and so a young Kris Parker started off his legendary diss South Bronx, simultaneously big upping his hood and dissing on the QB projects and equally legendary MC Shan, Juice Crew, and DJ Marley Marl.

A legendary – controversial – figure in hip-hop, KRS-ONE’s credibility and history is untouchable: responsible for countless rap classics, the Teacha has toured the world, performing solo and with the legendary Boogie Down Productions; put his credibility towards campaigns for Nike, Sprite, and more; founded the Temple of Hip-hop, one of the organizations responsible for stewarding hip-hop culture; and served as an elder (if unpredictable) statesman for years.

During the second evening of the Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival, as the crowd swelled for the Saturday night concert (which KRS-ONE headlined and closed out), a small group of press passes and video cameras gathered, selected by the organizers to partake in a closed-door session with Blastmaster KRS-ONE.

As the volume steadily grew to a raucous clamor outside, KRS shared insights with the audience:

on technology

the need to master (and not be mastered by) our tools

The need for hip-hop education

how hip-hop should be taught and available in school curriculum

on rap’s death and hip-hop’s growth

and – making a strong display for why he deserves his name, the Teacha, he broke down the history of New York urban radio, from WBLS and KISS FM’s radio/DJ battles, to the founding of Hot 97 – and its later abandonment of what he considers to be real-school hip-hop

Last, before rushing out the door, he broke down what he considers the hip-hop lifestyle to be – not flossing or throwing around stacks, but knowing how to get by and survive and thrive

Throughout the weekend, the local Temple of Hip-Hop members (big up to Trinity College Temple of Hip-hop – the nation’s first collegiate chapter!) were showing out for KRS-ONE’s new book, The Gospel of Hip-Hop. At the close of this session, his associates passed out complimentary copies to all the journalists in attendance, as the teacha was whisked away to his green room.

I am Canadian (my mom’s side were pioneers of English/Scottish descent, my father is Turkish/Assyrian & moved to Canada as a teenager). My brother introduced me to Hip Hop when I was around 8-yrs-old. I been rappin’ pretty much every since. It was very second nature. Nobody told me in Ottawa, Ontario that a lil white-ish girl rappin’ in the 80s was weird :-p ha

2) What is the scene like in Toronto? Is there much female presence in the scene there?

Umm… when i was there, I’d say there was definitely a strong female presence. Not as strong as Australia (ladies notoriously were trailblazers in the the Australian hip hop scene since the 80s), but definitely strong. I think that people in general in Toronto are nurtured to think independently and act independently, so that goes for women also. I know a lot of strong women runnin sh*t in T.O., i can think of so many off the top of my head. Not to say that women aren’t runnin sh*t in NY, too… it’s just different. In the rap industry, i see women more chaperoned and ‘molded’ by males stateside… Toronto there’s just a lil more freedom to ‘BE’. Which is part and parcel of how I ended up to be the woman I am today, rappin’.

3) You said in an interview that when you started rapping it wasn’t unexpected by your parents/friends… given this- were there many outlets for your music/message when you began rapping? Was it easy to get going?

Well, yah – i mean – we found outlets. We *created* outlets. Canada’s not necessarily known as being hugely welcoming of ‘urban’ music on a mainstream level, but when I was growing up I definitely found outlets. I remember rappin’ on the playground.. every day… the same verses (LOL). I remember frequenting college radio since I was around 15-yrs-old, in Ottawa and then Toronto. There used to be this nightclub in Ottawa called “La Boom” (then “Maxime’s”) and at the time they played Hip Hop like 6 outta 7 nights outta the week, which is virtually unheard of now. And I used to go down there every week, nobody knew I was under age (*laughs*) and DJ Ben Jammin’ would give me the mic and I’d rock my same verse over Rock the Bells… every week. I remember him pulling me aside and encouraging me to keep rappin’. We still talk to this day.
You know, later in Toronto, my boy Fritz from Nextra started the “In Divine Style” Open Mi (named after Divine Styler). And I used to host that pretty frequently, along with Mindbender. That was a big outlet for everyone in T.O. to jump on the mic. Before that it was Planet Mars (in the 90s..) you know there was always something. It was grassroots, it was underground… but there was something.
These days its apparent many rappers are not in it for the right reasons. Then?? it was so ‘unknown’ and ‘underground’ that if you even FOUND the outlet, you were meant to be there… yah dig? lol.

