Kris Kross

I know Kris Kross as the two kids who wore their clothes backwards. I was an adult when Kris Kross hit the scene and didn’t know much at all about them until researching for this blog. The one thing I do remember that stands out is their clothes being backwards. I remember thinking at the time that it was such an odd gimmick, but I guess it worked since that’s the only thing I remember.

The boys were discovered in a shopping mall in Atlanta in 1991. Do we even have shopping malls anymore? I know everything is closed down right now because of the Coronavirus, but I can’t remember the last time I was at one of those big shopping malls. Mmm…. Anyway, the person who discovered the boys was record producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri. Dupri was just 19 when he discovered the boys. Some of you may remember him as Janet Jackson’s man for a lot of the early 2000’s. He has worked with Mariah Carey, Usher, Alicia Keys, TLC, and a lot more. He’s a happening dude.

The Beginning….

The two boys who made up Kris Kross were Chris Kelly and Chris Smith. They had the stage names Daddy Mac and Mac Daddy. Yikes! Everything is so crisscrossed! Oh….I get it now. The boys met in Atlanta in the 1st grade. Sweet. They were only 13 when Jermaine Dupri discovered them doing their thing in a shopping mall.

Dupri got them signed with a record label and soon after they released their debut album, Totally Krossed Out. The album was a hit and their single Jump topped the charts. It stayed at number one for eight weeks which was a record at that time for a rap song. Hey, man. I remember Rapper’s Delight by the Sugarhill Gang from when I was a kid (think I still have the record). I guess it wasn’t like number one for eight weeks or anything, but…..

Totally Krossed Out was successful in pretty much every way possible. The first single (Jump) topped the charts, their second single (Warm It Up) also did quite well, the music video was number one, and the album reached multi-platinum status. Kris Kross got to open for Michael Jackson on his Dangerous tour, they were in one of his videos, they were in a TLC video, and more. Kris Kross was huge! Way to go, boys. Sadly, it was all downhill from here.

…..of the End

The sophomore album, Da Bomb, was released in 1993 as the boys, now 15, were well into puberty. No longer were they the cute little kids who could rap. They were on their way to becoming men and they struggled finding their new audience. Da Bomb wasn’t necessarily a bomb (see what I did there?) and was certified Platinum, but the boys never reached the heights of their debut album.

Young, Rich, and Dangerous came out in 1996. The cute young 13-year-old boys were now pushing 20. This third album was certified gold but this was pretty much the end for Kris Kross.

Chris Kelly, one half of Kris Kross, died in 2013 of a drug overdose. He was 34 years old.

In honor of some pretty cool little kids who wore their pants backwards, put on some Jump today.  I’m outta here.

Check out my Kris Kross collection in my eBay store!