A buddy called me the Sunday of South by Southwest, as I was lying in bed nursing my sonically-induced hangover. He wanted to know if I got the chance to see a group called the Knux.
The Knux?
He said they were playing a set somewhere around town that day. My bones were entirely too exhausted, so I passed it off as one of the 1,465 some odd acts I’d missed that weekend.
I’m still kicking myself for my March ignorance, because when I’d finally worked my way out of the post-SXSW despondency, I went to the trusty Internet to get the scoop on these Knux. Two brothers. Born in New Orleans. Displaced by Katrina. Moved out to Hollywood. On some sort of Cool Kids/De La Soul/Run-DMC aesthetic. Opened for Common during his 2007 Finding Forever tour. At the time they only had one song posted on their MySpace page, a track called “Cappuccino” that’s half Dungeon Family, half Delicious Vinyl. Their second single, “Bang Bang” just leaked. It’s one fresh-ass stomp New Orleans-bouncing its way around a Purple Ribbon All-Stars flow. Not much is out for the public to chew on yet, but what’s there has made a believer out of me. An album’s in the works, too: Remind Me in 3 Days (Interscope) drops October 14.
This article appears in July 25 • 2008.