Mentioning KRS-One in the next century

KRS-One once cut a track with Goldie called “Digital,” in which he said the following:

“I bet they’ll mention me in the next century / KRS-One, innovator in early rap poetry / Simultaneously you will be forgotten / While in the year 2000 Criminal Minded will still be rocking!”

That’s all fine and good, but here’s the thing: “Digital” was released as a single in 1997, and it was featured on Goldie’s Saturnzreturn album the following year. So when KRS-One talks about “the next century,” he’s pretty much just saying “a couple of years from now.”

I mean, I’m sure he meant “a hundred years from now.” Plus, it’s got to be said that even ten years into the “next century,” and twenty-three years after its release, the fact that Criminal Minded is still regarded as a classic is an achievement, and a well-deserved one at that.

Still, I mean… Look, it’s just that when you frame it like that, it doesn’t seem like much to brag about. Third Eye Blind, Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth and Marcy Playground were huge in 1997, and admittedly we’re still “mentioning” them in the next century. But they’re probably not the sort of people that KRS-One would want to consider his peers, you know?

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