Instrumental Players in the Making of 'Self Destruction'

The creators of hip hop's call to stop the violence.

The Making of 'Self Destruction' - Some of the power players in rap on the East Coast came together in 1989 to record a protest song against Black-on-Black crime called “Self Destruction,” orchestrated by KRS-One after a fan was killed at one of his shows. Artists like Public Enemy and MC Lyte were among the voices to spread love and unity on one monstrous track. Read on to honor this hip hop classic and take a look at the MCs and producers who brought it to life.— Michael Harris (@IceblueVA)(Photos from left: PYMCA/UIG via Getty Images, Jive Records, Joseph Okpako/Redferns via Getty Images)
D-Nice - B.D.P.'s  DJ D-Nice is known for being nice on the 1s and 2s, but the turntabilist can wreck a mic as well. Pulling double duties on the "put down the guns cut," D-Nice was the lead producer and he delivered a message that needs to be revisited today. "It's time to stand together in a unity/ 'Cause if not then we're soon to be/ Self-destroyed, unemployed/ The rap race will be lost without a trace/ Or a clue."(Photo: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)
Ms. Melodie - The first lady of Boogie Down Productions came with heat from the crew that was known to birth conscious spitters. Ms. Melodie's lyrics were a reminder that hip hop wasn't meant to glorify the streets but to uplift Black people. "The violence in rap must cease and settle/ If we want to develop and grow to another level/ We can't be guinea pigs for the devil," she rhymed. (Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images) Stetsasonic (Delite, Daddy-O, Wise, and Frukwan) - Stetsasonic has a storied hip hop history that includes being the first hip hop band long before the Roots. Daddy-O, Wise, and Frukwan all kicked lyrics for this cut, with Delite pointing out that even back then hip hop was wrongfully being blamed for all of society's ills: "Pop pop pop/ One is shot, who's to blame?/ Headlines, front page, and rap's the name/ MC Delight here to state the bottom line/ That Black-on-Black crime was way before our time." (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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The Making of 'Self Destruction' - Some of the power players in rap on the East Coast came together in 1989 to record a protest song against Black-on-Black crime called “Self Destruction,” orchestrated by KRS-One after a fan was killed at one of his shows. Artists like Public Enemy and MC Lyte were among the voices to spread love and unity on one monstrous track. Read on to honor this hip hop classic and take a look at the MCs and producers who brought it to life.— Michael Harris (@IceblueVA)(Photos from left: PYMCA/UIG via Getty Images, Jive Records, Joseph Okpako/Redferns via Getty Images)

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