“Sound of da Police,” KRS-One
Five years after N.W.A. released “F*ck the Police,” the Blastmaster KRS-One dropped another anti-crooked cop song that not only ignited social awareness, but also was a club banger. “Sound of da Police” became an anthem because its raw lyrics painted a reality that far too many people of color, regardless of region, could relate to.
One notices the true brashness of the Billboard charting song from the vocalized siren “woop woop” in the beginning. KRS-One’s voice blends with the Grand Funk Railroad’s “Inside-Looking Out” and Sly & The Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song” samples, and prominently stands out. It conjures the urgent groove of 90s dancehall, while maintaining his own classic boombap style.
“Watch out! We run New York … Police man come, we bust him out the park … I know this for a fact, you don’t like how I act … You claim I’m sellin’ crack … But you be doin’ that … I’d rather say “see ya” … Cause I would never be ya … Be a officer? You wicked overseer! Ya hotshot, want to get props and be a savior … First show a little respect, change your behavior
Change your attitude, change your plan … There could never really be justice on stolen land … Are you really for peace and equality?”
In 2020, Kris Parker still has the same energy that he had back in 1993. He sais, “It’s just every day, f**k the police, straight up. It’s still like that to this very day. July 2020: F*ck the police. When you’re from my hood, from the Bronx, it’s like every day we go get milk, eggs, and fuck the police. We have no respect for that institution at all.”
The Bronx and many other boroughs of New York City have been plagued with crooked cops that either delight in racial profiling or have it so embedded in this psyche that they have no clue that they are doing it. When James Fyfe from John Jay College School of Criminal Justice put out his report Bad Cops: A Study of Career-Ending Misconduct Among New York City Police Officers, he gave a glimpse of the kind of b*lls*t some members of the NYPD be on, giving context to KRS-One’s song.
“Check out the message in a rough style … The real criminals are the C-O-P … You check for undercover and the one PD … But just a mere Black man, them want check me … Them check out me car for it shine like the sun … But them jealous or them vexed cause them can’t afford one … Black people still slaves up til today … But the Black police officer nah see it that way … Him want a salary … Him want it … So he put on a badge and kill people for it … My grandfather had to deal with the cops … My great-grandfather dealt with the cops … My great grandfather had to deal with the cops …
And then my great, great, great, great, when it’s gonna stop?! … Woop-woop! That’s the sound of da police! That’s the sound of the beast!”