Kris Kross

Kris Kross
Chris Smith and Chris Kelly in 1996
Background information
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1992–1998, 2013
Labels	Ruffhouse/Columbia Records
Associated acts	Da Brat Jermaine Dupri Super Cat Michael Jackson TLC
Members	Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly (deceased)

Kris Kross was an American rap duo of the 1990s, Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith. The duo was best known for their hit 1992 song "Jump", which was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and certified double platinum as a single. Kris Kross was also noted for their fashion style, which consisted of wearing their clothing backwards.

This is the cover art for the album Totally Krossed Out by the artist Kris Kross

Career

Atlanta natives Kelly (August 11, 1978–May 1, 2013) and Smith (born January 10, 1979) were discovered in 1991 by 19-year-old Jermaine Dupri at an Atlanta shopping mall.^[1][2]

Totally Krossed Out

Along with Dupri, they signed a deal with Ruffhouse Records and recorded their debut album Totally Krossed Out (1992). Entirely produced by Dupri, Totally Krossed Out was released March 31 that year and sold four million copies in the U.S. It included the hit single "Jump", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, "becoming the first rap song to have achieved so long a run at the top. No other rap song had led the chart for that length of time."^[3]

The music videos from the album also experienced major success. The video for "Jump", directed by filmmaker Rich Murray, went to No. 1 on MTV and sold over 100,000 copies as a VHS video single. The video for their follow-up single, "Warm It Up", also directed by Murray, won a Billboard video award for "Best New Artist",^{[citation needed]} and got to No. 14 the same year as “Jump”. Writes The New York Daily News' Jim Farber: "Together, that was enough to propel the duo’s debut, 'Totally Krossed Out,' to multi-platinum status."^[3]

Additional media projects, 1992-1998

The duo landed a spot on Michael Jackson's 1992 Dangerous World Tour, as well as a cameo appearance on Jackson's "Jam" music video (1991).^{[citation needed]} Additionally, they made appearances in the music videos for Run-D.M.C.'s "Down with the King" (1993) and TLC's "Hat 2 Da Back" (1992), and they were featured in an episode of A Different World and as the closing musical act on the May 29, 1992 episode of In Living Color.^{[citation needed]}

A video game starring the pair, titled Kris Kross: Make My Video, was released in 1992 on the Sega CD system. It consisted of the player's editing together the group's music videos for a few of their hit songs—using portions of the original music videos, stock footage, and general video animation effects. Players were prompted before each editing session to make sure to have certain footage compiled into the video. The game was released only in the United States to poor sales figures and dismal reviews. It was ranked 18th on Electronic Gaming Monthly's list of the "20 Worst Games of All Time".^[4]

Kris Kross made a cameo appearance in Ted Demme's film Who's the Man? (1993), which starred Ed Lover and Doctor Dré of Yo! MTV Raps fame.^{[citation needed]}

Kris Kross recorded the "Rugrats Rap" for Rugrats and for Nickelodeon; it was released as a single in 1992 on their debut album Totally Krossed Out and released in 1994 as extras on some Nickelodeon VHS tapes, and was finally released on CD in 1998, on The Best of Nicktoons CD. The "Rugrats Rap" made its official radio airplay debut and is available on the Rugrats Chuckie the Brave VHS, Harriet the Spy VHS, The Best of Nicktoons CD (which is a compilation album of theme songs and other material from several Nicktoons that was released by Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. Records in 1998), Rugrats: Decade in Diapers Collectors Edition DVD, and YouTube.^{[citation needed]}

Da Bomb

Their second album, Da Bomb (1993), was certified platinum and spawned the hits "Alright" featuring Super Cat, "I'm Real", and "Da Bomb" featuring Da Brat. Most of their songs had been directed at rivals Da Youngstas, Illegal, and Another Bad Creation.^{[citation needed]}

Young, Rich & Dangerous

A third album, Young, Rich & Dangerous, was released in early 1996 and was certified gold. It spawned the two hits "Tonite's tha Night" and "Live and Die for Hip Hop".^{[citation needed]}

Separation and reunion

The group separated some time after their third album and went on to solo careers. Kris Kross reunited for So So Def's 20th Anniversary concert in 2013.^[5]

Death of Chris Kelly

On May 1, 2013, Chris Kelly was found unresponsive in his Atlanta home. Kelly was pronounced dead around 5 p.m. on the south campus of the Atlanta Medical Center; he was 34 years old.^[6][7][8] The police report documents his mother's statement that "they had brought Kelly home to recover from his drug use and had done this several times in the past." His uncle told police that Kelly "had an extensive history of drug abuse."^[9][10]

On May 2, 2013, Dupri tweeted a "letter to fans," in which he referred to Kelly as "a son I never had." He also praised Kelly as an artist. Numerous other artists and fans publicly acknowledged Kelly's death, some of them citing Kris Kross or Kelly as their inspiration (e.g., Ludacris)^[11] or as an entré into the music industry (e.g., Kandi Burruss).^[12]

Discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

• One Life Entertainment Chris Smith's official website
• Chris Kelly at BlackHistoryDaily.com