A Retrospective

KRS-One has been a hip-hop fixture almost since the genre\'s inception. He\'s both a product and a progenitor of the culture he loves, and in every stage of its history he has gleefully juggled the roles of booster, antagonist, and innovator. *A Retrospective* covers the first 10 years of his career, from 1986 to 1996, a period of such rapid creative advancement that one can actually watch hip-hop grow up over the course of these 16 songs. “South Bronx” is as emblematic of 1986 as “My Philosophy” is of 1988 and “Sound of Da Police” is of 1993. Every time rap music changed, KRS was ready with a new classic to mark the occasion.

While his phrasing may seem badly outdated and his beats perhaps tame by today's standards, KRS-One and the late DJ Scott La Rock were a head of their time with tracks as diverse as "My Philosophy," a track critical of then current hip-hop culture, and "Sound of Da Police," which pointed the direction West Coast rap in particular would take over the next few years.