joe unknown

Country: UK
Genre: Alternative
Styles: Spoken Word, Alternative Hip Hop, Electro Punk

on hashbrandnew.com since November 25, 2021

joe unknown defies any expected stereotypes. His music is a frenetic, rabble-rousing rush of punk attitude and hip-hop loops, topped by his manic, stream-of-conscious rhymes. Yet if you take a moment to immerse yourself in his lyrics, you’ll discover his poetic flair for capturing vignettes of day-to-day British culture. Underclass or upper class, it all feeds into his detailed, nuanced and often sharp-witted observations on the country that surrounds him. Think a whirlwind cocktail of Slaves, The Prodigy and The Streets.

When it comes to his own music, he drops elegant, expressive lyricism with what seems to be no effort at all. “I’ve got scars that last longer than the memories we had” being a notable example from his debut single ‘Ride’. Almost every line is something you’ll either have observed or experienced during an existential moment of living in his country. “Shooting kids online passes time, but my girlfriend hates it” or “I think a lot about who I should be, then get very fucking angry at who I’m not.” The whole Joe Unknown philosophy is summarised in one line: “I like to participate in life’s little edge, from time to time I take a little ride over the edge.”

Source [Spotify]