lockdown : vinyl find #48.

It is fair to say Kankick prefers keeping it local. Having used his first drumpads alongside Madlib and the Lootpack crew, he then expanded to produce for local Californian celebrities Tha Alkaholiks, Declaime/Dudley Perkins, Oh No (Madlib's brother), Wildchild (from Lootpack), MED, Planet Asia etc. More than keeping it Cali, he likes keeping it Oxnard or Oxnard-kinda-related. He's the reclusive type ; even more than Madlib. But he's that good, like top-notch beatmaker, member of the elite who brings feelings to the listener's ear. 

I think I heard about this album first from a mixtape on tape. Or from DJ Babu's album "Duck season vol. 1". The sound struck me as being both emotional and disruptive, hitting and ground-breaking. I remember seeing the CD on shelves of record stores, in the import section, which at the time meant that it costed a lot. A lot that I didn't have to spare at the time. 

When the time came to switch to vinyl, I realized the vinyl edition was very limited. Then ten years after the first release of the Kankick's first album "From artz unknown", German label and record store HHV decided to put out a reissue on three records. Three because HHV added instrumental versions and bonus beats to the original product. 

Nevermind the new design of the cover (why ?), I had to jump on the opportunity to finally own this incredible album that I'd been chasing for a decade. In 2016, HHV released a 2 LP version, without the bonus beats, which made my previous rushed purchase even more relevant.  

Despite the temptation for a beatmaker to make an instrumental solo album (something Kankick would do later, but at the time - 2001 - it wasn't an obvious thing to do), "From artz unknown" is not an instrumental effort. It includes an impressive line-up of mic kickers from the Oxnard area, with various levels of talent. Declaime, Dr. Oop, MED and Oh No stand out with ease. But of course, with a beatmaker of that caliber (although very underrated because under the radars), the main ingredient is the music, the beats ; long story short, they're premium standard. 

The brilliant idea on this album was to mix rapped songs and instrumentals, providing the air and variations the listener needs. In terms of hip-hop, this is quality. 

Kankick - From artz unknown.

Here's the full album, in its original version.

Although not as productive as other beatmakers (who said Knxwledge ?), Kankick is on a solid trend, publishing frequent updates on his Bandcamp profile with new projects. I can only hope a label would release his projects on a physical format some day... feels like a waste to leave it in bits form... 

By the way, I have no idea why Kankick has no ties with Stones Throw. It would be the logical move but...