Stones Throw US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: It's taken a while, but finally Knxwledge has delivered the follow-up to his "official" debut album, 2015's "Hud Dreems". A concept album of sorts - the tall tale behind it being that the beats were created in 1988 by an infant version of our musical hero after he climbed inside an SP-12 sampler and mastered the machine - the set sees Knxwledge sprint through a beat-tape style assortment of short, sweet and often sublime instrumentals that make use of a variety of period samples. Given his track record, it's an impressive album, regardless whether the beats were genuinely made when he was in "Nike diapers" (as the press release amusingly claims) or not.

Review: The implied sequel to their first and only album Yes Lawd!, the ingenious production and vocal duo of wonky hip-hop producer Knxwledge, and esteemed multi-talent Anderson .Paak - together known as NxWorries - comes in full force, a full eight years after said debut. A seeming reversal of the mood of the first record, Why Lawd? submits a plea of desperation rather than confidence to the heavens, though nonetheless sports features from the likes of Dave Chappelle, Thundercat, H.E.R., Snoop Dogg and Earl Sweatshirt, in what still amounts to an endlessly enjoyable, bumpy ride in the modes of smoked-out neo-soul and challenging lo-fi.