Steve 'Flash' JuonOne of my ten favorite albums of 2024 was NxWorries’ “Why Lawd?” The combination of Anderson .Paak on the mic and Knxwledge on the boards was for me irresistible. It got me thinking more about Glen Earl Boothe’s extensive catalogue of music, one which even his own Wikipedia page acknowledges has “over a hundred albums on Bandcamp.” I’ve mentioned many times that Lil B and Kool Keith are prolific, but Knxwledge can easily give them both a run for the money in sheer volume.
The thing that impresses me about Mr. Boothe is he rarely ever makes a misstep despite releasing so much music. “Hud Dreems” from 2015 is yet another example of his consistency. “mylife” is the kind of song that yearns for a rap verse. Black Thought, Benny the Butcher, B-Real, Brother Ali. I don’t know why everybody I just thought of starts with B other than the fact Knxwledge’s last name is Boothe, but they’d all sound lovely spitting on his track. The aptly named “frmnowhere” describes how I feel about his process — he seems to pull together dope samples out of thin air and layer them up like Jake the Dog’s perfect sandwich.
“Hud Dreems” is the kind of album where you could drop the needle on any track and find satisfaction. I proved it while writing this review when I hit the randomizer and landed on “bodies.” It sounds like a rapper is hovering in the background about to BODY said track, but never quite does. I think it’s a sample of Havoc saying “my destination is top of the world” from The Alchemist produced “Win or Lose” but don’t quote me on that. Knxwledge is so slick with how he weaves it in and out it’ll have you second guessing it. Both songs are fresher than a new pair of jeans.
Accidentally or on purpose when Knxwledge made this album in 2015 he was 26 years old, and there are 26 instrumentals of varying length from start to finish. I’m partial to “demskreets.fekts” because it’s a longer joint and it’s actually quite understated. The minimalist approach really makes you focus on all the individual elements and shadowy background voices until Knx throws you a curveball at the 100 second mark and encourages you to “smoke somethin’, drink somethin'” to enjoy his production further. Not a bad idea sir.
I also can’t help but laugh that Knxwledge described one of his productions as “trsh” even though it’s better than what most people could make on their best day. That’s a side effect of his high volume — he probably rates his own work with a harsher ear than his listeners would. The way he jumps from one style to the next on this one is lovely though. At the end of the day Knxwledge has distinguished himself by being dope without managing to sound like a clone of any other producers out there. With such a massive catalogue I can’t say “Hud Dreems” is his best album, but it’s definitely worth a listen.