Quiet reflection: Krispy Kream and Rah Almillio

The Knux

Brothers make pop-minded hip-hop for nerds, Black Flag fans

They might rock tight jeans and rhyme over guitars, but don’t call hip-hop duo the Knux “hipster rap.” “That’s lame,” says Kintrell “Krispy Kream” Lindsey, 26. “We’re going to destroy that shit,” adds his brother Alvin, a.k.a. Rah Almillio, 24. If anything, these guys admit they’re nerdier than N.E.R.D., dropping references to Dungeons & Dragons on the juke-joint electro shuffle “Bang! Bang!” “If there weren’t women in the world, everyone would be nerds,” Krispy explains, lounging in the café of West Hollywood’s Hustler Store, surrounded by pornography and fine coffee.

Nerds and cool kids alike will appreciate Remind Me in 3 Days… (Interscope), the Knux’s debut album. Filled with tweaked rave synths, live bass, bluesy grit, and computer love, it may be hip-hop’s greatest genre freak-out since OutKast first done stank. “Cappuccino,” the lead single, updates the singsong rhymes and chicken-scratch funk of old-school greats the Phar-cyde; “Playboys,” meanwhile, hot-wires new-wave surf beats and Jack White–style rave-ups into an unlikely party anthem. “We wanted it to sound like swimming pools and big boobs,” Rah explains.

The Knux—short for “knuckleheads”—
came out to Los Angeles soon after their
hometown of New Orleans got crushed by
FAST FACTS

> The Knux honed their skills in their middle-school marching band. Rah on trumpet; Krispy opted for baritone, trombone, and French horn. > Before they got signed, they worked as ghostwriters for big-time rappers. “We can’t really talk about it,” says Krispy. “Rappers are insecure, and they can’t be open about you writing for them.”

Hurricane Katrina. They had already faced a turning point in 2003, when they beat charges for running a stolen-auto ring. “And that’s just what we got caught for!” Rah laughs. “We were living like we didn’t have shit to live for, so we turned our life around. And our clothes got tighter.” They opened their ears to sounds outside the urban realm, soaking up everything from their mom’s old Black Flag and Prince vinyl to new garage rock. “Nas is our Bob Dylan, but the Strokes are our favorite band from this era,” Krispy says. According to Rah, it’s about making grooves where “you can’t say that it’s just for black people, for whites, for hipsters, or for the hood.”

Ultimately, the Knux don’t want to be
labeled. “We just want to do our shit,
dog,” says Krispy. “If you feel it, you feel
it, and if you don’t, we’ll make you feel it.”

BY MATT DIEHL
PHOTOGRAPH BY KEVIN AMATO