Kris Kross

Kris Kross was an American new jack swing/rap duo of the 1990s, Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith. The duo was best known for their hit 1992 song "Jump", which was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and certified double platinum as a single. Kris Kross was also noted for their fashion style, which consisted of wearing their clothing backwards.

Career[edit]
Atlanta natives Kelly (August 12, 1978–May 1, 2013) and Smith (born January 10, 1979) were discovered in 1991 by 19-year-oldJermaine Dupri at an Atlanta shopping mall.[1][2]

Totally Krossed Out[edit]
Along with Dupri, they signed a deal with Ruffhouse Records and recorded their debut album Totally Krossed Out (1992). Entirely produced by Dupri, Totally Krossed Out was released March 31 that year and sold four million copies in the U.S. It included the hit single "Jump", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, "becoming the first rap song to have achieved so long a run at the top. No other rap song had led the chart for that length of time."[3]

The music videos from the album also experienced major success. The video for "Jump", directed by filmmaker Rich Murray, went to No. 1 on MTV and sold over 100,000 copies as a VHS video single. The video for their follow-up single, "Warm It Up", also directed by Murray, won a Billboard video award for "Best New Artist",[citation needed] and got to No. 14 the same year as “Jump”. Writes  The New York Daily News'  Jim Farber: "Together, that was enough to propel the duo’s debut, 'Totally Krossed Out,' to multi-platinum status."

Additional media projects, 1992–1998[edit]
The duo landed a spot on Michael Jackson's 1992 Dangerous World Tour, as well as a cameo appearance on Jackson's "Jam" music video(1991).[citation needed] Additionally, they made appearances in the music videos for Run-D.M.C.'s "Down with the King" (1993) and TLC's "Hat 2 Da Back" (1992), and they were featured in an episode of A Different World and as the closing musical act on the May 29, 1992 episode ofIn Living Color.[citation needed]

A video game starring the pair, titled Kris Kross: Make My Video, was released in 1992 on the Sega CD system. It consisted of the player's editing together the group's music videos for a few of their hit songs—using portions of the original music videos, stock footage, and general video animation effects. Players were prompted before each editing session to make sure to have certain footage compiled into the video. The game was released only in the United States to poor sales figures and dismal reviews. It was ranked 18th on Electronic Gaming Monthly' s list of the "20 Worst Games of All Time".[4]

Kris Kross made a cameo appearance in Ted Demme's film Who's the Man? (1993), which starred Ed Lover and Doctor Dré of ''Yo! MTV Raps'' fame.[citation needed]

Kris Kross recorded the "Rugrats Rap" for Rugrats and for Nickelodeon; it was released as a hit single in 1992 on their debut album release Totally Krossed Out and in 1994 as extras on some Nickelodeon VHS tapes, and was finally released on CD in 1998, on The Best of Nicktoons CD. The "Rugrats Rap" made its official radio airplay debut and is available on the Rugrats Chuckie the Brave VHS, Harriet the Spy VHS, The Best of Nicktoons CD (which is a compilation album of theme songs and other material from severalNicktoons that was released by Nickelodeon and Epic Records in 1998), Rugrats: Decade in Diapers Collectors Edition DVD, and YouTube.[citation needed]

Da Bomb[edit]
Their second album, Da Bomb (1993), was certified platinum and spawned the hits "Alright" featuring Super Cat, "I'm Real", and "Da Bomb" featuring Da Brat. Most of their songs had been directed at rivals Da Youngstas, Illegal, and Another Bad Creation.[citation needed]