Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (/ˌkeɪ ɑːr ɛs ˈwʌn/; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone"[1]) and Teacha, is an American rapper from the Bronx.

Growing up, Parker had developed a deep love of the emerging hip-hop culture in New York, and by that time he was honing his craft as an MC, as well as being an active graffiti writer.

"[17] In KRS-One's song, "Outta Here", he reflects on the early days of New York hip-hop, influenced by acts like Run-DMC and Whodini, who he heard on the Awesome Two's radio show on WHBI.

He also claims that his album By All Means Necessary (1988) and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988) were a main influence that set off consciousness in rap.

[12] KRS-One began his recording career as one third of the hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions (BDP) alongside DJ Scott La Rock and Derrick "D-Nice" Jones.

KRS-One was the first emcee to be holding a 9mm on the album cover,[17] and Scott La Rock was killed in a shooting later that year after attempting to mediate a dispute between teenager and BDP member D-Nice and local hoodlums.

Following the fatal shooting of Scott La Rock in 1987, KRS was determined to continue Boogie Down Productions through the tragedy, releasing the album By All Means Necessary in 1988.

However, Boogie Down Productions would remain KRS' show, and the group's content would become increasingly political through the subsequent releases Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop (1989), Edutainment (1990), Live Hardcore Worldwide (1991) and Sex and Violence (1992).

On his first solo album, 1993's Return of the Boom Bap, he worked together with producers DJ Premier, Kid Capri and Showbiz, the latter providing the track "Sound of da Police".

His second album, 1995's KRS-One, featured Channel Live on "Free Mumia", a song in which they criticize civil rights activist C. Delores Tucker among others.

Other prominent guest stars on KRS-One included Mad Lion, Busta Rhymes, Das EFX and Fat Joe.

In 1995, KRS organized a group called Channel Live, whose album Station Identification he produced most of, along with Rheji Burrell and Salaam Remi.

The album's lead single, "Step into a World (Rapture's Delight)", containing an interpolation of punk and new wave group Blondie, was accompanied by a remix featuring commercial rap icon Puff Daddy; another track was essentially a rock song.

While the record would be his best-selling solo album (reaching number 3 on the Billboard 200), such collaborations with notably mainstream artists and prominent, easily recognizable samples took many fans and observers of the vehemently anti-mainstream KRS-One by surprise.

In 2002, he released a gospel-rap album, Spiritual Minded, surprising many longtime fans; he had once denounced Christianity as a "slavemaster religion" which African-Americans should not follow.

KRS-One has collaborated with other artists including Canadian rap group Hellafactz, Jay-Roc N' Jakebeatz and New York producer Domingo.

[25] In 2009 KRS-One guest-starred on several albums, including Arts & Entertainment on the song "Pass the Mic" by fellow hip-hop veterans Masta Ace and Ed O.G.

KRS-One also featured on the posse cut "Mega Fresh X" by Cormega (alongside DJ Red Alert, Parrish Smith, Grand Puba, and Big Daddy Kane) on his album Born and Raised.

Coming soon after the shooting death of his friend and fellow BDP member Scott La Rock, KRS-One was galvanized into action and formed the Stop the Violence Movement.

Composed of some of the biggest stars in contemporary East Coast hip-hop, the movement released a single, "Self Destruction", in 1989, with all proceeds going to the National Urban League.

Another goal of the Temple of Hip Hop is to finance educational centers which store archives and host lectures devoted to hip-hop culture.

Instead, he advocated for examining history from the standpoint of first causes and origins, allowing for a departure from physical constraints and a focus on ideas rather than tangible matter.

I can approach God directly myself and so I wrote a book called The Gospel of Hip Hop to free from all this nonsense garbage right now.

[46] He criticized then-President Barack Obama on Alex Jones' radio show, stating "[T]hey put a black face on the New World Order and now we all happy.

"[48] In 1994, KRS-One and illustrator Kyle Baker published a 32 page comic book titled Break the Chain about a hero named Big Joe Krash.

The original idea was pitched to KRS-One from Marshall Chess, who wanted an educationally oriented tape and comic book combo.

His comment was criticized by many sources, including the New York Daily News, which called him an "anarchist" and said that "If Osama bin Laden ever buys a rap album, he'll probably start with a CD by KRS-One.

Sony, RCA or BMG, Universal, the radio stations, Clear Channel, Viacom with BET and MTV, those are our oppressors, those are the people that we're trying to overcome in hiphop everyday, this is a daily thing.

Because when they were down at the trade center we were getting hit over the head by cops, told that we can't come in this building, hustled down to the train station because of the way we dressed and talked, and so on, we were racially profiled.

And just as I began to say "now of course a lot of our friends and family were lost there as well" I was interrupted ...In late 2005, KRS was featured alongside Public Enemy's Chuck D on the remix of the song "Bin Laden" by Immortal Technique and DJ Green Lantern, which blames American neo-conservatives, the Reagan Doctrine, and U.S. President George W. Bush for the World Trade Center attacks, and indicates a parallel to the devaluation, destruction, and violence of urban housing project communities.