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Those are songs just as much as 'Death Of A Constable' is. "It's the sonic glue that holds the shit all together. "That hurts my heart when people do that," Infinity Knives says, quickly following with a laugh.Įnnals instinctively rushes to the producer's defense.
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Their inclusion may compel hip-hop purists to mistakenly label them interludes or segues, something Ennals attests to hearing amid the initial feedback he's received. Some of his ideas, like "The Bushman" or the similarly plaintive "Theme From King Cobra" don't neatly fit into the vocal mode, yet he nonetheless makes space for them amid the more boisterous tracks. "That energy is part of what I understand hip-hop to be." That clearly shows throughout the album, by way of his piquantly witty and anti-establishment lyricism on songs like "A Melancholy Boogie" and the cop-condemning "Death Of A Constable."Įven beyond the age difference, the avant-garde inclinations evident on Infinity Knives' instrumentals would prove non-starters for the vast majority of emcees. "I remember Ice Cube when he was scary as shit," Ennals says, also citing Canibus and Inspectah Deck as major influences on the way he writes and performs his raps. Ennals' musical history as a Baltimore area rapper predates that of his current producer by enough time that their hip-hop reference points from growing up differ considerably. On paper, they may seem an unlikely pair. A cursory listen will no doubt evoke Public Enemy's era for some, yet the intricacies from both artists unfold on repeat plays.
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The volatile contents of King Cobra are fundamentally American, from the Bomb Squad indebted beat structures to the scathing topical bars covering matters pertinent to contemporary Black lives. Setting aside the composer-producer's yayo quip–a reflection of the rapport and sense of humor he shares with his rapper cohort–the fact that the Baltimore-based duo's follow-up to the well-received hip-hop outing Rhino XXL could've gone Western is no joke. "I don't know what the fuck we were thinking, man–it's the cocaine sometimes, you know. " King Cobra was actually supposed to be a country record," he says of his new album with Brian Ennals, prompting and then receiving affirmation from his repeat collaborator. While that contextual reframing may confuse some, Infinity Knives is, assuredly, the type of artist who gets that sort of thing. After decades of enjoying Montell Jordan's enduring R&B/hip-hop hit "This Is How We Do It," the culture journalist now heard it in a whole new context after coming to the realization that, lyrically if not musically, it's a country song. On a recent episode of the New York Times' entertainment-meets-culture podcast Still Processing, co-host Wesley Morris shared a revelation.