Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1993
Sound of da Police
Buy Sound of da Police now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Sound of da Police
| cover = Sound Of Da Police.jpg
| alt =
| type = Single
| artist = KRS-One
| album = Return of the Boom Bap
| B-side = Hip Hop vs. Rap
| released =
| recorded = 1993
| studio = D&D Studios (New York, NY)
| genre = Conscious hip hop
| length =
| label = Jive
| writer =
| producer = Showbiz
| prev_title = Outta Here
| prev_year = 1993
| next_title = MC's Act Like They Don't Know
| next_year = 1995
| misc =
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score =
}}
"'Sound of da Police'" is a song by American rapper KRS-One. Recorded at D&D Studios in New York City with production handled by Showbiz, it was released in December 1993 as the second and final single from KRS-One's debut solo studio album 'Return of the Boom Bap'. It peaked at number 89 on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100.
Content
The song criticizes police brutality and systemic racism. It begins with KRS-One whooping twice to evoke a police siren (the "sound of the police"); this recurs several times throughout the song. The heavy bass sample loop, and part of a guitar solo were taken from Grand Funk Railroad's cover of "Inside-Looking Out", the final track of their LP 'Grand Funk'. Part of the drum track is taken from "Sing a Simple Song" by Sly and the Family Stone.
The music video was directed by Michael Lucero.
Charts
In popular culture
The song was featured in the American films 'Cop Out', 'Tag', 'Black and Blue', and the British film 'Attack the Block'. It was featured as an in-game radio selection in the 2015 video game Battlefield Hardline (by Electronic Arts), and was used for the end credits of the 2016 movie 'Ride Along 2' and in the 2016 published 'The Angry Birds Movie' soundtrack. It has appeared in the TV show 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'. The '
The song is well known in France, where the chorus is commonly misinterpreted as "'assassins de la police'". A remix of the song by DJ Cut Killer was featured in the soundtrack of the film 'La Haine'. The hip hop duo Suprme NTM later sampled the chorus on their album 'Live'.
On February 3, 2012, hacker group Anonymous defaced the Boston Police Department's web page, replacing it with an embedded version of KRS-One's "Sound of da Police" music video and a message criticizing the department's treatment of the Occupy Boston movement.
References
Buy Sound of da Police now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1993