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2 album / credit record(s) · Hip-Hop/Hardcore Rap

American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx, New York City, in 1986 by KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock, later joined by D-Nice and producer Lee Smith; the group's name references a nickname for the South Bronx. Their 1987 debut Criminal Minded pioneered the fusion of dancehall reggae and hardcore hip-hop and set the stage for gangsta rap, while their 1987 single "South Bronx" fired the opening shot of hip-hop's "Bridge Wars" with Queensbridge's MC Shan and the Juice Crew. Scott La Rock was shot and killed on August 27, 1987, months after Criminal Minded's release; KRS-One continued the group -- effectively as a solo project from that point on -- pivoting toward the socially conscious "edutainment" sound of By All Means Necessary (1988) and founding the Stop the Violence Movement in La Rock's memory.

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