"Self Destruction" is the only single by the Stop the Violence Movement, a group formed by American rapper

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...

in 1988 in response to violence in the hip hop and African American communities. The single raised over $100,000 that was donated to the National Urban League.

Background

After a young fan was killed at a 1988

Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions (BDP) was an American hip-hop group formed in the Bronx, New York City, in 1986. It originally consisted of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the ...

and

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

show, KRS-One formed the Stop the Violence Movement in hopes of encouraging the hip hop community to end violence being committed among themselves. Further inspired by the recent murder of fellow BDP founding member Scott La Rock, he assembled many contemporary East Coast hip hop rap stars of the time to record a song about anti-violence. With production assistance by bandmate D-Nice and Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad, the product of the session was the chart-topping song "Self Destruction". All proceeds went to the National Urban League.The Stop The Violence Movement – "Self Destruction"
discogs.com. A VHS cassette entitled ''Overcoming Self-Destruction—the Making of the Self-Destruction Video'' accompanied the song's release. The song debuted at No. 1 on the first week of ''Billboards

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

existence and held the spot for ten consecutive weeks. The following rappers contributed the vocals to the song: *

(

, D-Nice & Ms. Melodie) * Stetsasonic ( Daddy-O, MC Delite, Wise, and Frukwan) * Kool Moe Dee *

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

* D-Nice * Ms. Melodie * Doug E. Fresh * Just-Ice * Heavy D *

( Chuck D & Flavor Flav)

Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American Rapping, rapper, producer and actor who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influe ...

also makes an appearance in the video, but is only seen in the background. The song samples " Funky Drummer" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, " Pass the Peas" by the JB's, and "Heaven and Hell is on Earth" by the 20th Century Steel Band.

Music video

The music video was filmed in the neighborhood of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

in the borough of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in New York City. West Coast rappers Tone Loc and Young MC, along with Digital Underground frontman Shock G, visited the video shoot and participated in the event.

Later recordings

In 2007, in preparation for the original track's 20th anniversary, KRS-One relaunched the Stop the Violence Movement. This resulted in two new iterations of the original concept – "Self Construction" and "Self Destruction 2009". "Self Construction" was released first in April 2008. The track was produced by Duane DaRock and recorded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

from February 7 to 9 at the Los Angeles Recording School. "Self Construction" includes appearances by over 55 artists including David Banner, The Game,

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

, Redman,

, 50 Cent,

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...

, Talib Kweli,

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

, Styles P,

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

, Cassidy, Wise Intelligent, Awol One, 2Mex, Rah Digga and Rakaa. "Self Destruction 2009" was released in late 2008 and features contributions by

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

, Syleena Johnson, Phil G, Crucial Conflict, Kenny Bogus, Straw and Pugz Atomz. Also in 2008,

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

rapper Heat recorded "Self Destruction 2" with the help of other local area rappers. In late 2009, DJ Kay Slay produced "Self Destruction 2010" featuring Busta Rhymes, Bun B, Sheek Louch, Papoose, Uncle Murda and Jay Rock. In 2014, more than a dozen

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

rappers united under the name Stop the Violence Baltimore and recorded their own version of the song with new lyrics pertinent to violence in their city at the time.

Single track listing

12" vinyl

A-Side

# "Self Destruction" (Extended Mix) (5:52) # "Self Destruction" (Special Remix) (5:57)

B-Side

# "Self Destruction" (Single Edit) (5:28) # "Self Destruction" (Instrumental) (5:28)

Personnel

Credits are taken from the liner notes and the official page of the ASCAP. *Written by – Glenn Bolton, Douglas E. Davis, Mohandas Dewese, William Jonathan Drayton Jr., Arnold Hamilton, Derrick T. Jones, Dwight Myers, Lawrence Parker, Ramona Parker, Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, James Todd Smith, Joseph Williams and Marvin Shahid Wright *Producer –

and D-Nice *Co-producer – Hank Shocklee *Keyboards, Horns – DBC *Mastered by – Herb Powers Jr. (as Herbie Jr :^)*) *Engineer – Eric Calvi *Producer (exec.) – Tom Silverman

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{YouTube, 6Q6OQlX_sFg, Recording of "Self-Construction", 2008 1989 songs 1989 in music 1989 singles KRS-One songs Charity singles All-star recordings Public Enemy (band) songs Jive Records artists Jive Records singles RCA Records singles Songs written by KRS-One Songs written by Heavy D Songs written by Chuck D Songs written by LL Cool J Posse cuts