“Civilized Pt. 1”

KNXVES: Pronunciation: /nīvz/ (knives) lo-fi. post-soul – heavy beats. distorted vox. 

“Civilized Pt. 1” is a somber and haunting track, a deep philosophical and mesmerizing melody joined with a vocal of anger, pain, fear and longing, asking the question… Why ?

KNXVES, Former lead singer/songwriter of The Ten Thousand, with his new single, “Civilized Pt. 1”, Bay area based artist, KNXVES has produced his most definitive work to date. The video and track both serve as a meditation on human nature, pain and suffering. In the context of America’s political climate, KNXVES stares directly into the eyes of the listener and forces them to answer the question, “What does it mean to be civilized?” An intimate portrait of a man troubled, he tries to adjust to society’s oppression towards minorities. KNXVES highlights the emotional implications these attacks have on the mind of not only black males, but anyone who is targeted by the oppression of the right. An enchanting portrait of an artist navigating the world’s actions, he invites audiences to join the contemplation.

He questions humanity’s claims of enlightenment when we so often allow others to suffer pain, and even worse…enjoy inflicting it. A crucial perspective in a time of significant change, KNXVES is the remedy the world has been waiting for.

What is post-soul? – “Almost two generations ago, the concept of soul emerged as the most vivid and popular expression of an African-American modernity . . . Soul has also been an aesthetic interconnected with the marketplace and the consumerist desires of black and white audiences alike . . . It remained a project that essentialized black identity and culture for one (black) consumer public demanding inclusion into the mainstream on its own terms…and another looking for non-threatening markers of difference.” – Mark Anthony Neal

Listen to Reasons Pt 2. – Previous Release

Post-Soul, then is a critique, a response and an extension of Soul that borrows from those traditions to re-contextualize and fracture them, hopefully, to create a new language for the contemporary black experience. As a culture spreads and grows, its appropriation and commercialization removes control and agency away from its creators and turns it into mere product.  But that product, like all things, can be reclaimed, re-examined and renewed. Challenging what came before to make something new. Something real. And something unafraid.

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