4) I know you cover a lot of issues and themes in your music, but are there any common thematic trends that tend to come out through your work?

Hell yah. I didn’t even realize there were ‘trends’ until quite recently, when I took my friend DJ Sav One down memory lane through all my random collabs in the past 9 years. (*laughs*) So collab tracks… they often don’t tell you the subject or theme, and so you’re just left to your own devices to write about what’s on your mind, right? 16 bars. And, like, most of my collab tracks were about the same sh*t!! (hehe). I basically would be restating: “I don’t belong in this biz, this world is shiesty and i want no part of it, Lord why am I doing this, its an uphill climb and i’m gonna fight but some days it doesn’t feel like its worth it, people are shocked cause I look like I do and I spit – get over it” blablabla… I mean, don’t get me wrong, when you cop my albums the subjects are VERY VARIED. But I think a running theme in a lot of my music is my expression of a very spiritually and emotionally challenging journey for me, and that I’m open to wherever God wants me to go. God himself is present in a lot of my music, even from very early on. I never caught that until recently, either. I would also say I’m a LIFE emcee. So whatever you dealin’ with in your real, every day, life? I probably got a rap about that, too :-p

5) We all know that hip hop, especially on the more commercial end, has created certain pictures of women. What is your take on this? Are you combating this image in any way? Can you tell us about your ‘My Favorite Rapper Wears a Skirt’ campaign?

I feel that Hip Hop should reflect Life. So every kind of individual you see walkin’ down the street in any city on every given day: there should be a Hip Hop artist or Hip Hop song that’s relevant to that person, ya dig? that Represents them. So I don’t knock the chicks in Hip Hop who choose to go the route of ‘get money by takin’ off clothes’: that’s there thing, that’s all they know most likely. But, I unequivocally do NOT think that should be the only depiction of women in Hip Hop. There should be as many faces of women in this thang as there are out there in the world… you get the idea. And right now that BALANCE is off, it’s not present. There is no ‘equal representation’… not only the men to women ratio, but also the political Queens vs. stripper women, the street chick to the super profound University-grad intellect. That should ALL be allowed in Hip Hop. all of it. I’m just one sliver of that spectrum. So I combat that popular image simply by continuing to EXIST in Hip Hop, with a unique narrative and presentation that is 100% my own.

“My Favorite Rapper Wears a Skirt” T-shirt design was simply the brainchild of somebody shoutin’ that out to me one day, and the light bulb goin off in my head,… “that’s brilliant! that’s a slogan!” lol. But the reactions AFTER I made the T-shirt is what really made for an interesting social experiment. People would look at the shirt and be REALLY confused, to the point that they thought I was talkin’ bout male rappers that like to dress in drag!!! That’s how conditioned the average mind was, thinking that a ‘rapper’ must be a ‘male’. Ain’t that crazy? I love the T-shirt design ’cause it gets people talkin’. Shout out to GianGFX for that one!

6) Do you ever feel that you are perceived by audiences/media as something different (gender bias, racial profiling) than what you really are? Is this different in Canada than in the United States?

