Wow. Where to start with this one? 88rising just dropped a new video as part of promo for a new solo album from KNOWKNOW (fka DZKnow or “the fat one from Higher Brothers“). The album’s name? Mr. Enjoy Da Money.
Even that doesn’t really hint at the craziness to come however, as KNOWKNOW chats with Snoop Dogg (who he calls “Snoopy Uncle”) about the new record’s name and discusses his tiger tattoo (“It’s like cute. But also it’s like very very monster”) amid a flurry of slick-looking music videos for various songs.
There’s KNOWKNOW rocking a sailor hat and singing “du da, du du du da” over a backdrop of crashing waves; there’s KNOWKNOW dropping lines like “I go to New York / Diamond dance on my middle finger / Money so clean in my Bentley truck”; there’s KNOWKNOW repping his “premium streetwear label“; and there’s KNOWKNOW asking us to “R&B all night” with him as a sax solo kicks in.
By the end of it you’re left wondering whether these tracks are for real or if this is all some sort of elaborate, expensively-produced parody. 88rising insist the album will be with us in a week, with a release date of December 12. Commenters on Weibo and YouTube alike seem hyped for it. Here’s the promo video for you to make up your own mind:
Higher Brothers are China’s most famous and most successful hip hop group, who broke out internationally with “Made in China” and increasingly seem to be going full boyband with their 88-propelled approach to the music industry. Each of the Bros is set to release a solo album in the coming months, though it’s hard to see how any of them could top KNOWKNOW for craziness.
Anyway, completely unrelated, here’s some further reading on Chinese hip hop, including some anti “pop rap” disses….
