It wasn't yet night when bullets ripped through the car. Scott Sterling was the only casualty. He wasn't even involved in the altercation - he'd tagged along at the behest of a friend, working as a mediator. His work as Scott La Rock, the DJ and producer for South Bronx rap outfit Boogie Down Productions, was indispensable in crafting the group's debut, Criminal Minded, a true classic of the then-young genre. His death would irreversibly change both the direction of the group and the work of its emcee, KRS-One.

By All Means Necessary, the group's sophomore LP, was released nine months after Sterling's death. Entirely written, performed and produced by KRS-One, it exists in the shadow of the murder. KRS had already founded the Stop the Violence Movement after the death of a fan at a joint show with Public Enemy, and his resolve was only strengthened by Sterling's untimely passing. He used this trauma to turn out an uncommonly dense and serious record, seen by many as a "landmark of political rap."

Confronting issues such as rampant gun violence, needless gangsta posturing, the impending AIDs crisis and the ethical failures of the United States Government, By All Means Necessary was a strong refutation of the gangsta themes that underpinned Criminal Minded. The album art suggests as much: whilst their debut featured menacing gun-wielding, the sophomore album makes clear reference to Malcom X's famous 1964 Ebony photoshoot, which shows the civil rights leader holding a carbine whilst defending his property. KRS-One's shift from attacker to defender was a watershed moment - adopting the alias of 'The Teacher,' his political activism would come to define him.

Now, three decades later, we look back at the samples that underpinned KRS-One's political reeducation. With all aspects handled by the sole emcee, By All Means Necessary is a testament to the leaps and bounds made by hip hop during the late eighties.