The Artist
K-OS INDULGES
It ’ s a tough challenge to try and verbally classify a k-os album . Attempts often result in run-on sentences overloaded with hyphenated genre names and obscure artist comparisons to the point that , really , it ’ s easiest to concede that the most accurate description for a k-os album is just that : a k-os album .
Photo : Geoff Fitzgerald
But if there ’ s one defining element of the rapper , singer , songwriter , and producer ’ s latest LP , Can ’ t Fly Without Gravity , it ’ s duality . And that shouldn ’ t be surprising , as duality has been at the core of k-os ’ artistic identity since the outset .
The opening track of his seminal 2002 debut , Exit , has ex-NBA star John Salley , host of the fictional John Salley Show , asking the MC , “ With all this different stuff on this one record , you know , what is it ?” The answer is “ Fantastique ,” the album ’ s second track that finds k-os delivering an incisive introductory dose of his now-signature flow and lyricism atop a beat anchored by a looped arpeggiated clean jazz guitar lead .
Mashing pure and potent rap with eclectic arrangements and instrumentation that extended beyond the realm of typical hip-hop , Exit forged something of a template for the left-of-centre MC to follow on his way to becoming an ambassador of Canadian hip-hop and music in general .
He makes it abundantly clear how he earned both of those badges on Can ’ t Fly Without Gravity , an effort that finds the two halves of his creative self – the artist and the entertainer – working in total harmony .
[ 40 ] • CANADIAN MUSICIAN