Anybody can pick up a mic and steal another artist’s flow, but only real rappers can make an immediate impact.

While watching the A Different World episode “Original Teacher,” I saw Chris Kelly and Chris Smith play two troubled teens mentored by Dwayne Wayne. Those not into rap music saw them as actors. The rest of the world knew them as Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac of Kris Kross.

Their group name described them perfectly, because everything about the young guys was ‘totally crossed out’, which was also the name of their debut album.

Kris Kross was the youngest hip-hop group in charge in the ‘90s

“We came out kicking the mad flavor,” Chris Smith told the New York Times Service in 1992. Smith and Kelly were discovered by record producer Jermaine Dupri at a mall in Atlanta. They were only 13 years old during the interview.

“Kris Kross means up is down, left is right, and the inverse is the adverse. That’s who we are. That’s why we wear our clothes this way,” Smith added.

The duo signed a deal with Ruffhouse Records and released their debut album, Totally Krossed Out, produced by Dupri. It became 4x platinum, selling four million copies in the United States, and included the hit single “Jump,” which became the first rap song to top the Billboard Hot 100 for two months.

The boys landed a spot on Michael Jackson’s European leg of the 1992 Dangerous Tour to capitalize on their success. They also appeared in music videos for artists such as Jackson, Run-D.M.C., and TLC.

After a few more television appearances, they moved into electronics — creating a video game, Kris Kross: Make My Video, for Sega’s CD system. Their success was among the fastest for artists their age, breaking records even the adults couldn’t.

Header image credit: Columbia Records/Ruffhouse Records