Album Review: Knox Fortune
Paradise
words by Kyra Bruce
Kevin Rhomberg, the man behind Knox Fortune, has been gathering buzz since last year when he collaborated with Chance The Rapper on one of Chance’s most popular songs “All Night”. Knox Fortune’s debut album “Paradise” was highly anticipated by the Chicago music scene and it was thought to be a seamless mix of hip-hop and experimental indie.
I will admit that this album is different from anything else out right now, and that is something that I am always going to be an enthusiastic supporter of (here comes the but) BUT this album is a hit and miss at the same time. Some songs like: “Lil Thing” “Help Myself” and “Stun” are great examples of the indie-hip-hop vibe that Knox Fortune seems to be leaning into. Other songs like: “24 Hours” “Keep You Close” and “I Don’t Want to Talk About It” seem juvenile and incomplete. These songs feel like when you open your laptop and a song is playing from iTunes and a different song is playing from YouTube and you are frantically clicking around trying to shut it down.
While this album is difficult to listen to in its darkest moments, in its best moments it is a great transition from summer into fall and it could be played at a party or just folding laundry. It mixes hip-hop beats, techno sounds, and indie slaking into a gumbo of musical genres. Now this album isn’t for everyone, it has very experimental vibes that feel like Knox Fortune is trying to figure out who he is and what kind of music he makes. All things considered, Knox Fortune is doing something outside the indie-pop norm and I am excited to see him grow and find his sound.