After what has felt like an extremely long hiatus, Knucks triumphantly comes back with the culturally inspired ‘Rice & Stew’.

If this isn’t the most Nigerian thing in the world I don’t know what is. Yes, Knucks is actually rapping about that kind of rice and stew. It’s a metaphor many BAME households can relate to, the feeling of being deceived by the ice cream tub in the freezer that hasn’t had ice cream in it for years. Only now, instead of being deceived by the ice cream tub filled with rice and stew people are being deceived by fraudulent lifestyles, perpetuated by over-glamorised social media.

Knucks is more than likely familiar to you from his breakout hit ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ or maybe from his collaboration with Not3s, ‘Hooper’. Hailing from North West London he carries the swagger artists from the area are known for and takes it up a level. His clarity, smoothness, and his diversity of content make him an unrivalled talent. Pair this with the fact he also produces and you can understand why Knucks can saunter through tracks with a casual yet charismatic grace. Lyrically talented, as proved by his excellent use of double entendre in the ‘Rice & Stew’ metaphor, he is an artist that should seemingly have even more of a following than he already does.

‘Rice & Stew’ has exactly the kind of laid back production we have come to know and love from Knucks. The track is sonically pleasing and the visuals match it. Mirroring the subject matter and duality of the ‘Rice & Stew’ phrase we switch between the behind the scenes of social media personas and a family dinner of the aforementioned meal. It’s a nice visual take on the songs subject matter and an extra push to explain the metaphor for those who otherwise wouldn’t have realised what Knucks was going for. As usual, his visuals are excellently shot focusing on crispness and concept over doing anything overly flashy.

As a first 2019 offering this is the perfect start, hopefully, Knucks doesn’t go quiet on us again and keeps these songs consistent. It could be a big move if he releases whatever it is that he and Wretch 32 have worked on as that is guaranteed to be great.