“Rap is something we do, and Hip-Hop is something that we live”; one of the true great quotes spoken from the mouth of “The Teacha,” KRS-One. His history is one that doesn’t need to be repeated, and for those that don’t have the slightest idea on whom he is, then obviously Hip-Hop isn’t for you.

During Memorial Day Weekend in New York City, he graced a huge crowd of diehard fans with his presence; displaying his MC’ing capability while dropping gems for all to take home and think deeply about. As the venue continued to fill up with countless fans both young and old, the DJ providing the listening pleasure for the people started his set with an old school tribute to honor the legendary MC.

Classic songs by artists like UTFO, Slick Rick, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Kool Moe Dee, and others filled the air. Even though some of the people in attendance probably weren’t born during that era to fully appreciate the magnitude of that material, they still paid their respects asking the elder fans about the history. After the DJ’s old school set was over, he got on the microphone and said he played that just to make KRS-One feel more at home before he hit the stage, and then he went into a set of 90’s Hip-Hop.At that point, you could see everyone joining in more as both age groups could now relate to the music that was being played.

Right before he was done spinning those hits from yester-yea r, he ended his set by showing off some true DJ skills as if he was in a competition. The applause barely went down, due to the fact of Hakim from Channel Live serving as the opening act. The one half of the duo brandished the same exact skills that made songs like ‘Sex For The Sport’ and ‘Mad Izm’ hits back in the mid-90’s. But now he was doing it on his own, and with new material. Afterwards, he gave KRS-One an introduction he was worthy of, and the lyrical giant dressed in a black and white rasta hat, black t-shirt, black and white Nike Flight Track Jacket, and yellow and white Air Force Ones wasted no time running up to the stage accompanied by Craig G and Sadat X.

The trio jumped right into it, bouncing verses off each other like the veterans they are. After the two exited, KRS told the DJ to play whatever beat he desired, and when a track was chosen, The Blast Master went off the top with authentic freestyles pointing out everyone in the crowd and rhyming to them. During a brief rest period, he jokingly said, “My name is KRS-One, but I’m sure a lot of you people haven’t heard me.” From there, he went into his many lectures about the culture, society, and African-Americans as whole followed by songs like, ‘The Bridge Is Over,’ ‘Sound Of Da Police,’ ‘Black Cop,’ ‘Outta Here,’  ‘Love’s Gonna Get ‘Cha,’ ‘My Philosophy,’ ‘MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know,’ Step Into A World (Rapture’s Delight),’ ‘Rappaz R.N. Dainja,’ ‘South Bronx,’ and his verse off ‘Classic’ featuring Rakim, Kanye West, and Nas.

Then, Hip-Hop icon Busy Bee joined KRS-One on stage along with Jam Master Jay’s brother. The Philosopher handed a microphone to Busy Bee so he could run through his own catalog, and when he was done, Busy Bee thanked the crowd for allowing him to rock; and KRS-One resumed the microphone duties talking the people about life lessons and how he came from nowhere to basically teaching Harvard students.

After the crowd soaked up his words of wisdom, he ended the show with another impromptu 45-minute freestyle session stating, “We can be here until 5 O’clock in the morning!” From there he dropped just a little bit more of his food for thought and told the whole crowd that whoever was filming or taking pictures of the show that they could sell the footage if they pleased because all of his material is public domain. Continuing to show why he’s one of the coolest people in the galaxy, he graciously walked off stage, greeted all of his fans in the audience, and posed for an endless amount of pictures with each and every single last one of them.