Yes, he did! KRS-One even went as far as to make this statement at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2009 show on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The show will not air on VH1 until October 13, but news of KRS-One’s bold statement is causing some controversy today. Sounds like hyperbole to me but this is how it went down.
Apparently The Teacher was asked on the red carpet about Def Jam’s legacy. To which he responded:
“Def Jam is the dopest label in hip-hop, in the culture of hip-hop,” he explained in an interview. “There really would be no hip-hop as we know it today if it wasn’t for Def Jam. But you don’t get that respect without also being the label that single-handedly destroyed hip-hop…Every time you think of what’s wrong with hip-hop, the lyrics, the commercialized music, one artist being played on the radio all day, things like that, that’s all Def Jam…We respect it. It’s a respect cause we all competing, so Def Jam had the hardest competition, but the hardest competition as I showed the respect, I also showed the truth. And the truth is everybody else had to sit down so Def Jam could be who they are.” (XXL)
Listen to the full audio…
KRS One Says Def Jam Destroyed Hip Hop
KRS-One also has some thoughts about The New World Order & The Obama Deception
