Kris Kross

In 1992, thirteen-year-old rappers Chris "Daddy Mack" Smith and Chris "Mack Daddy" Kelly skyrocketed to pop prominence under the name Kris Kross. Jermaine Dupri, then a nineteen-year-old producer, first encountered the pair at an Atlanta mall in 1990, promptly took them under his wing, and devised the signature stunt of having them wear their clothes entirely backwards to amplify the duo’s name. Savvy promotion helped their single “Jump,” built on a sample of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” move faster than any record in fifteen years; it topped the Billboard charts for eight weeks and propelled their debut album, Totally Krossed Out, past four million copies. “Warm It Up” soon followed as another gold single, while Kris Kross opened for Michael Jackson across Europe and logged countless appearances on teen-oriented television programs.

Puberty had arrived by the 1993 release of their follow-up, Da Bomb, deepening the boys’ voices and steering them toward a tougher, more hardcore sound and image that proved less successful. “Alright” became their third single to reach gold or higher, yet Da Bomb still fell short of platinum certification by year’s end. After a break, Kris Kross resurfaced in 1996 with Young, Rich and Dangerous, which included the gold-selling rap ballad “Tonite’s tha Night.” On May 1, 2013, Chris “Mack Daddy” Kelly was pronounced dead at an Atlanta hospital after being found unresponsive at his Atlanta home; he was 34.