BY DART ADAMS • JANUARY 17 2019

In 1988, hip-hop was at a crossroads. After a series of violent incidents, anti-rap backlash from mainstream outlets was at a high. And that’s when KRS-One formed the Stop The Violence Movement.
On August 12th, 1988 Run DMC and company rocked the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. That night, there were reported incidents that resulted in several injuries. A month later, at the Dope Jam rap concert stop at the same venue, violence erupted again. This time, there was one death and 12 injuries. The fallout was the mainstream media blaming rap music for these occurrences and several venues making moves to ban future rap shows across the country, including Nassau Coliseum, who announced its ban on September 13th, 1988.

The genre was at a crossroads. And the anti-rap backlash was not only seeking to undo all the progress that it had made, but prevent it from growing any further. Something had to be done. A definitive statement needed to be made.

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