KRS-One

This historic collaboration comes on the 20th anniversary of the rap battle between KRS-One's Boogie Down Productions and Marly Marl's Juice Crew. The title offers a rejoinder to Nas' declaration last year that hip-hop was dead, and KRS spends much of the CD espousing the power of hip-hop culture and lauding his place in it. But the real revelation here is Marly Marl's production, which points to his mid- to late-'80s breakbeat mastery while updating it for this millennium. "The Teachers Back" and "The Victory" stand out, but nearly every track bangs. This may be KRS' best CD in a decade.