Kris Kross Rapper To Receive Honor At Hip-Hop Gala

Former Kriss Kross rapper Chris Kelly will be honored in Atlanta, Ga., at the first annual Live and Die for Hip-Hop Black Out gala.

Photo: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jonathan Phillips/AP

Performing on stage at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta during the So So Def 20th Anniv. Concert.

The event will pay tribute to the life of Kelly, who died last year from a suspected drug overdose. The gala will take place Saturday night at the Woodruff Arts Center.

Kelly formed Kris Kross with Chris Smith, who is known as “Daddy Mac.” The group’s most successful song was the 1992 hit “Jump,” which became a No. 1 smash in the United States and globally.

The gala will be hosted by Ed Lover, rapper Lil Wayne’s daughter Reginae Carter and The Three Brown Girls.

Proceeds from the gala will go to music scholarships for students at the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media, which was Kelly’s alma mater.