Knxwledge. - 1988 (2020)

Order Vinyl: knxwledge.bandcamp.com

or fatbeats.com

1988 is the follow up to Knxwledge’s official debut album Hud Dreems (Stones Throw, 2015). The same year Hud Dreems was released Knx worked with Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp a Butterfly, earning the producer his first Grammy. A duo with Anderson .Paak called NxWorries was formed around the same time. Their single “Suede” became a viral hit, vaulting the singer to R&B stardom, and their album Yes Lawd! followed through on that song’s immense promise. Knx and Paak have quietly continued collaborating, and some of the new work is heard on 1988.

A prolific artist in the extreme sense of the word, Knxwledge continues to redefine instrumental hip-hop almost in real-time with a stream of beat tapes numbering in the hundreds on Bandcamp, and video remixes on Instagram.

This prolific output began early. 1988 takes its name from the fact that much of the new record was created that very year, when Knx was an infant. As the story is told, little baby Knx was left alone by his mother for just a few moments and crawled to a family member’s vintage SP–12 sampler. When his mother returned he had already produced his first beats and nearly mastered the machine. These tracks, all produced before nap time while rocking a Nike diaper, were stored over the years on floppy discs, then brought to his studio in recent months where they were finished up, mixed, and mastered.

Kiefer - Superbloom (2019)

Order Vinyl: kiefer.bandcamp.com

or stonesthrow.com

Mndsgn. - Snaxx (2019)

Order: mndsgn.bandcamp.com

or stonesthrow.com

Album cycles come around about once every two years, but Mndsgn, aka Ringgo Ancheta, is constantly making music. He wanted to do justice to his prolific creativity, so rather than let unreleased tracks wither and die on his hard drive, he decided to put out two records ahead of his next studio album, and the concept of Snax was born. 

Snax (one 'x') was a tape of remixes, self-released last year. 

Snaxx (2 ‘x’s) follows with beat-heavy production including favorites from his hybrid live/DJ shows like “Deviled Eggs” making an appearance. On his Boiler Room TV show Breakfast with Ringgo, he welcomed artists like Anderson .Paak, Knxwledge, Swarvy and Ahnnu to jam and/or converse in his studio. Snaxx has a similar vibe of having friends come visit, an atmosphere Ringgo compares to inviting friends round for dinner and providing “something to chomp on” while preparing the meal. A few of those friends include close collaborators, Pink Siifu and Jon Bap. 

Though Mndsgn’s sound always has one foot in the world of hip-hop, it never sticks with a single genre. His 2014 debut Yawn Zen’s dreamy atmospheres and languid beats felt ambient, even psychedelic, and 2016’s Body Wash took a different approach entirely, repurposing influences from 1970s and 1980s boogie and R&B into a conceptual, cosmic epic. 

Of his decision to focus on beat-making for this record, Ringgo says, “My own body of work is a conversation within itself. I wanted to reiterate past works prior to singing/songwriting, while continuing to build and keep it interesting.” 

The cover art, which Ringgo illustrated himself, was based on a photo taken by Dan Bensch, given to him by Stones Throw’s creative director Jeff Jank. The photo of a Foster's Freeze reminded Ringgo of the donut shop on J Dilla’s Donuts cover. 

Mndsgn projects that his next studio album, out in 2020, will be “a little bit moodier than previous works”, but for now Snaxx is more or less about having a good time. “It’s just fun in my eyes — I want to preserve that in my work and my life. We can dive into deep conversation or just bask in each other’s delirium.” 

Source: stonesthrow.com