TheKunig – Singles
TheKunig – Singles Review
After experiencing the jazzy-nature in the music of Blue Soul Ten earlier-on in review today, heading into the music of TheKunig seemed like a smooth & logical transition. It’s been a great day for the pursuits of art & music combined…and through these new singles from TheKunig, it seems as if the roll is going to continue on strongly in a positive direction.
The first cut I checked out pretty much had me hooked right away…it’s called “What” and has a serious amount of funk & jazz that grabs your attention in the music before the vocals even begin. Awesome tone to the guitar samples, solos & sounds we hear and the percussive-beat keeps the whole track tight & on-time as TheKunig takes the mic and delivers a punchy-set of bars whenever the vocals show up. It’s old-school in the flow…you can hear that TheKunig was raised on the roots of hip-hop through artists/bands like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest & KRS-ONE…it’s got that classic sound to the way the lines are approached and they have that similar sound in the production in being bold & above the mix. For me the way this music was mixed together was perfect…I liked the freedom you hear in how the vocals are delivered in their structure and how they don’t try to dominate the song so much as entirely add to it every time they’re added in. It’s got a great hip-hop feel and street-poet combination working for it…I thought “What” really put TheKunig’s best foot forward with a confident swagger in his step.
For me…I felt like the most widespread accessibility you’ll find in these three tunes exists in that first song “What” – but depending on what you love in your music, you might feel more strongly about “From Lovers To” like I did personally. I really like the dynamics and confidence you can hear in the writing, performance and execution on this cut. You could put this out there as a single and it’s bound to capture the attention of both rap & hip-hop fans…it sits right on the edge & threshold of rap without becoming harder than it needs to be and still represents the art & ingenuity of real hip-hop. I absolutely love the female vocals in “From Lovers To” – and I’ve gotta admit they kind of stole the spotlight on this one for me a little. TheKunig is solid in the rap-verse once again…fired-up a bit more in the delivery on this one but also set back a bit into the mix of the music so you get a good balance as the aggression breaks through. I really found that the more I listened to “From Lovers To” the more I appreciated its entire structure from the hooks, to the trading-off between the female & male lead vocals and how each part complements the other strongly to the absolutely incredible transition after the two-minute mark that takes the music to extraordinary new heights. I mentioned ALL of this is happening in ONE track right? “From Lovers To” is a wicked achievement; it’s creative, it’s clever and it’s vividly-realized inside of our earholes…I love the middle electro-instrumental section of this tune just as much as I loved the parts with vocals…this hypnotic rhythm & melody really hit the mark for me.
“Droplets Of Faith” worked really well for me musically…all three of these cuts have really been impressive to listen to from a musical-standpoint and this final single I’m checking out is no exception. I didn’t feel as strongly about the female vocals in the hook of this song by comparison to how I felt about “From Lovers To” – I thought they fit well-enough but sounded like they were missing a bit of the passion behind the tone or energy to match the music just slightly. TheKunig lights-up the mic in the main verses though with a bold confidence you can hear and rises to the occasion on this versatile rhythm & groove. Loved the guitar tones and crunchiness to the distortion towards the end of the jam and thought that for the most part, there’s still a solid idea, rhythm & groove here. Still room for TheKunig to evolve and develop his sound…but no doubt this is strong material to experience on a first listen – you got me interested for sure homie!
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