D-Nice Breaks Down Making of 'Self Destruction'
Producer shares behind-the-scenes stories with KRS, MC Lyte.
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You Must Learn - When the news first broke that artists from the classic 1989 posse cut "Self Destruction" would be reuniting to perform the anti Black-on-Black violence anthem at this Sunday's Centric Celebrates Selma concert to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's historic march in Selma, Ala., it was met with mixture of glee and trepidation. The brainchild of celebrated rhyme giant Kris "KRS-One" Parker, "Self Destruction" came off like the ultimate hip hop dream team boasting some of the genre's most indelible talents of that era (KRS's own Boogie Down Productions crew, MC Lyte, Kool Moe Dee, Public Enemy, and the late Heavy D, were among the rap luminaries). "To me 'Self Destruction' was never about one particular person," recalls Derrick "D-Nice" Jones, former founding member of BDP and the unlikely...
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Boogie Down Productions (KRS-One, Ms. Melodie, and D-Nice) - KRS always, from the time I first met him at the shelter, wrote lyrics that were fueled by knowledge and social consciousness from a street perspective, but not really in a preachy form. But once he went through the violence of that concert at Nassau Coliseum where a fan lost his life, Kris was devoted to making these types of records. I remember being in the label office and I was playing the base of what would become "Self Destruction." We were sitting in a meeting with Ann Carley (legendary Jive Records executive) and Kris was like, 'No...this is what we need to do...we need to make "Self Destruction!'" Kris's verse was the first verse that we recorded. No one else had recorded anything yet, so it was KRS who set the tone for that entire record. At the time when we did "Self Destructio...
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Stetsasonic (MC Delite, Wise, Daddy-O and Frukwan) - Stetsasonic was already involved in making uplifting and conscious music, so it was natural for them to be on a song like "Self Destruction." And Stet brought it... they really brought that energy. I mean how many people can just come on after KRS? But MC Delite really kept that energy going. And Wise and Daddy-O, the whole going back-and-forth rhyme style was crazy. Really everybody kept elevating that song all the way up to Public Enemy. Stetsasonic was so important to that record. Even the stuff that Frukwan was kicking... these guys were really coming with it. Honestly, as a group Stetsasonic was just as important as BDP on "Self Destruction." They had every one of their emcees on that record [laughs].(Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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Kool Moe Dee - With Moe you are talking about one of the greatest lyricists to ever make a hip hop record... period. I remember hearing his "I never had to run from the Klu Klux Klan and I shouldn't have to run from a Black man" line and being blown away. Just understand coming from my perspective. I was 17 going on 18 when we did "Self Destruction." And a lot of what was going on within my generation of hip hop wasn't what Moe Dee and KRS had experienced. I didn't live what they were going through in songs like "The Message." I was listening to Big Daddy Kane. I was still a little kid and sheltered from their experiences. So a lot of what I learned about African-American culture and history came from hip hop. People my age weren't really talking about the Klu Klux Klan back then. Even though I was part of the hip hop scene, I was still a rap fan. ...
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MC Lyte - Lyte was very important to hip hop for multiple reasons. For one, she was one of the first respected female emcees. Really at some point we need to stop just saying female emcees. Lyte was just a great emcee. But back then we didn't have a lot of women that were really coming in kicking it with that type of flow that Lyte was delivering. She held her own coming after KRS, Delite and Kool Moe Dee. But what was really incredible about her verse was that it was fun. Everyone else's verse was so serious, but Lyte comes in with "Funky fresh, dressed to impress, ready to party..." That's how our generation felt! Once you got dressed you headed for the club. You didn't expect to have drama... to get slashed with a razor blade. But we all should give credit to LL Cool J. Seeing LL in the studio with Lyte helping out with her lyrics was incredible to me. And Lyte's de...
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