Review: Late Knight Special - @KirkKnight; A Niles P. Joint

Over the past few years, Hip Hop has seen a resurgence of young dual threat emcees/producers. I have been watching three in particular, and since I’ve already covered Bishop Nehru and Raz Fresco, it’s time to analyze the final section of this three headed monster. Kirk Knight cut his teeth with a membership in Brooklyn collective Pro Era, specifically producing for Joey Bada$$’ major label debut. His production style fit Pro Era’s signature Beast Coast grime and he showed skills as a budding rapper. Somewhat surprisingly, Knight decided to forego the mixtape route and dropped Late Knight Special as his debut album. My boy Ramsey previewed it earlier and now I’m here to bat cleanup and check it out in depth.

Since Knight’s body of work isn't as long as peers’ as of yet, this serves as his long-form introduction to the world on the solo tip. He starts out with a celestial sound on both Start Running and Heaven Is For Real. The former makes good use of a vocal sample about teleportation music through harps, with a standout bassline and great drums. Speaking of great drums, the snare is excellent on the latter. I think there’s also an uncredited by Kris (formerly T’Nah Apex.) Both show a great scope of his beatmaking talent. Kirk gets straight hype/gutter on Brokeland which was the first single released some time ago. It’s very ODB/Wu Tang inspired, or so it seems. The hardcore aesthetic continues on 5 Minutes which features team captain Joey Bada$$. The horror movie piano works as it creates a soundscape that is somber yet has replay value. Joey complements the song without overshadowing his boy. Thus far, the songs have stylistically come in pairs.
   
Here’s where things go off the rails though. Knight Time is a turn up type track. It has the dreaded machine gun drums that I hate and is a 180 degree turn in approach. One Knight (Kirk really likes wedging his name into song titles) has very good guitar work but the beat is too busy and is the obligatory smooth single. This would be forgivable but he goes down the same route THREE SONGS IN A ROW with Scorpio and Down. They’re almost interchangeable and mostly forgettable. At this point the album feels more like a collection of songs than anything truly cohesive. More on this later.


Mick Jenkins shows up on I Know which is decent but suffers from drums that use too many modern motifs. The hi-hats are just distracting, which is a shame because the rest of the song is dope. Chicago is in the house again along with L.A. in the form of guest spots from Noname Gypsy and Thundercat on Dead Friends. It’s just what it says it is, a sentimental reflection on dead friends. Noname continues to slay every guest appearance she sees and Thundercat lays down some glorious guitar riffs. The Future features this guy called The Mind who is apparently some sort of genetic hybrid between Kid Cudi and Chance The Rapper vocally. Despite the guest’s style biting, Kirk lays down some solid reflective bars. The album closes with All for Nothing. It’s probably the best song on the album and gives the best indication of Kirk Knight’s potential talent on the mic and behind the boards. It’s a very intricate song both instrumentally and flow-wise as he switches it up within the song without it sounding gimmicky at all.
   
I mentioned before that this album was kind of all over the place It seems like Kirk Knight was torn between pleasing the older fans who liked his crew’s classic style and the younger ones in his age bracket who enjoy trap/drill music to get them hype. It’s good that Knight strives to be versatile but at the same time you can’t help but notice that the album is almost broken up into thirds, with each one sounding different than the others. Editing and song sequencing plays a big part in this gaffe; the album as a whole doesn’t have one consistent vibe. This is compounded because he went for broke and released a studio album before wading into the treacherous waters of the rap game with a mixtape or EP first. Even his crew mates have treaded lightly instead of immediately diving in.
   
At the same time, you have to remember that Late Knight Special is still his first solo project. While ultimately disjointed, it does have some gems that show what he’s capable of both as an emcee and producer. This album is ambitious if nothing else. The wetness behind his ears will go away and the ride will be smoother the next time around. It’s a testament to the adventure of youth when the world was infinitely possible and you could try everything once before settling down. While it didn’t always work, Kirk Knight has more than enough musical prowess to hammer out an enduring berth in Hip Hop.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Listen: Nothin' - Kris (@MahnameChrist); A Niles P. Joint

     Earlier this year, T’Nah Apex of Brooklyn was set to release her first EP Mint and throw the obligatory release party.  She had some strong buzz based off of numerous collaborations with the likes of Buckshot and Chelsea Reject.  She was always a staff favorite at WTM and me and my editor Ramsey were always floored by her boundless potential, drawing tentative Lauryn Hill comparisons.  Then for reasons that are still unknown the project and party were cancelled at the last minute.  Compounding the confusion was the fact that she changed her stage name from T’Nah Apex to Kris and denounced some of her former content (particular the 47 symbol used by her former crew Pro Era.)  It was unclear where she was headed musically.

