FRIDAY, DEC. 7

Some friends and I were talking about who we thought were the greatest lyricists of all time. The obvious names got thrown out—Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen—but then we got into an argument about whether you could include MCs in the group or if they deserved a whole different category. My stance is that MCs can be placed firmly next to anybody writing lyrics of any kind and there are definitely two that would make it my top ten: Rakim and KRS-One. As part of Boogie Down Productions, South Bronx-based KRS not only pioneered but dropped some of the best rhymes of black consciousness ever committed to wax and had a major battle with Queens-based Marley Marl over which borough originated hip hop. He also influenced both the positive hip-hop and gangsta-rap movements that followed. As a group, Boogie Down’s Criminal Minded, By All Means Necessary and Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop stand today as some of the most heralded hip hop records of all time. The fact that KRS’ intelligent and conscious rhymes had such an impact on me, a non-African American kid growing up in Orange County, is proof positive that lyrics of any kind can make a huge impact. Thankfully, he still stands as one of the most respected social critics in hip-hop today and is still working on politically charged rhymes that will only cement his legacy. (ATR)

SEAN HEALY PRESENTS KRS-ONE AT THE RHYTHM LOUNGE, 245 PINE AVE., LONG BEACH. 8 PM / $18 / 21+. WWW.WEBOOKBANDS.COM.