Good question. Yah, of course. In the U.S. I am normally perceived as simply “that white chick”. And that’s OK, I get it. If i go to a job interview, I’m ‘that white chick’, so I’m not gonna get all Tiger Woods complex with my racial identity (laughs). That being said, in Canada & some other countries they’ll do you the service of ASKING, not assuming. Some people don’t appreciate the question, “what are you?” but I don’t mind because at least it means the person hasn’t made up their mind yet. I’m simply half ‘european’, half ‘middle-eastern’, if you want to break it down. I’m a half-breed. (laughs). wow that’s so politically incorrect. Anyways, nobody views me as such. But I guarantee that if you throw my moms and pops side of the family in one room, you’d see it! (*smiles*).

In the end, the reason why that race question isn’t that sensitive of an issue for me is because my ethnicity only makes up part of who I am as a human on this planet, not all. My self-identity is made up of a lot more than simply my gender and ethnicity. To be perfectly honest.

7) Have there been any key moments in your life that have had a major impact and influence on your music?

I moved outta the house at 15, that had a huge influence on my music, and even on the fact that I rap now as seriously as I do. I didn’t have it as hard as some… but I definitely did not have it easy. A lot of my content is inspired by the years that I was virtually homeless.
My pops was an immigrant who moved to Canada when he was a teenager, didn’t speak english at the time, and pretty much was in the business of doing anything to get money (legal or not)… and my moms was a church-going, born-again Believer who came from a simple working class Christian family. So both those influences impact who I am and what I write about to this day.

Have you found that certain types of people are attracted to your music? Or better yet, given your diverse and unusual background as an emcee, does this broaden your reach?

Yah – All i’ve learned about my ‘target audience’ is that… pretty much every country and age range and gender and race I hit… they’re it! (laughs!). Meaning I’m pretty relatable. Maybe not to look at, but definitely to listen to and see live. Hip Hop heads, new yorkers, you know…Dudes like my stuff cause it’s on par with male emcees they admire, lyrically and all that…I’m aggressive and can Go In. Women like my stuff cause they can relate to the content, especially when I’m talkin’ about trials I go thru as a woman… People who don’t speak english relate to my stuff because of the passion and projection behind my delivery… they FEEL each word, in their gut… (I can be pretty emotional/raw) umm… young pre-teen and teenage girls relate to my stuff because I’m a symbol of empowerment and strength for them , like “I can grow up and do whatever I’m good at, just like Eternia did!”. Umm.. the list goes on… and on… when I’m in Germany the Turkish cats are in the front row, ’cause you know – I’m half Turkish and they’re FEELIN IT! So there’s always an aspect I think that enables me to reach EVERYONE. I’m not saying that to sell myself or big myself up. I’m literally just taking stock of my experiences, prompted by your question.

The last show I did in NYC – at DROM – the door staff were confused like, “who IS this eternia chick? where she from??” because everybody who came in the door to see me was – like – unique… totally different race, age, ethnicity, language… from each other. there was NO METHOD to the madness! LOL

10) You said in an interview that being a white female rapper was generally accepted in your community in Toronto- How have you been generally perceived being a white female rapper in the mainly minatory dominated rap culture of the United States? Have you come across difficulties since moving to the United States? If so, what are they?

to clarify: being a white female rapper in the 90s and early 2000s in Toronto was definitely- uhhh – a rarity… I was pretty much the only white girl at the shows I went to. But even though it wasn’t normally seen, it wasn’t thrown in my face. there was Love and Acceptance, for the most part you know? the difference is in the U.S. it was (is) thrown in my face a lot more. But i’ve gotten used to that. first few years I was here though, it was ugly. I’m like *sheeesh* if I was born and raised here, i woulda NEVA started rappin… all this division and stereotyping and breaking people down?… good thing i wasn’t born and raised here !!

Now I revel breaking down the stereotypes. I’ll call people out halfway through my show, once I got everybody nodding their heads… I’ll drop my song “Stereotypes” and be like, “I know you! you in the back… I know you was stereotyping when you walked in here! like… ‘nah that chick can’t rap’….” . I’m a walking anti-stereotype. I love to make people laugh when they’re like, “yaaaaah u right… i was thinkin that”. It’s fun to me now. The confidence is there.

