Totally Krossed Out


Totally Krossed Out is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Kris Kross. It was produced and largely written by Jermaine Dupri and Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo and released on March 31, 1992, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. After developing a musical concept for the duo, Dupri and Nicolo spent two years writing and producing the album.

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 Kris Kross' "preadolescent tempos and timbres". "Jump" was voted the third-best single of 1992 in The Village Voices 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 ".

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 4× 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.

Track listing

All songs written and produced by Jermaine Dupri and Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, except where noted.
  1. "Intro Interview" – 0:51
  2. "Jump" – 3:15
  3. "Lil' Boys in da Hood" – 3:05
  4. "Warm It Up" – 4:08
  5. "The Way of Rhyme" – 2:59
  6. "Party" – 4:02
  7. "We're in da House" – 0:39
  8. "A Real Bad Dream" – 1:58
  9. "It's a Shame" – 3:46
  10. "Can't Stop the Bum Rush" – 2:57
  11. "You Can't Get With This" – 2:24
  12. "I Missed the Bus" – 2:59
  13. "Outro" – 0:43
  14. "Party" – 4:10
  15. "Jump" – 5:10

    Personnel

Credits are adapted from Allmusic.
  • Glenn Barratt – editing
  • Walt Bass – background vocals
  • Stacey Blackmore – background vocals
  • Tony Dawsey – mastering
  • Curtis Dowd, Jr. – keyboards
  • Jermaine Dupri – arranger, background vocals, electric bass, executive producer, producer, programming
  • Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo – arranger, engineer, drums, electric bass, percussion, producer, programming
  • Seldon "Big Wally" Henderson – keyboards
  • John Hodian – engineer
  • Frank Hogan – background vocals
  • Charlene Holloway – background vocals
  • Paula Holloway – background vocals
  • Dave Johnson – background vocals
  • Kris Kelly – vocals
  • Andy Kravitz – percussion
  • Kris Kross – vocals
  • Lady G. – background vocals
  • Manuel Lecuona – background vocals
  • Rose Mann – background vocals
  • Joe Nicolo – engineer, executive producer, programming
  • Phil Nicolo – engineer
  • Jim "Jiff" Ninger – background vocals
  • Jimmy O'Neil – assistant engineer
  • Jim Salamone – drums, keyboards
  • Mark Schulz – background vocals
  • Terry Shelton – voices
  • Silk Tymes Leather – background vocals
  • Eddie Weather – background vocals
  • X-Man – background vocals

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications