The God MC Says Hip Hop Is Very Much Alive

photo: lieve

KRS-One gives a great interview to the Mercury News about what he thinks Nas means by “Hip Hop Is dead,” and he may be the only MC that finally nailed it. He says:

I am hip-hop, and so is he. To say hip-hop is dead is to say we’re dead — we’re no longer relevant; it’s now become a money game; it’s now become more important what model you slept with, male or female.

Of course, hip-hop cannot be dead. His title is poetic. . . . Hip-hop is the name of our culture, the name of our consciousness. . . . The commercialism is dead. That’s what’s dead. People are more interested in hip-hop, the culture. . . . This is the direct effect of the movements that we instigated over the last 20 years — that rap is something we do, hip-hop is something we live.

The only thing that’s dead as noted by the reporter, are the two cell phones batteries that he goes through in the interview. Read the the excerpts here or download the whole discussion.

Bonus: Nah Right has a KRS-One tribute to Nas track.