Nearly thirty years ago, The Buggles proclaimed that “video killed the radio star”. Now, Nas seems to think that radio killed hip hop. Did either of these things die? It’s 2007 and ironically, the only thing this author can remember killing a radio star… is hip-hop (and Rutgers women’s basketball). It seems to have come back from the dead to help murder Don Imus’s career.

Despite the impact that this ridiculous metaphor of music mortality seems to have had on the community, it is mostly harmless. It’s only scary because of the way it makes the fall of hip hop sound irreversible and complete. Perhaps this talk of death is just an example of constant redefinition - a cyclic rebirth. That’s the angle that legendary emcee KRS-One has taken. Before he and Marley Marl recorded this year’s cooperative LP, they did a Nas tribute track. On it, KRS praises the Queensbridge product and takes the opportunity to address his controversial proclamation, “Hip hop is dead, I know whatchu mean/ I’ve seen hip hop die about five times already/ But yet we still rock steady.”

This wasn’t the end of his reference to Hip Hop is Dead, though - the name of Marley and KRS’s record? Hip Hop Lives of course. And whether or not it is a response to Nas, HHL’s hype is still carried by a gimmick. Remember the days when these two guys were bitter rivals, belonging to the crews that spawned the music industry’s original beef? . Fans of early hip hop could never imagine this collaboration, but Marley and KRS are still alive… and even musicians can’t hold a grudge this long. Yes, they are working together now, and they’re out to prove to the undead hip hop world (that is, those who are paying attention) that beef really isn’t all that serious. The result is a solid piece of work that hopefully will grab the attention of HHID followers and anyone who understands the brilliance of the “Bridge Wars.”

Whatever your reasons are for listening, HHL’s content will probably catch you by surprise. After an authoritative intro skit in which hip hop’s eulogy is interrupted by some sort of monster approaching from the mountains (“It’s alive!!”), KRS plunges into the title track, reinforcing the genre’s capability for revival. As Marley mixes what seems to be the voice of hip-hop (“I come back”…“every year I get newer”), KRS dares to etymologically and chemically define the culture. He still possesses the confident and powerful delivery that made his contribution to early hip-hop and its first diss tracks so legendary. When he uses words like ‘eternal’ and ‘forever’, you can’t help but believe.

But will today’s emcees believe? Well, if they’ll pay attention, KRS-One (aka “The Teacha”) and Marley Marl have plenty to say to them. The album’s most compelling message comes on “Nothing New”. Before KRS tears into the business’s unoriginal ‘punk-ass rappers’, Marley borrows from our 35th president. “They got the wrong idea,” he tells KRS, “…cats coming into it like ‘Yo what could the industry do for me?’ No… what could you bring to the industry?”

This isn’t the only obscure parallel “Hip Hop Lives” can draw to John F. Kennedy. If his murder is the most famous unsolved killing in American history, the second is probably that of a rapper. And there are plenty to choose from. KRS provides the grim list; touching on the death of Scott La Rock, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay among others on “Kill a Rapper”: “You want to get away with murder?/ Kill a rapper/ …Tupac’s an open case/ Even though he was killed in an open place/ There’s really no haste.” Where he could blame investigators for the lack of progress, KRS reminds us that the problem begins with the glorification of these deceased artists. He knows that these crimes are often unresolved because of tight-lipped witnesses and informants. KRS calls out the community as responsible: “When it comes to sin/ All hip hoppers are next to kin.”

This sort of golden age wisdom is expressed all over HHL. In addition to his attack on violence, KRS takes a shot at bling, as well as misogyny. His approach appears to be anti-rap… but he’s passionate about it being real hip hop. Although this passion never compels KRS to claim his rise to the top was ‘uphill both ways’ some rhymes might tend to come off like your grandpa’s exaggerated stories. They’re better though - the tales he tells on “Rising to the Top” and “I Was There” are so important to hip hop that they can’t help but be interesting.

Even more interesting is they way Hip Hop Lives understands the past. KRS even goes so far as to give his former enemies their due. “So I don’t forget it/ To Marley and Shan I am indebted/ For the start of my career/ These guys can take credit.” If only today’s most promising emcees had this kind of prospective. Too bad “The Teacha” can’t teach experience.

by Brian Meredith

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