What The Knux? ('Roo Preview)

In light of Bonnaroo announcing their schedule - I'm continuing with my 'Roo Preview and countdown of artists SUPERGOOD thinks are super good. The Knux, hailing from New Orleans, blend of rap has been a favorite on my speakers since I first heard the album "Remind Me In 3 Days..."

With clear influences from Outkast and The Pharcyde, and a style that embraces a little bit of a rocker's swagger, it surprises me that The Knux didn't explode more off of "Remind Me in 3 Days..." Honestly, it was one of my favorite records of 2008. From "Bang, Bang!" - the Entourage trailer track to "Cappuccino" to "Powder Room" there were a bunch of bangers touching on subjects not often visited by rappers toeing a line close to pop-hop.

"Daddy's Little Girl" and "Powder Room" survived several years in my i-pod and made a return in 2011 when the duo dropped a leak from their second LP, "She's So Up", on Consequence of Sound in early February. The new material definitely has much more of a rock underpinning to it as heard in the driving guitar riff, but still possesses a catchy hook and their creative flow.

Very exciting to have these two brothers (Kentrell "Krispy" Lindsey and Alvin "Joey" Lindsey) on the 'Roo line-up - and at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night no less. What a great way to kick off the first night considering they were all the rage of the 2009 festival season (although they didn't perform at that many of them) and are well known for their intense and riveting live performances.

Just like The Knux bubbled up out of New Orleans and seemed to escape the west coast until their songs were synched with some popular TV shows (Entourage) and films (Harold & Kumar), another act from the southeast that should be popping up on the radar for everyone else soon is Weapons of Audio.

Those boys (and brothers as well) hail from North Carolina and have a sound that is one part The Knux, one part Prince, a little bit of Outkast and a cup of something new. Their synthesized soul or synthesized hip-hop soul is plain dope. Sadly, Weapons of Audio are not on Bonnaroo's line-up this year (or anyone else's festival line up either). That said, I promise they should be.

I've checked out some of their tracks on their facebook page after learning that they'd recorded with Grammy nominated Graham Marsh (the producer behind Cee-Lo's Bright Lights Big City) and from there, I just fell in love. You can fall in love with them too and then beg your local talent buyers to bring them to your city. Check them out on their facebook page and be sure to listen to "If You Want Me" if you want to hear the Prince influences; here is a video for their song "Boulevard" from their debut release "Bipolar".