Record Label: Koch Records
Article by: Serge Fleury
The album starts off with ‘Beware.’ Over a piano loop that sounds similar to the one used in ‘Homecoming’ by Kanye West featuring Chris Martin of Coldplay, KRS incorporates his Jamaican dialect for the hook, and drops lines like, “Man you smarter than that, going to prison is whack/even the people in prison know I’m spittin’ the facts/I’m getting’ opened, open the class up/don’t smoke crack it’ll tear yo ass up.” The majority of the album is produced by Duane “Darock” Ramos, and one of his top creations comes on ‘All My Men.’ The Blastmaster keeps his West Indian vibe going, as he is backed by the quirky but solid sounding production. ‘Straight Through’ includes a sped-up voice sample that makes the singer who was sampled sound like a chipmunk (reminiscent of the Heatmakerz), and The Philosopher rides the fast-tuned production with lines like, “I can’t leave my B-Boys alone/I can’t leave my B-Girls alone/lets turn this house right into a home/come on y’all, lets get into the zone.” ‘New York’ contains elements of Tevin Campbell’s ‘Can We Talk’ for the sake of the hook, (performed by Sheena Playa) as KRS-One gives a tribute to the city that never sleeps. ‘Hip-Hop’ is one of more noticeable songs on the album where KRS-One gives shout-outs to numerous rappers while still being mindful with material like, “We bigger than crack, but we keep buying it/we bigger than rap, but we keep denying it/justice, equality, we keep crying it/but the only way to get it is to start applying it.” The remainder of the album is filled with honest material that any true Hip-Hop fan can appreciate, and Busy Bee also makes his way onto the CD for a 15-second homage to the legendary MC. Songs like ‘Nah,’ ‘Let Me Know’ and ‘The Heat’ are firm contributions as well. Maximum Strength 2008 won’t break any records when it comes to digital downloads, iTune sales, or cracking the number one spot on the Billboard Charts, but the people that value true Hip-Hop from one of the game’s innovators will enjoy the project just the same. 
Some MC’s need no introduction, because their body of work does the talking for them, and KRS-One happens to one of those few MC’s. His career spans well over 20 years, followed by endless classics, and tons of respect from every artist in the industry. In 2008, he’s back with his 14th album titled Maximum Strength 2008. The 12-track offering is filled with nothing but the social views, conscious thoughts, and the purification of Hip-Hop that everyone is used to hearing from “The Teacha.”