12) Why did you decide to move to the United States?

I feel like in any profession, you wanna work with the best, go where the work is, and be inspired by greats. I felt like in order for ‘steel to sharpen steel’ i needed to leave Toronto for a greater challenge. And it def worked. I think my spit game is tighter now, years later, after moving to NYC. in face, i know wouldn’t rap like I do if i didn’t move to Connecticut in 1997, for that matter. SO it definitely worked. I have a love / hate relationship to the U.S. It ain’t all bad :-p I just think that if I was to leave the rap game alone, this profession i’m in, I’d definitely high-tail it back to Canada to have a ‘normal’ life (*smiles*).

14) Tell us about some of your musical influences, some of your favorite hip hop albums? What are you playing in your headphones while you are on tour right now?

WOW! Good question! Hold up lemme pull out the Ipod! ha! Royce (the 5’9) was def gettin’ me hype to write on the last tour I was on. I’d love to do a track with him. Pharoahe Monch has always been a musical influence of mine, and he knows it… although I definitely don’t think I sound like any of my musical influences. Ras Kass is droppin new tracks every week online, now, you know that? I love ‘em. Much to the annoyance of my Hip Hop aficionado friends, i really liked T.I’s King and Paper Trail. I think he makes really sold albums (although some of his misogyny I could do without). Same goes for Ludacris. I will always be a Reef the Lost Cauze fan. Bocafloja’s new album “existo” i really been feelin’ a lot, since I got back from Mexico City! (*smiles*). I like D-Sisive in Canada, I think he’s an acquired taste that once you acquire it, you can’t get enough (*pause* ha). I really enjoy takin’ a break from Hip Hop, when I need to relax with the i-pod (cause hip hop is kinda work related :-p) and listen to – like… Muse or Sia or Zaki Ibrahim or Angela McCluskey or the list goes on… my sister Jessica Kaya’s music, especially, relaxes me.

but thats not my fave albums of the past, perse, that’s just ‘what i’m listening to right now’… this answer would take forever if I go in more, so lemme stop. I can say that a lot of the people I listen to and admire, in Hip Hop, i’m workin’ on collabin’ with or have already for the newest project “AT LAST”. So when you see who I’m workin with, you’ll see who I listen to and check for.

15. We were hella excited to see you go out to Mexico to do the album release with bocafloja. The footage you shot looked crazy! Tell us about that experience?

Maaaaaan – you got a coupla days? (*laughs*). That weekend will go down as one of the most memorable times of my life. And that slot has a lot of competition!! ha! It was truly humbling, inspiring, awe-inducing, amazing. A spiritual experience, really. I got along so well with the people I was rollin’ with (Bocafloja, Gabriel Teodros, Para La Gente crew, Solymar…) that I just wished that we could tour for weeks together. or live in the same neighborhood. They felt like family. They are family. And the D.F. (Mexico City) that bocafloja showed me, was trully through the eyes of D.F.’s own son. that’s the best way to see anyplace, really.

16. When does the new album come out?

Good question! You’re guess is as good as mine. Ha!
Nah – lemme stop (*smiles*). Here’s the proper response: We are actively working on getting a label deal that is worthy of our project, in which we know we gives it the best shot for the world to know and hear about. That process takes time. So I’ma guess 2010. When I don’t know. But i can tell you “AT LAST”… will be WORTH the wait when it drops… At Last. Shout out to MoSS for makin’ it all possible. He’s probably sick of me, but I still think God sent him to me for this. It’s our baby… both of ours… (this album)… for real. So that’s why there’s so many emotions wrapped up in it.

We’ve been doing “Road to Release Day” video episodes, w/ corresponding blogs on my Myspace page, so please check it out!
www.Myspace.com/Eternia
www.Youtube.com/Eternia777

PHOTO CREDITS:
J. Grissette
Photos by Grendy
&
Robert Adam Mayer