Pro Era spitters Nyck Caution and Kirk Knight have been teasing their collaborative effort Nyck @ Knight for months. “Off the Wall” is their first proper single for the record. The rapper and rapper-producer duo have worked together in the past, see Nyck’s 2016 project, Disguise the Limit, where Kirk works behind the boards and features across the tape. The darkened dreamscapes Kirk Knight builds with his beats add the perfect sense of urgency to Nyck Caution’s flow. Where Nyck’s cadence is often peppered with bright notes, he effectively emphasize the creep of Kirk’s sample selection. Their chemistry extends beyond beat selection, with their styles working in tandem as they trade verses to create a full-bodied and textured track.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmg9Ljz62pQ[/youtube]
The video is the perfect sampler of what’s to come from Nyck @ Knight, gelling playful references to 90s sitcoms with scenes of Nyck and Kirk throwing up hands and going ballistic. Between twisting up buildings and tripped out, lo-fi visual effects, the duo are really hitting their creative strides. Kirk’s move to re-purpose the tune of a baby’s crib mobile into the menacing motif of the beat is a stroke of genius. “Off the Wall” is a case study in taking your older influences and updating them.
Their joint tape, Nyck @ Knight, is dropping this summer.
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