Sounds

REVIEW: KNLO’s “Long Jeu”

by Darcy MacDonald

The Alaclair Ensemble member and piu piu producer releases his debut label LP.

knlo-long-jeuKNLO, Long Jeu (7ieme Ciel)

For those unfamiliar, Quebec City native KNLO wears a few hats. As a laptop producer, he helped refine the sound and aesthetic that would come to be known as “piu piu.” Even before the term became de rigueur, he was racking up serious hip hop credibility as a member of Alaclair Ensemble, where he produces and raps with equal style. And his colour-themed beat tape series, Craqnuques, have been the stuff of legend among the global head-notic set. In a two-year run that has seen all of his Alaclair brothers hit solo and side-project success (not to mention the best group effort of their career), KNLO releases a label LP debut showcasing the best of his skills behind the dials and on the mic, heavy on tropical wave bends and snapping, smart rhymes. Another excellent entry to the Keb rap canon. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “B.B.I.T.C.” ft. Robert Nelson (Darcy MacDonald)

Posted in Sounds

by Darcy MacDonald

Contributor
Darcy MacDonald has been with Cult MTL since day one, a decade ago. Which means today, he’s a middle-aged white guy (albeit one more interested in other people’s ideas than in his own). He was previously a columnist and reporter for Montreal Mirror, and has also created content (FKA “written”) for RBMA, Noisey, Montreal Gazette, The National Post and probably some other great places he’s forgotten about. Music, culture, community and miscellaneous questions in search of answers all come across his desk, sooner or later.