There's no shortage of Knxwledge music to be consumed - his Bandcamp page has amassed over a hundred tapes - but we infrequently receive a cohesive LP from him. The enigmatic producer's last proper album was also his debut, Hud Dreems, which released via Stones Throw in 2015. The tapes he dumps on Bandcamp and the songs he sprinkles on SoundCloud tend to be edits of other artists' material - whether it be a reworking of Musiq Soulchild's discography or an exhuming of old Meek Mill freestyles scattered online.
While it may be more ideal to listen to the singles from Knxwledge's forthcoming album, 1988, in the context of the complete project when it drops on March 27, you can still enjoy a two-pack of them today. "Dont Be Afraid" is a pitched-up sample of plaintive vocal, flipped into a heavy and lethargic beat. On "[Bc] Tm_S Not Promised", Knxwledge overlays frantic cries of fired shots on the block with wistful piano chords. These tracks will be the first two on 1988, whose tracklist reads out as a motivational message. Learn the album's fascinating origin story extracted from its press release below.
"[Knxwledge's] prolific output began early. 1988 takes its name from the fact that much of the new record was created that very year, when Knx was an infant. As the story is told, little baby Knx was left alone by his mother for just a few moments and crawled to a family member’s vintage SP–12 sampler. When his mother returned he had already produced his first beats and nearly mastered the machine. These tracks, all produced before nap time while rocking a Nike diaper, were stored over the years on floppy discs, then brought to his studio in recent months where they were finished up, mixed, and mastered."
