As 2008 continues its crawl through February new music continues to bloom and pollinate our ears. Fresh artists are popping up from the ground, igniting the industry with vivid color and newfangled noise. One group, emerging from the tragic wreckage of Hurricane Katrina, has created quite a buzz with their new single "Cappuccino." A bouncy mix of drop-d hipster guitars, throwback claps, and twisting southern rhymes. They are Al Millio and Krispy-- better known as The Knux-- a "garage-hop" duo residing in the Hollywood Hills by the way of New Orleans.
Raised by their single mother in the New Orleans East neighborhood the two brothers were initially not even particularly close. I was like the nerd, into video games and stuff like that, says Al, And Krispy was more like, popular and into hanging out and girls. True to their often cantankerous relationship, Krispy begs to differ. Ah man, thats just how Al likes to say it, but that aint how it was, he says. Al was always a cool mufucka, its just that we didnt fuck with each other like that. In fact, though they shared the same roof, and the same interest in marching band (where they honed their playing prowess), the two ran in different circles in high school. Nas second album (It Was Written) was the first rap album that I really, really listened to, says Al, But the album that brought us together was the second Gravediggaz album (The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel). I bought that tape and wed just sit around after school listening to it all afternoon.
After gaining inspiration from various early 90's classics the dup began to write rhymes and eventually hooked up with an uncle who was a local producer and started making records. Just as their music hit a plateau The Knux was met with great adversity as Hurrican Katrina hit their hometown devastating their homes and putting them out into the streets. After losing their equipment, home, and all of their personal possesions The Knux moved to Houston. Soon after their demo met the hands of Paul Rosenberg's A&R man, Dart Parker, and the rest is history.
The group claims after moving to Los Angeles the vibe completely changed their outlook on their music. Once we got out to L.A. there was just such a different vibe, explains Al, And we were going to all the downtown clubs with fuckin socialite girls and, like, the so-called hipsters, and guys like Steve Aoki. It was a totally different scene from what we were used to in New Orleans and the music we started making just reflected that. The two wrapped the album during the summer of 07 and hit the road hard. We started by just inviting people over for house parties and performing the album on top of our couch, says Al, Thats how we knew what worked and what didnt. After a string of successful events at L.A. cool-guy emporiums the two got added as the opening act of Commons Finding Forever tour.
Riding the wave of positivity that they have received from their hit single The Knux are set to release their debut album, "Remind Me in 3 Days" (Interscope), which they claim is "the sledge hammer thats going to save the music." With a debut album where the duo plays their own instruments and is said to sound like a mix between Outkast, Juvenile, Tha Pharcyde, and The Strokes concurrently blasting, out of a drop-top Jag on Sunset Blvd. on a Saturday night in the summer (wrap your head around that)-- We say, why the hell not?
With their intriguing live shows, colorful personalities, and intelligent grip on what hip hop is supposed to sound like there is no doubt that The Knux...
Got Next.
