Standing for “Knowledge Above All Nonsense” K.A.A.N is a 24-year-old rapper from Maryland whose original name is Brandon Perry. Growing up and attending Howard High School, he always had an appreciation for music but did not start writing until 2013. It wasn’t until he was 21 that he tried making it into the rap game. Starting out by putting his music for free on SoundCloud, he now has over 21,000 followers and 115 tracks on the site, as well as several different mixtapes including "Abstract Art". He remixes several different artists' songs and has several originals. Discovering him on SoundCloud, I quickly became addicted to not only the insane 16th note beats which he spits on relentlessly throughout the whole song, but the detailed meaning and depth behind the lyrics. He immediately caught my attention, and on a whim I reached out to him on Facebook for this article, which he readily agreed to. It's true that he is still underground, but I don’t know another rapper who would be humble enough to answer my questions from a simple Facebook message, I think it speaks a lot for his character.
I asked him which artists he enjoys listening to the most, which he replied: “I listen to everything from Sixto Rodriguez, to Nirvana, to Big L. If it’s good music I can listen to, and appreciate it”. I also asked him for his opinion on a matter pressing on my mind recently, which his response provided peace to. I brought up if he thinks that party music affects my generation with its little to no substance lyrics, he replied “I think there’s a time and place for everything. Music like that is for a social setting. I think music can be influential for people period, but it’s up to the person listening to that music to determine if, and or how they want to be influenced”.
I asked him this because K.A.A.N and other artists have caught my attention with not only their in-depth lyrics and music, but an underlying message they all seem to preach. Listen carefully, and you'll learn about the "movement". It seems to be a generation of new, underground rappers working for themselves, ditching the cookie cutter label business, and preaching on the more silent, indigo minds of the world. My first reaction to really hearing and exploring this new genre, was merely the fact that these rappers were not talking about "dollars in the club" or "strippers getting hired" and anything like the mainstream party rap hits today. They are talking about something much more important.
I think you should take a listen to K.A.A.N not only for his insane flow, beats and remixes, and not just because I wrote an article about him. I think you should listen to him to completely enter his lyrics and get lost in them. Appreciate his lyrical art, it's genius. And also because he and his manager not only answered these questions for me, but dealt with me losing the responses in my junk mail. Cool dude, right?
