If you’re up for explosive beats and some heart-piercing rhymes, then I strongly, vehemently, suggest you get acquainted with this week’s Spotlight Artist. He goes by the name K.A.A.N.—an acronym for Knowledge Above All Else, and the name alludes to his virtuoso approach to his music. He’s a Hip-hop prodigy, they say—and frankly, I believe them.
Already accomplishing notoriety in Hip-hop underground, Brandon Perry, began writing music only three years ago., two years recording after admitting to an immersion break spent entirely towards his wordsmithing.
Long story short, Perry’s self-hiatus reaped an artistic harvest, and it shows when asked about his style of writing: “I like the expressionistic part of music. Like how you can say the craziest thoughts, feelings, and emotions inside of you, put it in over instruments, put it out—and then you find there are people that feel exactly the same as you do. I spend all of my free time writing or recording. I work best when I’m just left alone, so I’m always isolated without any real human interaction, so it’s cool that I can be cut off from the world, but still be able to express myself and the way I feel”.
True artistry permits no shortcuts, and believe me, K.A.A.N.’s succeeds in this concept. Abstract Art features seventeen songs—most of which we’re initially scrapped and returned after intense tinkering—but are now defined as “so directly vulnerable and commanding that they feel channeled”.
And man, he wasn’t kidding about the whole relatable-factor he strives to master. Take his song “Antidope”, which flaunts as Perry’s take on Travis Scott’s hit single “Antidote”.
Take a look K.A.A.N.’s rhyming scheme: “Lately I haven’t been sleeping / I’m terrified that I’m falling off / I’ve been scheduled, ashamed that I lost it / Forgiving myself is a daunting task / Now I’m serving the vision / Slow down the rhythm, it’s easy to listen”. I don’t know about you, but not only do I find myself woven within the words, I find myself strangely uplifted.
And why shouldn’t a listener feel such way? K.A.A.N. himself attests to be a “voice for the voiceless”, not only aiming to be a distinct voice within the Hip-hop scene, but to embody the voice itself.
Indeed, his music attracts certain Kendrick Lamar-type moments, but at the core, what we get is pure, unobstructed, passionate, almost spiritual at times, masterpieces. That’s my way of saying: Dude, this guy’s the real thing—why aren’t you listening to him yet?
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
