Sunday, August 15, 2010

Top 10 Rappers: #5

#5: The Knux
Now these dudes are some crazy nerds from New Orleans.  They actually got displaced during Katrina and wound up in Los Angeles, making a big splash with their live instrument garage-rock and hip-hop skills (they were both in the school band in high school, playing brass).  What's cool is they do both; one track will feature the craziest flow you've ever heard and then the next one will be them trying to sound like The Strokes, which is kind of tight in a cutesy amateur way.  I tend to ignore those songs for the most part though.  It's kinda like when B.o.B does his whole acoustic guitar Keane bullsh**, it's like, "I don't care that you know how to use a capo!  Just stick to rap!"  They also have a kinda Outkast, sing-song rapping style, which is refreshing to hear these days, gotta love melody.  But seriously these guys know what they're doing in the rap/hip-hop department.  And they're live shows are phenomenal.  Here's a little snippet of an interview with them where they try to explain their ability to inject raw energy into their crowds:  

Krispy: Anytime we get invited to anything we goin' do it to
Krispy and Joey: 100%
Joey: No too cool for school sh*t, man.
Krispy: I don't give a f**k if we first, last, none of that extra, like, prima donna stuff.  Numbers that rock hard to ya nose, punk, old-school hip-hop, raw punch ya in the face aggression.

That pretty much sums it up.  Remember what I said before about Kanye and Dre not having the greatest lyrical prowess, but instead creating fantastic soundscapes with mass appeal?  The Knux do that... and rock the mic at the same time, making them a force to be reckoned with.  The best examples of this are their songs: "Bang! Bang!" "Cappuccino," and "The True."  They're all sonically pleasing while at the same time lyrically complex.  They're pretty funny, too.  One "Bang! Bang!" lyric goes: "Your job, yes, ya ho-jocker/ Put that pop on ya like Redenbacher!"  Seriously though, mastery: "Runnin from the rollers/ Heat is for haters up in the holsters/ Mash on these miniature mafia toy soldiers/ My purpose is to apply the pressure to pu**y ni**ers and puppets that perpetrate what I demonstrate he opposes/ I told ya/ Ripping them records like I'm supposed ta..." It goes on.  He has like seven more rhymes for the same word.  That was off "The True."  Keep an eye on these guys.  They're gonna be huge in a few years.  Pick up "Remind Me in Three Days..." if you haven't already.  

P.S.
Y'all should check out/download (for FREE) their new EP here: