Knucks

The music of Knucks shifts between styles of rap but yearns for a jazzy, sequin-spangled past. Born Saybin Roberson Courtesy in Kilburn, London in 1994, Knucks developed equal affinities for his native grime, the soul of Sade, and the rap stylings of MF DOOM and Nas. (The name of his 2014 mixtape Killmatic pays homage to the latter’s classic debut.) But over the next few years, Knucks would blend his classic taste with a glossy, contemporary bounce. On 2019’s NRG 105, the soul samples flutter over 808s; on his 2021 single “Los Pollos Hermanos,” he laces the stuttering rhythm of UK drill with a smooth piano sample. Throughout it all, Knucks maintains a cool, almost smirking cadence. Like the Golden Age MCs he looks up to, Knucks is here to rap circles around every beat.