Artist of the week: Kirk Knight

ハッピー・フライデー！This week I'm bringing a dose of some hip-hop to your life, in the form of Kirk Knight, a member of the Pro Era rap group. Other members of Pro Era have been overshadowed by Joey Bada$$, but nevertheless Kirk Knight should not be overlooked. He has a new project about to come out, titled Late Knight Special. Despite the cheesy track title puns with his name, LKS is a very solid album with fantastic production. Give it a listen through NPR right here:
 

First and foremost, Kirk Knight is a producer and his work on this album is nothing short of beautiful. His mission on the album is to take the listener on a sonic journey through space and the trippy, layered beats on the tracks absolutely back up this aesthetic. Some of the tracks, such as "Brokeland", exude the influence of Flying Lotus, but Knight's percussion leans towards snappier, boom-bappier danceability rather than FlyLo's ethereal trance. This a savvy record to be sure, with some clubbier numbers sprinkled throughout, such as the smooth "One Knight". My favorite track on the album is probably "Dead Friends", which features production help from the exploding Thundercat (of To Pimp A Butterfly fame). The track rolls slickly along like a recently paved street and also includes an absolutely killer verse from Noname Gypsy, who is making a habit of killing her guest spots lately. As a bonus, since I lazily just embedded the whole album, you should listen to Joey Bada$$'s killer track "Christ Conscious". Watch out for the dope Dragonball Z reference in the first verse: