BDP were hugely influential in provoking political and social consciousness in Hip-Hop however they were sometimes overshadowed by the political hip hop group Public Enemy. Producer Lee Smith was dropped and KRS-One adopted "The Teacha" moniker and made a deliberate attempt at creating politically and socially conscious Hip-Hop.
While Criminal Minded contained vivid descriptions of South Bronx street life, BDP changed after Scott's death. The Bridge Wars, however, were only short-lived and after the death of Scott La Rock prior to the group's second album, KRS began to concentrate on consciously focused music. Boogie Down and KRS retorted angrily with songs like The Bridge is Over and South Bronx, which started one of the first notable hip hop wars as MC Shan, Marley Marl, Roxanne Shanté and Blaq Poet all released songs featuring verses personally attacking KRS and Scott La Rock. While the origins of hip-hop are believed to be from The Bronx, rival hip-hop group Juice Crew's lyrics were misunderstood to contain a claim in the song The Bridge that hip hop was directly a result of artists originating from Queensbridge. Boogie Down Production's D-Nice also discovered the caucasian rapper but mostly a popular rocker Kid Rock in 1987 and helped him get a deal with Jive Records in 1988. The group pioneered the fusion of dancehall reggae and hip hop music and their debut LP Criminal Minded contained frank descriptions of life in the South Bronx of the late 1980s thus setting the stage for what would eventually become gangsta rap.
The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the South Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded.
Boogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that originally comprised KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock.