By All Means Necessary is the second studio album by American hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, released on April 12, 1988,[1] by Jive Records.

After the 1987 murder of DJ-producer Scott La Rock, MC KRS-One moved away from the violent themes that dominated Boogie Down Productions's debut album, Criminal Minded, and began writing socially conscious songs using the moniker the Teacher.

[2] Accompanied by minimalist production and hard-hitting drum beats, KRS-One covers social issues that include government and police corruption, safe sex, government involvement in the drug trade, and violence in the hip hop community.

AllMusic critic Steve Huey described the album as a landmark of political hip hop that's unfairly lost in the shadow of Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

[5] Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone praised its social commentary and wrote, "Over irresistible beats provided by his BDP cohorts, KRS delivers the word on the drug trade, AIDS and violence—three forces that threaten to destroy minority communities.