The Night's Gambit

Sound DNA

• Hip-Hop
• East Coast

• sparse
• brooding
• urban

About

A hip-hop veteran hailing from Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood, KA got his start in the early '90s with underground favorites Natural Elements. In recent years he's made a major comeback, releasing several high-quality, self-produced albums that have won him props from such disparate sources as Okayplayer, NPR, <i>Rolling Stone</i>, and Pitchfork. Rocking a distinctly raspy, almost-whispered flow, he lays down an advanced assortment of autobiographical rhymes that address his appreciation for true hip-hop ("Off the Record"), nightly shenanigans in the city ("Knighthood"), and the inevitabilities of middle age ("Our Father"). As with last year's excellent <i>Grief Pedigree</i>, the beats here are extremely understated and minimal: just sparse drums sprinkled with darkly atmospheric loops to set the mood. Roc Marciano lends a hand on "Soap Box," but other than that it's all KA, delivering a low-key avalanche of storytelling verses that also touch on chess, religion, and the sometimes grim realities of BK.

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits