Krs-one Tapped As Reprise Vp To Boost Rap Roster

LOS ANGELES‹In an effort to increase the presence of R&B/hip-hop music at the label, Reprise
has named Kris Parker VP of A&R. Parker is better known as Jive
recording artist KRS-One.
"If there's one thing I have been wishing for since the day I became president of Reprise almost four years ago, [it's] that we could get into the black music business in a credible, Reprise-like fashion," says Reprise president Howie Klein. "Bringing Kris in as VP of A&R is exactly what we have needed."
Reprise's roster contains virtually no R&B or hip-hop/rap artists, with the exception of multiple Grammy winners Take 6 and the newly signed rap act Shootyz Groove.
Parker says signing a three-year contract at the label was the result of a chance meeting with Reprise senior VP of A&R David Kahne.
Parker, who had been at the label office discussing the possibility of a production deal with Warner Bros. VP of A&R, black music, Allison Ball-Gabriel, ran into Kahne on his way out.
"After having a two-hour conversation in the lobby at Warner with Kahne about how I could work here, I said this is something I could do," says Parker.
Kahne says there was much to recommend Parker. "The fact that he's really good in the studio and he's real smart [means] he can find some acts to develop. He's not only bright but a really responsible person. It's a really big thing for him. He's been developing a lot of great acts [in the past], but it's pretty much an open book now with what he can do and how he can follow through," says Kahne.
What remains to be seen is whether Parker can handle being an executive and an artist at the same time. In March, Jive will release Parker's 10th album, "Maximum Strike," a project that the rapper says is already "in the can."
"I let [Jive] know that there was a possibility of me going to do A&R at Reprise," Parker says. "They tried to discourage me, but I had already made up my mind, and I felt very good about that."
Parker now joins the ranks of R&B artists who have also become high-level music industry executives. In 1987, Andre Harrell, a former member of rap duo Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, founded Uptown Records. He left that company in 1995 to become Motown's president.
Dwight Myers, better known as the rapper Heavy D, was named Harrell's successor as president of Uptown. He exited that post in 1996 to become senior VP of A&R at Universal Music Group, a position he no longer holds.
During Harrell's stint at Mo-town, vocalist Al B. Sure! was named VP of A&R, a position that was eliminated in 1997.
Jive president Barry Weiss declines to comment on Parker's Reprise deal. Parker says he has four albums remaining on his Jive contract.
Kahne says that he's "fine with Parker doing his stuff on Jive . . . I think that it's a way of keeping your technique up. That's something that's really important to him."
The rapper/songwriter/producer recorded his first album, "Criminal Minded," for Jive in 1987. His three most successful albums have been 1994's "Return Of The Boom Bap," which peaked at No. 5 on Top R&B Albums, 1995's "KRS-One," and 1997's "I Got Next," both of which reached No. 2 on that chart.
In addition, Parker has written and/or produced music for a variety of acts, including Channel Live, Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers, Shabba Ranks, R.E.M., Chubb Rock, and Mad Lion.
"What I think Reprise needs is literally a leader [in black music], someone who is confident, knows what they're doing, and sits in a meeting not "jesting' but telling how something is gonna go down and then getting results," says Parker. "The results remain to be seen, but if I have success like I've had with my own career over the last 10 years, we'll be fine."
Parker says his focus will primarily be rap, but he also expects to sign artists of all musical genres. "My ear goes far," says Parker. What will also help, he says, are his vast artist contacts amassed during his years of recording and his ability to communicate with artists on their level.
"I don't need the managers and the attorneys. I talk directly with the artist. They trust me . . . and I will never betray that trust," he says.
Parker adds that he is looking to take hip-hop to another level. "I'm looking to decriminalize hip-hop, including the lyrics," he says. "The lyrics will be as hard as they come, but there's a way to present yourself."
In the past, Reprise parent Warner Music Group came under fire for the hardcore rap releases issued under its then joint venture with Interscope Records. Klein says there is no corporate mandate about the types of acts Parker may sign. "He has free rein, just like any other A&R person who works at Reprise," says Klein.
Parker says he'd like to sign graffiti artists, DJs, and breakdancers‹all of whom he feels make up the hip-hop culture‹to the label.
"I'd like [to have] Reprise corner the market in hip-hop. Reprise would be the absolute authority when it comes to hip-hop," says Parker.
In addition to his upcoming album, Parker has written "Criminal Minded," an autobiography to be published in 1999 by Little, Brown and Co.