing our ears with two additional, slightly experimental albums: an R&B-tinged spiritual Hip Hop record, and a acoustic guitar-driven spoken-word album.

HipHopDX.com recently spoke with KRS-One about all of the aforementioned releases, as well as his recent Grammy nomination, his desire to have Cuba Gooding play him on the big screen, the rebirth of his Stop The Violence Movement, and finally his plans to take over BET this coming Spring.

HipHopDX: Now that you’re on Duck Down you’re not gonna start smoking bidis and wearing fatigues all the time, are you?
KRS-One: Well… Buckshot and I decided to do an album together. And in the midst of doing an album together, this is what we are calling I guess KRS-One signing or getting down with Duck Down. [It’s] sort of a boost to them as well to have KRS part of their roster of artists. And I don’t mind it either. Throughout my career, I’ve been down with several crews: Terror Squad all the way, Diggin’ In The Crates all the way, obviously Boogie Down Productions. But Duck Down is just another crew that I’m actually loyal too. So, will I be smoking bidis [Laughs]? No. I will be KRS. In fact, I would hope to add the KRS flavor to what they already have going on there.

DX: So just for clarification, you’re not officially signed as a solo artist to Duck Down?
KRS: No, I’m not officially signed. But, I would word that very poetically because I know what they’re trying to do with that kind of promotion, and I don’t wanna go against that.

DX: Is this project gonna be a straight KRS solo project, or the Buckshot/KRS joint project you were talking about?
KRS: It’s a Duck Down project, it really is. I’m coming into their camp. This is me coming to them to produce something that could not normally be produced otherwise. Plus, we also wanna try to start a trend…What Buckshot and I were talking about was starting that trend that artists [work together]. A lot of us know each other, and hang out even, why not do collaborations that are unheard of, or I should say Hip Hop’s what if’s? We always wanted to hear a [Big Daddy] Kane and Rakim duet album. It may serve them to do that.

I think that rap music is in need of this kind of freshness. So this is what draws me to the table to be able to work with Buckshot. I think he’s an emcee in every sense of the word. He loves the art. Money has not swayed him one way left or right. He rips parties down crazy. And his tracks is…I mean, Beatminerz…I mean, the whole Duck Down house really is just something that lends itself to KRS-One. It’s very easy for me to do this.

DX: Well just for additional clarification, you don’t have a distinct gameplan as of yet for the album?
KRS: No. You’re actually talking to me at the very, very beginning of this project. So no, we don’t have anything planned [as of yet]. But I tell you though, with Nas coming with Nigger, we gonna come up with a title that’s crazy!

DX: Diamond D is on Duck Down now too, can we look forward to you guys working together again?
KRS: Absolutely. I shouted Diamond D out at the BET Hip Hop Awards. He was sitting right there and caught my eye. I was like, “Word up! What’s up with Diamond D!”

DX: You guys haven’t worked together since the self-titled album, right?
KRS: Right. I mean, I’ve done some work on compilation albums that he was part of. Like you know, three emcees on a track, and I spit 16, and it happened to be a Diamond D track. But nothing like we did with the KRS-One album, and/or even previous work that I’ve done with him that really never came out I don’t think, or came out on mixtapes and stuff like that. But we never really, really got down the way we were supposed to.

DX: Just out of curiousity, while we’re speaking on Duck Down, “Duck Down” off Sex And Violence, did Buckshot ever tell you if that was the inspiration for the label name?
KRS: You know what, I don’t remember him ever saying that but I kinda think it [was]. Knowing Buckshot, knowing where we came from, the early days and all of that, yeah, I kinda felt it [was] in the back of my head. Continued on page 2 »