40 Fun Facts About Kris Kross

Kris Kross, the teen duo behind "Jump", famously wore their jeans and jerseys in which unusual way?

Backward was the whole look, from baseball caps to baggy jeans. Chris Kelly reportedly kept wearing his pants that way long after the hits stopped.

Which Queen classic, revived by Wayne's World, did "Jump" by Kris Kross keep at number two in 1992?

Bohemian Rhapsody re-entered the Hot 100 after 16 years and climbed higher than it had in 1976, only to stall behind two 13-year-olds.

Kris Kross spent summer 1992 opening the European dates of the Dangerous World Tour for which superstar?

Michael Jackson took the duo on the road months after their debut single came out, and gave them a cameo in his "Jam" video beside a basketball legend.

The Kris Kross debut album took its producer two years, but roughly how long did writing "Jump" take him?

About half an hour is all he says the song needed. The idea came from watching crowds bounce at concerts and wanting a chant that everybody could join.

Kris Kross performed "It's a Shame" in a guest spot on which college sitcom spun off from The Cosby Show?

A Different World, set at the fictional Hillman College, booked the duo at the height of their fame, during its sixth and final season.

Kris Kross recorded an exclusive rap and shot a TV commercial in 1993 for which lemon-lime soft drink?

Sprite signed the pair for a full campaign, with a photoshoot alongside the rap and the TV spot, the year after "Jump" spent eight weeks at number one.

Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith and Chris Kelly of Kris Kross grew up as school friends in which US city?

Atlanta was home and stayed central to the story: their producer was a local teenager, and their last show together was at the Fox Theatre there in 2013.

Where were Chris Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith spotted by the producer who turned them into Kris Kross?

A shopping mall, Greenbriar, is where the boys were buying sneakers and asking a local rap trio for autographs. The trio's young producer was standing nearby.

Which producer, still a teenager when Kris Kross were discovered, wrote and produced the duo's hit "Jump"?

Jermaine Dupri was about 18 when he found the pair. He went on to make hits with Usher and Mariah Carey and entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.

Which Red Hot Chili Peppers ballad peaked at number two behind "Jump" by Kris Kross in 1992?

Under the Bridge is still the band's highest-charting single. Anthony Kiedis nearly kept the lyric, about loneliness after getting clean, to himself.

"Jump" by Kris Kross had the longest run at number one since which 1983 hit by The Police?

Every Breath You Take also spent eight weeks on top, in the summer of 1983. Nothing matched it for nine years, until two 13-year-old rappers did.

For their harder 1993 album Da Bomb, Kris Kross borrowed the West Coast sound popularised by which producer?

Dr. Dre's album The Chronic was less than a year old when the duo borrowed its laid-back funk. Da Bomb went platinum, against four-times platinum for their debut.

Kris Kross appear in the video for "Hat 2 da Back", a single by which baggy-clothed girl group?

TLC shared the duo's taste for oversized clothes, and the video's plot has a man daydreaming about the trio in tighter outfits than the ones they chose.

Kris Kross make a cameo in the 1993 comeback video "Down with the King" by which pioneering rap trio?

Run-D.M.C. were heroes to the pair, who grew up rapping along to the trio's records before they ever thought of making their own.

Which Chicago rapper, later rap's first platinum solo woman, made her recording debut on Kris Kross's second album?

Da Brat met the duo as her prize for winning a rap contest, and they introduced her to the producer who went on to sign her.

Which R&B singer, later of "Try Again" fame, sang background vocals on Kris Kross's "Live and Die for Hip Hop"?

Aaliyah was born within a week of Chris Smith in January 1979, so singer and rapper were both still teenagers when they recorded together.

Which Jamaican dancehall deejay sings the chorus of "Alright", the lead single from Kris Kross's second album?

Super Cat had already worked with the pair on a remix of "Jump". Before settling on that name he performed as Cat-A-Rock and the Wild Apache.

Which Kris Kross single followed "Jump" in 1992 and also reached number one on Billboard's rap chart?

Warm It Up made it two rap chart-toppers in a row from the debut album, with a video by the same director as the clip for "Jump".

Which TV show hosted a 1992 Kris Kross performance of "Jump" that helped send the single racing up the charts?

In Living Color gave the duo a prime-time slot when the single had been out for weeks and was going nowhere. Within a month it was number one in America.

Which 1969 Motown hit, one of hip-hop's most borrowed records, is sampled in "Jump" by Kris Kross?

