Totally Krossed Out

Last updated
Totally Krossed Out
Totally Krossed Out album coverart.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 31, 1992
Recorded1991
Genre Hip hop
Length39:33
Label
Producer
Kris Kross chronology
Totally Krossed Out
(1992)
Da Bomb
(1993)
Singles from Totally Krossed Out
  1. "Jump"
    Released: February 6, 1992
  2. "Warm It Up"
    Released: June 4, 1992
  3. "I Missed the Bus"
    Released: September 3, 1992
  4. "It's a Shame"
    Released: January 12, 1993

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. [1]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Baltimore Sun (favorable) [3]
Calgary Herald C+ [4]
Robert Christgau A− [5]
Entertainment Weekly (favorable) [6]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]
People (favorable) [8]
Select Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]

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". [10] "Jump" was voted the third-best single of 1992 in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll. [11] 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. [12]

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)". [13]

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.

  1. "Intro Interview" – 0:51
  2. "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
  3. "Lil' Boys in da Hood" – 3:05
  4. "Warm It Up" – 4:08
  5. "The Way of Rhyme" – 2:59
  6. "Party" (Jermaine Dupri, Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, George Clinton, Garry Shider, David Spradley) – 4:02
  7. "We're in da House" – 0:39
  8. "A Real Bad Dream" – 1:58
  9. "It's a Shame" – 3:46
  10. "Can't Stop the Bum Rush" – 2:57
  11. "You Can't Get With This" – 2:24
  12. "I Missed the Bus" – 2:59
  13. "Outro" – 0:43
  14. "Party" (Krossed Mix) – 4:10
  15. "Jump" (Extended Mix) – 5:10

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Allmusic. [14]

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [30] Gold35,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [31] 3× Platinum300,000^
United States (RIAA) [32] 4× Platinum4,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

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"Warm It Up" is the second single released from American duo Kris Kross' debut album, Totally Krossed Out (1992). Produced and written by Jermaine Dupri, the song was released as the follow-up to the duo's multi-platinum chart topping hit, "Jump" on June 4, 1992. The song became the second consecutive top 15 hit released from the album, reaching 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #4 in Canada, as well as their second consecutive single to reach #1 on the Rap charts. "Warm It Up" was certified gold on August 8, 1992. The music video for the song was directed by Rich Murray and was awarded Best Rap Video by a new artist by Billboard magazine in 1992.

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"It's a Shame" is the fourth and final single by American hip hop duo Kris Kross, released in January 1993 by Ruffhouse and Columbia from their debut album, Totally Krossed Out (1992). It is the least successful of the four singles, as it did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100. However, it did manage to reach number 11 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart and number 55 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, as well as number 31 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was written and produced by Jermaine Dupri, and its music video was directed by Rich Murray. The group performed "It's a Shame" on numerous television shows, such as A Different World.

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Further reading