Criminal Minded

Criminal Minded is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group Boogie Down Productions. It was released in May 1987 through B-Boy Records. It is considered a highly influential hip hop album and one of the first in the gangsta rap genre. The songs "South Bronx" and "The Bridge Is Over" ignited the rivalry with the Brooklyn-bred but Queens resident emcee MC Shan and the Juice Crew. Throughout the album, KRS-One gives honor and praise to Scott La Rock for producing the album and he mostly goes on about the importance of originality and being "real" instead of a "Sucker MC". In 2003, the album was ranked number 444 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and was later ranked number 239 in the 2020 edition.