Remind Me In 3 Days (Interscope)
Judging from the first seconds of The Knux’s debut album, Remind Me in 3 Days (Interscope), gauging the group's fitness as hip hop artists is a doomed enterprise, if only because they do and do not fit, traditionally speaking. On a whim, The Knux, made up of rapping brothers, Krispy Kream and Rah Al Million, merit membership within the alternative hip hop sect occupied by the likes of Mickey Factz and Kidz in the Hall. Their music is an attempt to make them immune from category, and if hipsters have any say, they can secede from hip hop.
Signed by Interscope in 2006, home to 50 Cent and Eminem, principle alone would seemingly point to hip hop stardom. The brothers are nimble lyricists, delivering raps in catch-me-if-you-can fashion, exercising little patience but encouraging repeated listens. None of the 17 tracks sound pretentiously alike. But borrowing riffs from electric guitars and electronic patterns from Euro club music, the album lacks direction; dwelling in sexual apostasy at times. "Powder Room" and "Parking Lot", for example, are tastelessly crude but perhaps failingly honest. These moments are rare and outnumbered by thoughtful retreats into hope ("Shine a Light") and black life ("Wake the Fuck up").
As rappers, the Knux might be as limited as their reach, a consequence of their unorthodox approach. But as ambassadors they are capable of bringing us closer to a broadening hip hop world where guitars and gangsters co-exist.
Remind Me In 3 Days hit stores 10/28/08
The Track Listing for Remind Me In 3 Days
1. The List
2. F!RE (Put It In The Air)
3. Bang! Bang!
4. Cappuccino
5. Roxxanne
6. Daddy's Little Girl
7. The Train
8. Shine Again
9. Life In A Cage (Electric)
10. Pea Knuckle skits
11. Powder Room
12. Parking Lot
13. Hush
14. Wake The Fuck Up
15. Playboys
16. The True
17. Lights Camera Action
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