KRIS KROSS

Raised entirely on slick rhymes and funky funky beats, they were born the year Grandmaster Flash sang "The Message," and started first grade at the same time Public Enemy hit the stage. They are the true children of hip hop and now they are coming of age. Make way for Kris Kross phase two, all grown up and ready to rock the hip hop world with a slick new album and smooth new sound. People get ready, YOUNG, RICH AND DANGEROUS, the new Kris Kross album on Columbia/RuffHouse, is about to drop on ya.

No one can forget how Kris Kross (Chris Kelly, now 17 and Chris Smith, now 16) blew up in '91 as the two precocious shorties with backwards jeans and an infectious debut album, Totally Krossed Out. Now the Chrises are playing with the big boys, offering an album with a slow sexy groove that permeates every track of their latest release, YOUNG, RICH AND DANGEROUS.

Like a fine wine, the Chrises have mellowed with age and so has their sound. Gone are the shrill, prepubescent cries of euphoria, Kris Kross now sound unmistakably world-weary and wise. Four years of fame have given them the insight to deliver an album filled with humor and truth about the fortune and fakeness of life at the top.

Their once "cute" voices have deepened and matured. Their musical range has broadened, and like most young men, the Chrises are now filled with ambition. They've jumped on the bandwagon of artists who want more control of their music by writing and producing two of the eight songs on their album: "Hey Sexy" and "Money, Power and Fame." Not only did they pen the smooth, reflective tracks, they also pridefully boast of playing the music themselves.

"There's a lot of music on the album, and we played all our music," says Kelly, "I play the piano and Chris [Smith] plays the bass. Nobody's in the music but me and Chris. You know how a lotta rappers be faking and perpetrating? -- they might do the beats but have someone else come in and do the keyboards? We aren't like that."

Less frenetic than their earlier efforts, YOUNG, RICH AND DANGEROUS is a richer, denser album with a velvety, laid-back flow complete with textured background vocals and guest appearances by label-mate Da Brat and teen crooner Aaliyah. Once again, the Kris Kross' sound comes courtesy of the young, genius producer Jermaine Dupri, the man who discovered and ushered Kris Kross to fame.

"Jermaine, he never had anyone come out and fall off," says Kelly of the twentysomething president of So So Def records. "Jermaine, he can just look at someone and write about them. I don't think anybody else could have hooked it like that."

Since discovering the Chrises in an Atlanta shopping mall five years ago, Dupri has shared a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with Kris Kross. Dupri catapulted the Chrises to fame and in turn they paved the way for his stable of record-breaking acts, including chart-topping Da Brat, and double platinum Xscape. His success with Kris Kross landed Dupri a label deal with Columbia and together he and Kris Kross put Atlanta on the map as the southern epicenter of hip hop.

On YOUNG, RICH AND DANGEROUS, Dupri and Kris Kross have compiled a collection of tracks destined to propel the group to hip hop's forefront. "Tonight's Da Night," the first single, is an ultra-sleek, sexy track featuring EPMD beats, funky keyboards and braggadocio lyrics, all layered over a sexy subtext about macking and "cutting up" (Atlanta slang for two guys on one girl). "The track's jamming. And I ain't just saying it because we did it," Kelly laughs.

"This album is more laid back than our other albums. It's something Jermaine just felt we should do," explains Smith. "But," adds Kelly, "to me, the album's got energy, the songs don't sound dead. If you're feeling hype, it's going to be hype, if you're feeling laid back, it's going to be laid back, it's all in how you listen to the music."

That laid back sound reaches it pinnacle on "To Live and Die," a deliciously smooth, velvet-track featuring Aaliyah and Da Brat. The ultimate jeep jam, it's funky flow, lush production and boastful yet restrained lyrics makes this a true coming of age hallmark for the former child stars.

Another sure hit, "Young Rich and Dangerous," is definitely destined to be the Chrises' theme song. It's a slick autobiographical track which chronicles the Chrises' rise to fame and the life they've lived in the center of the storm.

Sold out shows magazine covers locked down/

Making it easier for other little shorties to rock down/

It's like this, that's how I be/

You can't predict the future without mentioning me/ Still, the Chrises maintain that fame is only one facet of their lives: "We live a regular life, you might say that we don't but we do. We don't go to your everyday-type of school and we ride around in nice cars, but we have a lot of stuff to worry about," says Kelly. "We gotta worry about growing up, we got that plus we got to take care of the music business. We've got to worry about how we're going to sell a million, how we're gong sell two, how we're going sell three."

More autobiographical detail emerges on "Hey Sexy," a song the Chrises wrote and produced. Kelly explains with a laugh that the song is about aggressive older women - something the Chrises have had to contend with since before they hit puberty.

"A lot of girls, the ones that are like about 24, they'll be like `y'all so sexy.' It's been happening since we were twelve, so we wrote a song about it," says Kelly, "It's like we're telling how it is when we go out."

* * * * *

The Kris Kross phenomenon began in Atlanta's Greenbriar shopping mall. The two Chrises where shopping for sneakers when they were spotted by industrious, 18 year-old Jermaine Dupri. Drawn by the Chrises' youthful charisma and definite sense of style, Dupri pursued the two gifted 12 year-olds, grooming them to become stars -- refining their skills, writing their lyrics, and giving them their trademark "Krossed Out" look.

Dubbing themselves the Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac, Kris Kross' first album Totally Krossed Out, literally took the world by storm, selling more than 4 million copies and bringing even more of the mainstream to rap. The first single "Jump," went double platinum and was an exciting indicator of what was to come. Two subsequent singles, "Warm it Up" and "I Missed the Bus" kept Kris Kross' debut album in the Billboard charts more than 50 weeks.

Media exposure was so massive that within a few months Kris Kross became a household word. They appeared twice on the "Arsenio Hall Show" where Smith brought down the house when his beeper went off and he announced sheepishly that it was a page from his mother.

They were also guests on "Soul Train," "In Living Color," "Showtime at the Apollo," "Inside Edition," "Good Morning America," "The Today Show," and "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee," and graced the cover of virtually every teen magazine in the nation.

After being nominated for an MTV award and two Grammy Awards, and winning two American Music Awards, the irrepressible duo went on to tour Europe with musical legend Michael Jackson. This was followed by headlining their own North American tour, and a second, critically acclaimed album, Da Bomb, which featured the gold single "Alright," and a duet with dancehall star Supercat.

And now, four long years after that fateful day at the Greenbriar Mall, Chris Kelly reflects on it all: "People, they didn't think it was real when we first came out, but now they believe it. We're the realest, we're the youngest doing this stuff, and we love it more than anybody in the joint." We live hip hop everyday and that's a lot."