Kno
Death Is Silent

Stunning solo debut on independent label QN5 for Kno, the beatmaker of the Atlanta-based CunninLynguists. After reaching the peak with the Lynguists (each album better than the last, especially "A Piece of Strange"), the whitest of the trio does not change his style, made of sample's cut & paste and beats defying any possible human logic, but rather intensifies it with haunting atmospheres. 13 tracks for a total of 45 minutes where death and life - in this order - chase each other, catch up, and finally copulate only to abandon each other and start the chase again.

Being an artist devoted to a meticulous attention to detail, leaving nothing to chance, also the lyrics follow this theorem. With texts that are never banal and decently rapped, nothing transcendental but all composed, Kno is one of the few producers who are pleasant to listen to even in the emcee version. In the titles alone, the word "death" appears five times (explicitly or declined), and in the remaining ones, there are references to solitude, tears, rain, and even to the graveyard. However, in the individual tracks, the theme is brought back to other everyday life events, so no low-blow snubs and/or various spells, thank you. Among the guest appearances, the inevitable colleagues Deacon the Villain and Natti. The rest of the crew consists of QN5 artists (Substantial, Tonedeff) or otherwise part of the underground hip-hop scene (Tunji, Nemo Achida, Sheisty Khrist).

The beats, the strong point of the album (and of a whole decent rising career), follow dark directives of pure suggestion. The minimalist rhythms, dry and very clean, complement the - opposite - ethereal sampled melodies. Where the flute and chimes are not emotional and explicit enough, the synth carpet makes the matter more claustrophobic. I am increasingly convinced that the instrumental version of the album (I've also listened to that, yes indeed) might appeal even to fans of Scandinavian ambient or emo-electroacoustic-low-fi.

But I don't want you to misunderstand me, this is a Rap album. Produced by a great artist who is giving a lot to Rap.