Knucky "POV" Review
Dropping before the heat started to kick in, Knucky gives us a sizzling sample of what’s to come around the Twin Cities this summer.
The Southside emcee and founder of YOUNGTRIBE ENT delivers a 6 track project including production from Andre Mariette, Pablo, Rich Lee, Mr. Parker, and engineered by Eric Griffen. Knucky sifts through the worth of work and the bitterness of corruption. His desire for generating income is at constant odds as he’s well aware of the fruits of labor on the streets while also knowing the risk. On the other hand, while a life opposite of the streets provides a few comforts, it can have you moving forward on a treadmill that’s unfairly fixed, causing Knucky to run in place. Knucky shares his balancing act of attempting to not fall off the capitalist tight rope. Instead of looking up at the dramatics from afar, Knucky lets you see it from his perspective: From all the way up, looking down.
Out With The Old - In With the New
Knucky starts out POV with a trunk knocker. Sounding like Big K.R.I.T of the north, Knucky bounces his flow and exposes the people who didn’t turn their head with his last batch of music. Knucky flexes his skill and his experience in the game. Where he stands now, he can certainly see the snakes from this angle.
Knucky is all about money in the second track, “In a Minute.” Simple but potent bell synths contrasting the low rumble of the bass make this second track loaded with vigor. Rolling in his girls’ Honda Civic, Knucky collects the cash and rolls wherever his phone shows him more.
““I’m busy chasing back,
So that’s why you can’t find me.””
Capitalist Corruption - A Rock and a Hard Place
Turning down the wrong road, Knucky comes to realize all money is blood money on “Corruption.” Knucky airs out his grievances towards the systems that slighted him, leaving little trust or hope in the process.
Baltimore-born emcee King Los joins Knucky in speaking out about the injustices starting within his circle and extending all the way to the White House. King Los puts anyone and everyone on blast as corruption has a way of showing more and more suspects. This track comes in as one of my favorites. The commentary Knucky and King Los provides is always in demand, and their demands go for the neck.
“We built this country,
And we don’t even run shit”
This fourth installment on POV is my favorite track. “Make the Most” slows the project down as Knucky tries to balance the volatilely of his peaks and valleys. The grind has grounded Knucky’s hope into apathy. With hopelessness ever-looming, Knucky just makes the most of every day he has. The soft fluttering of flutes matches with a semi-trap drum combination. The guest appearance of Mista Maeham fits like a puzzle piece to the subtle trance of a song.
The penultimate track starts with words of wisdom from Reefa Rei. The necessity of work and really reaching for your goals encompass Reefa’s time on the mic. This track’s sound hints at nostalgia as Knucky talks about his hardships of childhood lasting till the present as he decides which way he’ll barely scrape by.
“Do I get a 9-5/
Or hit the block and sell this weight?
Those were my choices/
Cause where I’m from, there ain’t a lot of options.
My hood like Gotham, No Batman, but a lot of robbin’.”
Pipe Dreams
With the help of Why Khaliq, Knucky looks back at the decisions he’s made that negate his dreams coming to fruition. He’s still uncertain which route to take to survive. Either way, hopelessness and apathy creep around every corner. With senseless violence in his neighborhood never seeming to end and the economic ladder’s steps becoming ever steep, Kucky’s goals transform into wishful thinking as they become pipedreams.
“Like animal control,
I’m seeing people catching strays.”
Pipedreams - Stuffed and Smokin’
In the 17 minutes it takes to listen to POV, Knucky shares his shortcomings and struggles on his way up the ladder, no matter how bloody each step seems to be.
However unattainable his dreams might look, Knucky brushes off the dirt and continues to climb as his music shows his insatiable hunger for a better life on his own terms.
Listen to POV on Spotify or wherever you stream your music:
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Review by: Paul Thorson, Hip-Hop Writer @PaulyT03
Edited by: Eric Martin, Writer/Assistant Editor @eamartin95