KnowKnow, best known as one of the four members of China’s most prominent rap group Higher Brothers, released his second album, Mr. Enjoy Da Money 2: Knowbody, back in May of this year.
He released a trio of music videos with the album on Chinese platforms, and they are now available on the YouTube account of his label, 88Rising, a New York-based label that brings Asian music — including Indonesian singers Rich Brian and Niki — to the world.
The three videos, “At the Same Time,” “Fight Club,” and “Handsome Rapper (feat. BABYBO),” taken together serve as a suspenseful short film. It tells the story of a porter who works in a bar and begins finding himself, eventually becoming a famous rapper. Pretty impressive for just under 13 minutes of viewing time.
Starting with “Handsome Rapper,” KnowKnow jumps between his roles as a porter and established rapper. Choice lyrics from the track read, “你的lil daddy名字叫做KnowKnow,” which translates to “Your lil daddy’s name is KnowKnow.”
Moving on from the first track, “At the Same Time” tells a love story between KnowKnow and a girl he often sees at the bar. The song features a classic R&B rhythm, and the opening line is our favorite: “Girl, you know, my English not good, but 我特别爱讲.” The latter part of the sentence means that “I love to talk.”
The video seems to be the most popular of the three, with 36,864 views at the time of writing. Though, most commenters don’t bother to spell KnowKnow’s name right.
“Aye, Know Know is back 🔥” reads a top-upvoted comment under the video.
“Knowknow is the most talented member of higher brothers,” reads another.
When KnowKnow is about to propose to the girl towards the end of the video, she disappears and leaves a card that says ‘DARE OR NOT?’ with ‘FIGHT CLUB’ written on the back, a delightful lead into the last track, “Fight Club.”
KnowKnow enters the club looking baffled and becomes even more flustered when he’s pushed onto a stage, though he quickly regains composure.
Inspired by the 1999 American cult classic Fight Club, KnowKnow finally realizes that he’s been fighting with himself all along. This also reveals the main message that KnowKnow tries to convey throughout his second album Mr. Enjoy Da Money: Knowbody, showing that a nobody can become somebody if they continue trying and improving.
The release of these tracks on 88rising’s YouTube account comes ahead of another new drop by KnowKnow, it seems, as he teased a new track titled “Mr. Lamborghini” on his Instagram account this week.
This article was updated at 12:30 PM on October 13, 2021, to clarify that all three of KnowKnow’s music videos were previously released on Chinese streaming platforms.
Cover photo: screengrab via “At the Same Time” music video
