Meet KNA. His voice may sound familiar but consider this your first encounter with him. KNA’s sonics are widescreen in scope, sometimes coldly dystopian and sometimes optimistically glossy. The songwriting is aphoristic, candid, cryptic, heartfelt, critical, and hopeful. Born in Ethiopia and raised in Virginia Beach, KNA has pulls from the world around him, citing Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Smashing Pumpkins, Julie Mehretu, Frank Ocean, and Little Simz as influences and has synthesized some of the best art and music in recent history to reflect on our current moment. A time of upheaval, fractured attention, global anxiety, and extreme possibility.
How did we arrive here? The more illuminating question, KNA argues, is “who are you?” It’s the question at the heart of his forthcoming sonic, No One: Ode To The Underestimated. No One is the first volume of a planned trilogy that will beginning to unfold and will continue over the next two years, supplemented by music films, animations and interactive experiences. KNA’s music is immediate and deeply felt, but it is also one layer of an expansive artistic project. KNA is modeling new paths for the contemporary artist. No One: Ode To The Underestimated is just the beginning.
