Released March 31, 1992 Length 39:33 Release date 17 March 1992 | Recorded 1991-92 | |
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Nominations American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album Similar Kris Kross albums, Hip hop music albums | ||
Totally Krossed Out is the debut album by American hip hop duo Kris Kross. It was produced and largely written by Jermaine Dupri and released on March 31, 1992, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. After developing a musical concept for the duo, Dupri spent two years writing and producing the album.
Contents
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 4x 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.
Critical reception
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 Kriss Kross' "preadolescent tempos and timbres". "Jump" was voted the third best single of 1992 in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll. 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.
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)".
Track listing
All songs written and produced by Jermaine Dupri, except where noted.
- "Intro Interview" – 0:51
- "Jump" (Jermaine Dupri, The Corporation, Ohio Players) – 3:15
- "Lil' Boys in da Hood" – 3:05
- "Warm It Up" – 4:08
- "The Way of Rhyme" – 2:59
- "Party" (George Clinton, Jermaine Dupri, Gary Shider, Dave Spradley) – 4:02
- "We're in da House" – 0:39
- "A Real Bad Dream" – 1:58
- "It's a Shame" – 3:46
- "Can't Stop the Bum Rush" – 2:57
- "You Can't Get With This" – 2:24
- "I Missed the Bus" – 2:59
- "Outro" – 0:43
- "Party" (Krossed Mix) – 4:10
- "Jump" (Extended Mix) – 5:10
Samples
Jump
Lil' Boys in Da Hood
Warm It Up
The Way of Rhyme
Party
It's a Shame
Can't Stop the Bum Rush
I Missed the Bus
Jump (Extended Mix)
Personnel
Credits are adapted from Allmusic.
Songs
1Intro Interview0:53
2Jump3:17
3Lil’ Boys in da Hood3:04