A Little Dash: RIP Chris Kelly, Kriss Kross Legend

by Dash West | ARCHIVES

The rap music industry is saddened by the sudden death of Chris Kelly of the ‘90s rap duo Kris Kross. Kelly died of a drug overdose, a medical office investigator noted. A toxicology screening revealed that Kelly, 34, had a mixture of drugs in his system when he was pronounced dead on May 1, 2012, said Betty Honey of the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office in Atlanta. Paramedics found Kelly unresponsive on a living room couch at his Atlanta home and tried to resuscitate him. A police report from the night of Kelly’s death said his mother told investigators her son used cocaine and heroin the night before he died and had a history of drug abuse.
Kris Kross was introduced to the music world in 1992 by music producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri after he discovered the pair at a mall in southwest Atlanta. Kelly, known as “Mac Daddy” performed alongside Chris Smith, who was known as “Daddy Mac.” The duo wore their clothes backward as a gimmick, but won over fans with their raps. Their first and most successful song was the 1992 hit “Jump,” which became a chart-topper in the United States and around the world. The two were never able to match the tremendous success of their first song, though they had other hits like “Warm It Up,” and “Tonite’s Tha Night.”

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. The duo sang the “Rugrats Rap” for Nickelodeon, which was released as an extra on some Nickelodeon VHS tapes starting in 1994 and was finally released on CD on The Best of Nicktoons in 1998, and as an extra on the Rugrats: Decade in Diapers Collectors Edition DVD in 2002.

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). 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 of In Living Color. 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”.

At a memorial ceremony for Kelly in early May his uncle, Lemar Williams, said Kelly showed a love for music from an early age and mimicked Michael Jackson’s dance moves. Williams said Kelly loved Atlanta and never wanted to live anywhere else. Earlier this year, Kris Kross performed in Atlanta to celebrate the anniversary of Dupri’s record label So So Def and Williams said Kelly was planning to make a comeback.

Jump! Jump! “Mac Daddy” make you wanna Jump! Jump!

KRISS KROSS GALLERY