Krispy Kream: Lemme tell you something, dog. In one of our interviews, the dude said everybody compares us to Bill Cosby; that we make some Bill Cosby-like statements.
TSS: Huh?
Krispy Kream: ‘Cause the shit be true. We say shit like, “Why is it White shit to be smart and free-thinking?” Why does it have to be White? So Black people are dumb? This is what I never get about artists. They call rappers who don’t do gangsta rap conscious rappers. So what are the other rappers, unconscious? Like, what the fuck?
TSS: That brings me to my next question, as far as labels and categories and stuff like that. How do you guys feel about getting tagged with the “hipster” label? Actually, how do you guys feel about being labeled at all?
Rah Almillio: You can know from just talking with us, dog. Labels… I’m not going to bitch about it ‘cause at the end of the day it’s like, if I bitch about it I’m kind of owning the fact that I’m a hipster or some ol’… whatever label they’re trying to put on us. I don’t even pay attention to it, dog. ‘Cause at the end of the day, the music is gonna speak for itself. But I will say this… it’s an ignorant statement if you label somebody by self-image. Now what I’m saying is, if you label “hipster rap” by saying “somebody in tight jeans,” what would you label the when the whole button-up era was in? “Executive rap?” What would you call that? We got to stop being so intoxicated with shit like that. Don’t get me wrong, I hate bullshit. I hate garbage music and that’s how I am. But I never, ever judge any style of music before I heard it. I’ve never done that before in my life. People, it’s like…they’re not listening.
Krispy Kream: They’re looking at the clothes and shit, dog.
Rah Almillio: I think the Knux is nothing like The Cool Kids. The Cool Kids ain’t nothing like Wale. Wale is nothing like Lupe. Lupe ain’t nothing like… all of it’s different. If you actually listened, it’s all different. It’s Hip-Hop. But the thing is, over the last six years, gangsta rap became Hip-Hop. So you’ve got to understand. That was two different things at one point. Gangsta rap and Hip-Hop was two different things. But now gangsta rap has become Hip-Hop. So anything outside of that is not Hip-Hop now; that’s what’s happening right now. If you ain’t talkin’ about kilos on the floor, lying about coke and shit like that, it’s not Hip-Hop.
If you remember back in the day, we was against that shit. Like, if the nigga come up talking about some shit and he ain’t lyrical, and he talkin’ about some crack and shit, we’d be like, “Son, you got to get the fuck out the cipher.” But now, it’s the other way around. You come lyrical and it’s like, “Man, look at these corny-ass niggas. He ain’t talkin’ about no real shit, he’s talkin’ about lyrics and shit.” Ummm….. that’s the purpose of Hip-Hop, lyricism and shit like that, you know what I mean? A Canibus? He could not survive these days. It couldn’t exist; that’s the problem.
Basically we are doing Hip-Hop, but we’re just bringing it back to the essence which is… you can have different fuckin’ styles of Hip-Hop and you can have a selection to pick from. You may feel like a Lupe day. I feel I’m in a Knux mood, I want something real genre-bending and I want to fuck with that shit. I want to fuck with Cool Kids, I want to fuck with straight nostalgic and kind of old-school… whatever. But you’ll always have different styles of music to pick from and I think that’s what’s going on right now. And a lot of people are scared of that change.
So they would rather lump it (in one category) and push it to the side before this shit becomes actual Hip-Hop, you know what I mean? It’s that fear of Hip-Hop being this and that’s why they push it off to the side and pass it off as something.
Krispy Kream: They’re scared this shit is going to be all Hip-Hop and there ain’t gonna be no (gangsta/street rap). They think that shit’s gonna be gone. That shit’s gonna still be around, man. All that shit can be on the same plane. We don’t want that shit to be gone. I like Young Jeezy, I’ma tell ya’all out my mouth: I like Young Jeezy. The whole point we mention is everything can exist on one plane. You don’t have to have one thing all day. People just want that monopoly Hip-Hop, as I call it; where one style of music just rules the whole fuckin’ (game). We’ve got to get out this box, man, and just open our minds more. I’m telling you, it’ll free us up to do so much more things in life.
TSS: Ya’all made an appearance on “Entourage.” You have any other plans as far as acting and the Hollywood side of things?
