Kno - Death is Silent (2010)

The concern with concept albums is whether the artist decides to take a literal or abstract approach.  Death Is Silent’s concept adheres to the former.  Intensely.  It’s obvious from the mere title of the album that death and dying and all that depressing stuff will be the order.  Whether Kno thinks little of his fan’s deciphering skills, or he himself is lacking the intelligence to compile an album that challenges the listener to discover the concept on their own, is definitely up for discussion.

Kno has a beautiful ability to construct a dope backdrop.  His well-known use of obscure samples and talent with layering strings on synths on drums is unquestionable.  But this is not an instrumental album. What could have been a near perfect collection of songs is let down by his straight up average presence on the mic and frown-inducing delivery.

He is vocally outdone on almost every track that has a guest.  Examples of Kno being owned completely include Natti’s dominance on “If You Cry”, Nemo Achida’s incredible storytelling on “Loneliness” and Tonedeff’s stunning first verse effort on “I Wish I Was Dead”, easily a contender for verse of the album.  Kno’s best verses comes from the tracks “They Told Me”, where he divulges his private anxieties in plain sight and “La Petite Mort (Come Die With Me)”, a cleverly veiled ode to sex that will take a few listens and perhaps some experience in the subject to unravel.  It’s one thing to be a talented lyricist.  Which he is.  But his sappy and frail delivery wrecks the elegance of his lyrics.

Despite Kno’s tendency to say corny things, what makes this album an excellent addition to your music collection, is his capacity to create honest stories over magical beats.  Atmospheric is a word that is more and more being incorrectly used to describe crowded production, but here it totally belongs.  This has atmosphere in spades.  The production is by far the standout element and it’s Kno who is solely responsible for it.

So do his cheesy verses get a pass because he is a ‘part-time’ MC?  Well, no.  He has shown some great propensity for spitting on the CunninLynguist albums.  Maybe he was so caught up in the producing side of the album and neglected the vocal aspect?  Perhaps.  What’s obvious is if this was, say, a Tonedeff album, with the same concept and production, it would have been universally accepted as a top 3 album of 2010.  It’s a frustrating album, so agonizing close to perfection but missing the most important part of any hip hop record; top notch MC skills.

Highs:  Production on ALL tracks is amazing.  The concept runs nicely throughout, and while it is a gloomy concept, it never feels unbearably heavy and tiresome; in fact, it’s a highly energetic album from start to finish.

Lows:  Not enough Tonedeff.

87/100