I Want You Back has been sampled more than 90 times, by artists including Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G., and is one of several records woven into the track.

The producer who found Kris Kross says the boys could not rap yet, so what about them impressed him?

Their style turned every head in the building, he recalled: fresh sneakers and gear almost better than his own, on two kids not yet in their teens.

According to Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith's family, which relative of his came up with the name Kris Kross?

His mother, Angela Smith, says she borrowed it from a teacher's rhyming nickname for Chris Kelly, a boy who ate little apart from applesauce.

Kris Kross's Chris Smith and Chris Kelly, both 13 when "Jump" hit number one, had been friends since which school stage?

First grade is where it began, and Smith once described the two of them as twins who simply do not look alike.

Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith of Kris Kross later founded Urbane Muse, which is what kind of business?

A fashion brand with a lifestyle slant, Urbane Muse sold his clothing and accessories and also carried his 2023 solo album, SMITH, Vol. 1.

Kris Kross gave their final performance in 2013 at a concert marking 20 years of which record label?

So So Def was their producer's label, and the anniversary show at the Fox Theatre came just over two months before Chris Kelly died at 34.

Which single from Kris Kross's third album gave them their highest Hot 100 placing since "Jump", reaching number 12?

Tonite's tha Night was a slow jam built on a sample of Faze-O's "Riding High", and it gave the pair their fourth number one on the rap chart.

Kris Kross: Make My Video, often listed among the worst games ever made, came out in 1992 for which system?

Sega CD owners were asked to re-edit three of the duo's music videos from stock clips, a concept that sold badly and was savaged by critics.

Kris Kross and Marky Mark each fronted a Make My Video game in 1992, as did which chart-topping rock band?

INXS got the same treatment for three songs from the album Welcome to Wherever You Are, and all three games flopped with critics and buyers alike.

In which country was "Jump" by Kris Kross held at number two by the dance cover "Please Don't Go" by KWS?

The United Kingdom was one of six European countries where the single stalled one place short, though it did reach number one in Ireland and Switzerland.

"Jump" by Kris Kross samples "Funky Worm", a 1973 number-one R&B hit by which funk band?

Ohio Players keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morrison played the song's high-pitched synthesizer solos, which went on to become a staple of hip-hop sampling.

Billboard's review of "Jump" said Kris Kross would draw comparisons to which young group behind "Iesha"?

Another Bad Creation had reached the top ten a year earlier with "Iesha" and "Playground", and the first verse of "Jump" takes a swipe at them.

Kris Kross were nominated for Best New Artist at the 1993 Grammys but lost to which "Tennessee" hip-hop group?

Arrested Development became the first hip-hop act to win the award, and also beat "Jump" to the Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group.

Kris Kross recorded for which label, co-founded by Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, that also released the Fugees?

Ruffhouse Records signed the duo in 1991 after Nicolo was reportedly won over by "Lil' Boys in da Hood", a song about inner-city life from two kids who never cursed.

Kris Kross have a cameo in which 1993 comedy starring Yo! MTV Raps host Ed Lover as a Harlem barber?

Who's the Man? was the first feature film directed by Ted Demme, and it found room for cameos from many of the era's top rap acts.

Which Kris Kross single has a horror-spoof video in which their producer plays a judge in a courtroom wig?

I Missed the Bus turns a late morning into a nightmare, with a dancing zombie at the wheel and a schoolteacher who has the eyes of a fly.

Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith's verse on the Kris Kross single "Alright" hits back at which rival Philadelphia group?

Da Youngsta's had mocked the pair for topping the charts with rhymes they did not write, and Smith's reply name-checks one of the trio's own singles.

Which Village Voice critic, creator of the Pazz & Jop poll, named "Jump" by Kris Kross his single of 1992?

Robert Christgau also gave the album an A-minus and put the follow-up single fourth on the same list. The wider poll of critics ranked "Jump" third.

Which rapper raised in Newark, New Jersey, guests on the remix of the first single from Kris Kross's third album?

Redman rapped on the remix, while the original mix, with Trey Lorenz on background vocals, went gold and topped the rap chart.

Billboard ranked "Jump" by Kris Kross at number 34 on its 2024 list of the 100 greatest what?

Jock jams are the songs that arenas play to fire up a crowd. The same magazine also placed the track among its 500 best pop songs of all time.

After Kris Kross, Chris Kelly founded C Connection Records and went back to school to study which subject?

Audio engineering kept him close to the studio, and away from music he helped to run a daycare centre with his family.