Rah Almillio: Actually, I wrote the treatment for (our video) “Bang Bang.” We have a production company. I think my bro Krispy is definitely going to explore acting. That’s a passion of his that he always wanted to do. I’m definitely into writing films and stuff. But we’ve got a lot of indie films in the works, as we’re speaking right now. Some of them are our music, some of them are comedies, some of them is just weird as shit. But all of them is in the works right now. So we definitely want to get into the film industry like, real big. I want it detached from the music, we’re getting into that. We’ve got two artists that we’re working with on our label; we’re almost finished with both of their albums. It’s two different styles of artists from each other. One of them is standard gangsta rap; he’s bringing some hard-ass shit. We’re talking ‘bout like It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, DMX’s first album. No jewelry, he ain’t talkin’ ‘bout none of that shit.
Krispy Kream: This nigga’s from one of the poorest places in America… this nigga’s from Flint, Michigan.
TSS: This nigga’s from one of the poorest places in America… this nigga’s from Flint, Michigan.
Rah Almillio: Black Flint. We got different things we’re dabbling with. I started an actual punk band on the side that I’m doing. Me and my brother’s putting an electronica album together that’s not going to be under The Knux. You know what I mean? We got different things we’re getting into early, we don’t want to wait later to start showing all these things.
Basically it’s all about how you market yourself, you know what I mean? If we came out just doing one way and later on we want to start showing these things, people won’t understand it. They’ll say, “What the fuck is The Knux on? Why they doing this and that?” That’s solely on marketing, knowing how to put yourself out there basically. We doing all this shit early in the game.
TSS: Cool. Ya’all were real thorough, I got a nice lil’ interview here. You have any parting shots for the Smoking Section readers out there?
Krispy Kream: Yeah, man. Fuck it… buy the album. You’re gonna have something good there.
Rah Almillio: And be yourself, man. Be yourself. That’s for everybody; journalists, deejays, artists, just do what you want to do.
Krispy Kream: See this Smoking Section interview? This was a real original interview. You came with the questions that people won’t never ask and guess what? I respect you for that. This is probably one of the better interviews I’ve had, dog.
TSS: Likewise, fam. Good lookin’ out.
WATCH – The KnuX – “Cappucino” Video | The KnuX – “Bang Bang” Video
Remind Me In 3 Days is in stores now. For more info, visit www.myspace.com/theknux.


Good read Khalid – I wish more of their worldview had seeped into their lyrics. Because how and what they spoke of is just how I pictured it to be.
Nice interview homey.
I’m really starting to like these cats. I’ve heard a few of their joints already, so I’mma check their album out.
It’s funny how ninjaz dissed the shit out of these dudes a couple of days ago in the album review post, now we get an interview? Ironic to say the least. Still, I bought their album and I dig it yo.
Great interview, Strick. For real. Everyone knows their music isn’t my cup of tea, but I can’t even hate on them for what they have to say. Very insightful. Thanks for this.
It’s funny how ninjaz dissed the shit out of these dudes a couple of days ago in the album review post, now we get an interview? Ironic to say the least. Still, I bought their album and I dig it yo.
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Diff writers, diff situations, diff perspectives.
I’m so-so about their music. It doesn’t make or break me. But I’ve read & seen plenty of interviews from them. They’re intelligent & articulate. I just wish they could somehow hook up some of the insights I’ve read with a beat.
@ Gotty: Couldn’t that be said about Plies? He comes across as an intelligent dude in the interviews that I’ve read, but his music is weak. These dudes make waaaaaaay better music.
“They’re intelligent & articulate. I just wish they could somehow hook up some of the insights I’ve read with a beat.”
^ agreed. I’ve read/skimmed a few interviews where they come across as extremely thoughtful, and I can see where we’d be on the same page as far as certain philosophies/opinions/perspectives or whatever…
Gotty, you said before that you’re more apt to support an artist(s) who has made a name for themselves in their hometown, and I tend to agree with you there…cuz if they haven’t made noise or an impact in the vicinity of their base of operations, how can we expect them to do so elsewhere, right?
so everybody out there, especially in Nawlins or L.A., do me a favor….go around and ask even the savviest of music heads who The Knux are…
so, these cats live in L.A. now, right? LC testified to the fact that they had a lukewarm response…
it seems like these cats dropped out of nowhere…what happened to grinding on the road like The Roots & Little Brother, steadily building up a fanbase…or cutting your teeth on the battle circuit in cyphers freestyling your ass off, or hitting up college (or, god forbid, Clear Channel or Radio One) radio shows to build up a buzz
only seasoned musicians should be putting out big projects and doing tours
we live in age where people have the means of doing just about anything if we put our mind to it…but that doesn’t mean all of us were blessed with the gift to make music that strikes a chord with people on a large scale…
test the waters first, find out what works and what doesn’t work WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE (instead of just the few like-minded people in your circle that are likely to be yes men), then refine your craft
I agree to a degree.