Fortunately for all of her fans and the game in general, Kris has returned and blessed us with new music.  Nothin’ is heavily inspired by the classic track Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’ New by The Roots.  Kris earns her stripes as a triple threat as she’s the producer in addition to her usual credits as emcee and singer.  She hasn’t lost a step at all after her sabbatical, using a flow that breezes between rapping and singing.  The song is though-provoking and simultaneously easy to groove to.  It’s a great song and will both announce her return and introduce her incredible musical skill set to a new audience.  I hope she builds off this and continues her musical journey.  WTM will be watching her career with great interest.  Check it out after the break.

Editorial: #InCaseYouMissedItMonday - #CMPLX by @ChelseaReject

Niles implemented a great new segment for the site, In Case You Missed It Monday. With a year like the one we've had it's been tough to keep up with the music and quality like Chelsea Reject's CMPLX could fall through the cracks. That's where we pick up the slack. Without any further adieu let's get to it.

Chelsea Reject at Black Bear Bar BK

CMPLX is a lot different that her previous project Radi-8. Different in a good way. When the WTM crew went to see her in Williamsburg a few months back we got to hear a few of the tracks before they released. I'm a firm believer in the saying "Timing is key." Chelsea Reject has the keyring. In a first project you want to show off your own skills as an emcee. In the second, you have more leeway as far as creative freedom and features. CMPLX sees appearances from Pro Era affiliates like Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, Dyemond Lewis, and CJ Fly. Atownomas and the artist formerly known as T'Nah Apex (now Kris) are frequent collaborators and the trend continues for this project.

The project starts with Bam Bam. Although it's a minute long its a short but sweet goodie that samples the old Sister Nancy track of the same name. Need This was a track she performed at her show. It's nice to see this one made the final cut. 47 features Kirk Knight and Kris. The overall theme refers back to the forth and seventh chakras (the heart and mind for those of you who haven't read into it). 47 is the alignment of the heart and mind and their struggle to do different things. Chelsea and Kirk both spit about their own struggle to rise above it all. Kris lays the word on the hook as well. She keeps the mood kinda dark with the next track Closer. I briefly broke it down when the video released here. Everything's Change is another single we heard before the project dropped. Life as an emcee in the limelight changes you or the people around you. Either way, the Brooklynite spelled it out for us. I recently found out there was a video for that song.

Chelsea Reject (center), Kris (Left), & CJ Fly (right) performing Go

 The next track, Go is the oldest and probably the best track on the album. Go sees assists from Kris and one of the forefathers of the Era in CJ Fly. Opinionated but Fly's verse is arguably the best on the entire project. A few months back Niles covered the video here (random sidebar: trumpet man in the video, I swear I see him at every show I go to in the city). Hipster Wine is next up. This might be the only miss on the album. The production was decent, but together with lyrics it seemed all over the place and rushed. I do like that Chelsea does have a underrated singing voice and does well singing her own hooks. I'm not saying the song is a skip but if it were not on the project I'd have the same feeling towards it. Simple is a nice change of pace. It kind of serves like a interlude because of it's length. I really like the sample in this Kxngs production. Chelsea shows some heart and telling her significant that she doesn't need a lot, just simplicity. Make You A Fan shows a more confident side. Nyck Caution joins Chelsea with one objective: "Make you dance to the music." Planet Namek features Kris again. I don't know why I enjoy this song so much but it's just my favorite. Although she kept it a buck on this, I enjoyed the trip back to my childhood thinking about Dragonball Z and more specifically the Frieza Saga references. Speaking of trips that's the theme of the track. Reject is trying to go somewhere far away from her parental issues among other topics Kris does a great job on the hook as the songs momentum increases.

The mood changes again with So High. Atownomas features on this pregame jam. I swear this track sounds so good through car speakers. With that being said I expect the radio station DJs to take advantage of this for the summer. Viiibes features Dyemond Lewis. This is a perfect follow up for So High as the topic of discussion is the same. We can expect the same vibe for Spacey (see what I did there). Spacey features Jean Deaux singing the hook. The production sounds almost futuristic but smooth. Tree follows up with a Reject sermon on hypocrites who continue to throw rocks at glass houses. Far Away is the next song. Once again Chelsea does a great job vocally singing as well as her flow rapping. She closes out the project with Burning Bridges.

All in all CMPLX was dope. We see a deeper side of Chelsea that we didn't get in her first compilation. Although it started slow it definitely finished strong. I have a love hate with the features. They were great for her and they also didn't completely upstage her. At the same time it sounds like it's Chelsea Reject and Kris (formerly T'Nah) project like they are a duo. That's not entirely a bad thing. They compliment each other so well in studio and live that they'd be foolish not to work together. The tape is as the title states, complex. Chelsea Reject shows examples of a lot of self evaluation as a person on the tape, a lesson I think we all could learn from. CMPLX recieves 4.2 of 5 stars on the Ramsey Rating Scale. You can stream it, in its entirety below via soundcloud or Spotify.

Chelsea Reject with Editor Jonathan Ramsey

 

**All photos taken by Jonathan Ramsey