Praise Peace.

Afrika Bambaataa Brokers Peace Between KRS and Adisa
by Davey D

Yesterday March 9th on the anniversary of what was the 9th anniversary of the tragic slaying of the Notorious BIG, a good thing happened that would hopefully send a signal to people that his and 2Pac’s death did not happen in vain. A peaceful resolution between two high profile individuals within Hip Hop who have a had a war of words for more then a year was established. This war of words escalated intoan unfortunate and ugly incident at a Conference held at Stanford University this past weekend. We’re talking about the Blastmaster KRS-One and writer Adisa Banjoko.

The original source of their conflict is not that important. In all due respect, we should be focused on the lack of progress by our government in restoring the 9th Ward in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Can you believe there are still scores of un-recovered bodies there?We should be focused on the war between the garbage being spewed by commercial radio under the banner of Hip Hop. We should be concerned about all the new laws and designed to snatch our liberties by the guy who sits in the house on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Washington DC.

But with all that being said, what took place yesterday was a beautiful thing.Hip Hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa got the two men together and helped work through the conflict. During the intense conversation both men came to see that there’s a larger picture in terms of protecting Hip Hop and dealing with some very real outside enemies that are attacking the culture and our communities.

Both KRS and Adisa talked like grown men with a sense of purpose and showed respect for one another as they agreed that this conflict should not have played itself in the public stage the way that it had and that it was now time for them to put all this behind them and move on to bigger things that need their attention.Both men also agreed that there were some hurtful things they have said to and about each other.

They also owned up to some of the actions they undertaken have reflected poor judgment and could've been done differently and more importantly, more respectfully. That included the way things were handled this past weekend on Saturday at Stanford by KRS on down to the way Adisa initially challenged KRS to a debate on his philosophy. Both men also clearly understood that it's important to stand up and show the world that folks can have major disagreements and still come to a peaceful resolution while maintaining their respective view points… In other words there’s room for everyone to co-exist.

They also came to the conclusion of keeping the lines of communication open.A big shout is in order to Afrika Bambaataa who demonstrated true leadership that was reflected yesterday in his years of handling and dealing with conflicts… His example and wisdom is one that we can all learn from and follow… Hip Hop needs that now. Big shout out to KRS and Adisa for keeping it real and seeing the greater good… I ran into KRS last night at his show in LA at the Viper Room and he was not only on fire, but feeling pretty damn good things got worked out. I spoke with Adisa who also felt good and is ready to focus his attention on other pressing issues like the current Black-Brown conflicts that seem to be plaguing certain areas of the Golden State.

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I'm glad the nonsense came to an end. I am grateful. Respect for the right-honorable gentlemen Adisa Banjoko and Kris Parker.