Two Hip-Hop Vets Teach Survival Skills

Survival Skills, the latest album by hip-hop pioneer and activist KRS-One and Duck Down Records founder Buckshot, hits shelves September 15. The record is the product of two of hip-hop culture's most respected elder statesmen.

When KRS-One released Criminal Minded -- the ground-breaking record he forged with Boogie Down Productions -– Drake was less than a year old.

In a musical genre that fetishizes novelty as much as rap does, the questions fans will be asking about Survival Skills are pretty predictable: Is "The Teacha," a.k.a. "The Philosopher," a.k.a. "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone," still rocking the mic like he used to? And is Buckshot still speaking his smooth flow softly but carrying a big gat, like an ill Teddy Roosevelt? Are either of these old-school artists still relevant? Can they really compete with the gimmicks of the Auto-Tune generation?

Listeners who still prize lyricism will find that both MCs continue to spit better than most of the young guns on the radio. KRS-One proves that spreading the tenets of "peace, love, unity and having fun" through his Temple of Hiphop and Stop the Violence campaign hasn't diminished his one-two punch declarations. In the single, "ROBOT," he rhymes, "But we're really here to talk about all the copies/ 'Cause when it comes to hip-hop we the orthodoxy."

Buckshot's raps are still punctuated by plenty of gunfire, but this time around he feels a little less like Scarface and a little more like Huey Newton. In "Murder 1," Buckshot raps, "I do prefer to stop the violence/ But if you stop my progress I'm gonna stop the silence." But it isn't a coincidence that KRS-One is pulling up Buckshot on the cover. The best lines -- the ones you'll be repeating to your friends after the song is over -- tend to come from the studious Bronx MC.

The subject matter of most tracks revolves around the sort of topics KRS-One fans have come to expect. Tunes like "The Way I Live," "Think of All the Things," and "Running Away" are about issues like providing for a family in tough economic times and government corruption. And, of course, bragging about how these two rappers are so much better than all of the wack MCs out there.

Both KRS-One and Buckshot may have preserved their familiar identities, but that doesn't mean they aren't adapting to the times, too. Their album reflects the collaboration-heavy climate of modern pop music with a staggering list of high-profile guest artists, including Mary J. Blige, Geo of Blue Scholars, Havoc of Mobb Deep, K'naan, Black Milk, Immortal Technique, Talib Kweli and Bounty Killer.

Gone are the days when KRS-One and Buckshot may have trashed each other's hoods in the process of "repping" South Bronx and Brooklyn. These artists, like hip-hop itself, have developed the Survival Skills to transcend continents, to say nothing of boroughs.

(see video below)

Geoffrey Dobbins is a Nathan Cummings Arts and Culture Journalism Fellow at WireTap. He's been a contributor for Cincinnati Magazine, The News Record, The Cincinnati Herald and The Root.