Biography
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Years Active
1991 – 1996 (5 years)
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Founded In
Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States
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Members
- Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly
- DJ Nabs
- Daddy Mack
Kris Kross was a hip-hop duo that formed in 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The group consisted of Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly (born August 11, 1978- May 1, 2013) and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith (born Atlanta, January 10, 1979). They're best known for their single "Jump", which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992. The group had three further Top 20 hit singles in the United States - "Warm it Up", "Alright" and "Tonite's tha Night" - before disbanding in 1996.
They were found in 1991 performing at Lenox Mall in Atlanta, Georgia, by Jermaine Dupri. The duo's album, Totally Krossed Out, was released in 1992 and sold more than four million copies. It included the hit single "Jump", which stayed at number one on the Billboard charts for eight weeks. This landed them a spot on Michael Jackson's European tour that year as well as a cameo appearance in Michael Jackson's "Jam" video.
It became a short-lived fad for youth to wear their pants backwards.
1992, at the peak of their popularity, a video game was released starring the pair entitled Kris Kross: Make My Video. It was released on the Sega CD system, and consisted of the player editing together the groups music videos to 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 edit session to make sure to have certain footage compiled into the video. The game was released in the US only to very lackluster sales figures and dismal reviews. It was ranked 18th on Electronic Gaming Monthly's list of the 20 Worst Games of All Time.
In 1993, Kris Kross released their second album entitled Da Bomb, which went platinum. 1996 saw the release of their final album Young, Rich & Dangerous which went gold. By the end they stopped wearing their clothes backwards.
Kris Kross' popularity lead to a television commercial they starred in to advertise the soft drink Sprite in 1992–93, and guest spots on popular television shows such as A Different World and In Living Color.
After the group's demise, Kelly and Smith began writing and producing albums.
Featured in the Jermaine Dupri Top 25 Countdown on BET. Ranked as #25.
In 2007, the group had reunited, were working on different projects and still working for Jermaine Dupri. Chris Smith released his new album, Urbane Expressions sometime in 2008, the first single from his album was titled "Lady." Chris Kelly has his own label called C.Co records.
On 1st May 2013, Chris Kelly was found "unresponsive" at home. He died in a hospital in Atlanta later that day.
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