But if opportunity knocks, do you take it…or say “hold up, let me finish this list of chores first”?
^
Teef take’em to CHUUUUUUUCH.. !
“But if opportunity knocks, do you take it…or say “hold up, let me finish this list of chores first”?”
^ then that’s the risk one takes in making a good first impression
I’d love to see these cats win, cuz what’s in their hearts and minds seems good and genuine to me….I just wanna see these cats set themselves up for something longterm
you don’t just get on the flat bench and try to push up a bar with 2×45 lb.plates on both sides if you haven’t been there before
I’m listening to “…3 Days” now, which seems like the logical choice afetr listening to ‘Ye’s “808s…” lol
I guess it’s something you have to build up (or down) to
““But if opportunity knocks, do you take it…or say “hold up, let me finish this list of chores first”?””
like Sarah Palin having an opportunity to take a VP running mate spot and not being properly vetted….bad analogy?
^ Great analogy. I had no clue who she was before then…. and I’m sure there are a lot of other people who can co-sign that.
anyways…in no way would I put them in the same category as The Cool Kids…
they’re more Sa-Ra or Platinum Pied Pipers
I’mma give it some mo’ run and see if it grows on me, but it’s definitely some next shit, it’s worth a shot, and there’s definitely a time and place for this
thank god for filesharing
Great interview, freshest debut of the year… Love all the diff responses… You can catch The KNUX in a city near you with Q Tip/ Cool Kids…
BEST,
Dart Parker
I’mma give it some mo’ run and see if it grows on me, but it’s definitely some next shit, it’s worth a shot, and there’s definitely a time and place for this
thank god for filesharing
==============================
Amen.
on the subject of opportunity, i agree with gotty.
when high school athletes jump directly into the NBA or leave college early for the draft, critics say, “they should’ve stayed in college” & shit. sometimes they’re right, cuz for every success like K.G. & kobe you have a failure like eddy curry & kwame brown.
but when you’re a kid from a poor family, the future is uncertain, the NCAA cakes off you ain’t even giving you a stipend… you’re GONNA take that $2 million on the table from the NBA. period. you’d be a fool not to. yeah, eddy curry is a bum, but he’s set for life financially… all the boos & criticism in the world won’t change that.
anyone who claims that for artistic reasons, they’d refuse a lucrative deal from interscope, an opportunity to be on HBO’s “entourage,” and a chance to quit their day jobs & move their family out of the hood doing something they ENJOY… that person is either lyin’ or they don’t have a hustler mentality. it’s easy to be philosophical when there ain’t a pile of gwap on the table.
as for sarah palin? she’ll be running for prez in 2012, believe dat. for all the trouble she caused, she re-vitalized her party to a degree. millions of people voted against them, but don’t forget, millions of folks voted FOR them too.
;-]
Knux, Frosties, Special K
Same shyt !.. :) !
“But if opportunity knocks, do you take it… or say hold up, let me finish these chores?”
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I don’t think anyone can honestly tell anyone who has a chance to get their foot in the door not to take that chance. But once you get in, you have to take it upon yourself to hone your craft. With these 360 deals that record labels are trying to hit cats with, record labels are not developing their artists. That’s why it seems like new acts are falling out of the sky. They get some internet buzz and have “swag”( I just vomitted while typing that. Clean up aisle 6) They will have an album out as fast as lil kim’s fake boob can fall out her dress.
I like “F!re” a lot, the rest of the album is lukewarm, but they have a lot of promise. I hope they stick around for a while.
these guys r bullshit..somone needts to slap these kids int he face with a copy of schooly d psk or ice t killers…gangster rap has ALLWAYS been hiphop