This is released as a KRS-One album, but it’s more like a mixtape to promote his new European Tour. The concept is established from the very start; “Welcome to the Temple Of Hip Hop 2025 Global Awareness Tour,” he says, which limits the set to not only a specific purpose but a specific date range.

The songs are what fans have come to expect; raw raps over boom-bap beats; but he should’ve saved the best ones for a proper release. The Tribute interludes, on which his industry peers praise him in the past tense as if he’s retired or dead, are reminiscent of the ones from the 1995 KRS-One album.

my rating : 3 of 5

2025

This beat, perhaps the best KRS-One’s ever rapped to, should’ve been put aside for a different artist. It’s a marvelous reggae loop that would’ve been perfect for, say, a Jamal-Ski song for Jamaican girls to shake their butts to. KRS-One is too obsessed with his skills as an MC to allow such mindless fun.

To be clear, it is a good song. Not just for the beat but also KRS-One’s vocal delivery and flow, which goes nicely with it. It’s the concept; a very unnecessary sequel to Breath Control; it would be better without. Even worse is how he dates it by mentioning the year during the “dope style” introduction.

my rating : 4 of 5

1990