“Return Of The Boom Bap means just that,” KRS-One explains, “It means return of the real hard beats and real rap.” It’s the word “Return” that confuses me because KRS-One, whose albums should’ve always been credited under that name, never fell off. His albums have been on-point at least since The Blueprint. Maybe he’s saying that rap music in general has fallen off. If that’s the case, this album brings it back.

The verses are about as Edutaining as always. The beats, some of which are produced by DJ Premier, stay true to the concept. Despite KRS-One using headphones as a mic on the cover photo, the album’s mixing and mastering sounds slicker and smoother than usual. Other than that, it’s not much different than the other albums. He’s still a rapper with a thing for reggae who’s main objection is to uplift the black race.

A Brown Skin Woman, as far as he’s concerned, is a queen, not a ho, though he refers to one as such just two songs later. He compares Da Police to the overseers of slave plantations and when he addresses white kids, on a beat-box narrative about teen peer pressure, he does so with a hint of animosity. He puts them in the cynical scenario of ganging-up to bully an innocent youth. “And yes, that youth is black.”

There has long been a fine line between being pro-black and being anti-white. Other rappers have certainly crossed that line, but, though he comes close, I don’t think KRS-One has reached that point. Even if he has, that doesn’t take anything away from his skills as an MC and overall rap artist. He’s not quite as skilled as he thinks he is, but he’s the real deal. He’s a hip-hop purist if there ever was such a thing.

my rating : 4 of 5

1993