Totally Krossed Out is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Kris Kross. It was produced and largely written by Jermaine Dupri and Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo and released on March 31, 1992, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. After developing a musical concept for the duo, Dupri and Nicolo spent two years writing and producing the album.
Critical reception
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, the music critic Robert Christgau gave the album an "A−" and praised Dupri for "avoiding BBD's girl-bashing and ABC's kiddie escapism" in his lyrics for the duo. He found the music "ebullient" and suited for Kris Kross' "preadolescent tempos and timbres". "Jump" was voted the third-best single of 1992 in The Village Voices annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Christgau, the poll's creator, named it the best single of the year in his own year-end list and also ranked "Warm It Up" at number four.
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Steve Huey gave the album four out of five stars and said that Dupri "delivers a catchy, pop-friendly batch of tracks that manage to stay pretty consistently engaging (perhaps in part because they are short)".[ AllMusic review]
Commercial performance
Totally Krossed Out was a huge success for the duo, selling over four million copies and reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where it remained for two and six non-consecutive weeks respectively. Four singles were released, including "Jump" and "Warm It Up", both of which reached No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles, and "I Missed the Bus" and "It's a Shame". The album was certified 4× platinum by the RIAA. Music videos were released for the four singles and for "The Way of Rhyme", even though the song was not released as a single.
Track listing All songs written and produced by Jermaine Dupri and Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, except where noted.
"Intro Interview" – 0:51 "Jump" (Jermaine Dupri, Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, The Corporation, Ohio Players, Roy C, Cypress Hill, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin, James Brown, Schoolly D, Naughty by Nature, Herb Rooney) – 3:15 "Lil' Boys in da Hood" – 3:05 "Warm It Up" – 4:08 "The Way of Rhyme" – 2:59 "Party" (Jermaine Dupri, Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, George Clinton, Garry Shider, David Spradley) – 4:02 "We're in da House" – 0:39 "A Real Bad Dream" – 1:58 "It's a Shame" – 3:46 "Can't Stop the Bum Rush" – 2:57 "You Can't Get With This" – 2:24 "I Missed the Bus" – 2:59 "Outro" – 0:43 "Party" (Krossed Mix) – 4:10 "Jump" (Extended Mix) – 5:10
Personnel Credits are adapted from Allmusic.
Glenn Barratt – editing Walt Bass – background vocals Stacey Blackmore – background vocals Tony Dawsey – mastering Curtis Dowd, Jr. – keyboards Jermaine Dupri – arranger, background vocals, electric bass, executive producer, producer, programming Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo – arranger, engineer, drums, electric bass, percussion, producer, programming Seldon "Big Wally" Henderson – keyboards John Hodian – engineer Frank Hogan – background vocals Charlene Holloway – background vocals Paula Holloway – background vocals Dave Johnson – background vocals Kris Kelly – vocals Andy Kravitz – percussion
Kris Kross – vocals Lady G. – background vocals Manuel Lecuona – background vocals Rose Mann – background vocals Joe Nicolo – engineer, executive producer, programming Phil Nicolo – engineer Jim "Jiff" Ninger – background vocals Jimmy O'Neil – assistant engineer Jim Salamone – drums, keyboards Mark Schulz – background vocals Terry Shelton – voices Silk Tymes Leather – background vocals Eddie Weather – background vocals X-Man – background vocals
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1992) Peakposition
Year-end charts Chart (1992) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) 13 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 66 US Billboard 200 10 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 9
Decade-end charts Chart (1990–1999)Position U.S. Billboard 20090
Certifications
See also List of number-one albums of 1992 (U.S.) List of number-one R&B albums of 1992 (U.S.)
References
Further reading
External links