Tag: Treasure Chest Entertainment

Knowledge the Pirate – “The Round Table” review

This is the 6th studio LP from New York emcee Knowledge the Pirate. Discovered by Will Smith’s former bodyguard Charlie Mack, he would sign to Interscope Records for a brief amount of time before leaving the game temporarily & re-emerging in the 2010s as a close Roc Marciano affiliate. His full-length debut Flintlock eventually saw the light of day in the summer of 2018, which was followed up with the sophomore effort Black Cesar as well as the debut EP Family Jewels & his 3rd album Hidden Treasures. My favorite in his discography would be the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced Wolves Don’t Eat With Shepherds & having Marci producing The Round Table raised the stacks exponentially coming off of 5lbs of Pressure.

“Eating Etiquette” was a great drumless single to start the rollout giving the ultimate fine dining experience whereas “Golden Rules” works in a boom bap instrumental with a prominent vocal sample talking about trying to keep his team together. “Takes a 10” has a significantly funkier vibe telling us what it was like for him in the grittiest parts of the City of Dreams leading into “The Outfit” stripping the drums again to talk about keeping the flame on the stove.

As for “Magic & Kareem”, we have Knowledge comparing him & Marc to Los Angeles Lakers icons Magic Johnson & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar respectively continuing the pitched sampling just before “Addicted to Danger” maintains a drumless flare altogether so he can talk about his devotion to peril. “Ride wit a P” slickly describes himself as a pimp stealing everyone’s girl in his car while the chipmunk soul infused “Food for Thought” talks about playing.

“Forks & Knives” hooks up a dope gospel flip making way for him & his crew sitting at The Round Table chopping up birds protecting & serving when it comes to the paper, but then the soulful “Gut Feeling” advises that you can’t love every bitch you fuck. “1 on Me” has this quirky synthesizer behind him taking over all the open spots on the block while “Young Thugs” cautions not to talk with your mouth full around him.

The song “Servitude” pushes towards the last several minutes of Knowledge’s best friend work on almost 3 years getting back on the chipmunk soul tip going federal with the love if it’s a crime hittin’ us with a significantly calmer flow & “Receipts” ends album with a crooning sample mixed with some strings talking about the fact that nobody wants smoke with him or the rest of the illustrious pimpire.

Many hardcore Roc Marciano fans, including myself have been waiting a very long time for this day to come and now that it’s finally here it’s very much safe to say The Round Table joins Wolves Don’t Eat with Shepherds as some of Knowledge the Pirate’s strongest material in addition to one of my LPs of the year. Marci’s production here is prominently drumless with the exception of boom bap & chipmunk soul being secondary influences outstandingly soundtracking Knowledge’s mafioso lyrics.

Score: 4.5/5

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Knowledge the Pirate – “Wolves Don’t Eat with Shepherds” review

Knowledge the Pirate is a 40 year old MC from New York City who’s came into the music biz since the 90’s & was discovered by Will Smith’s former bodyguard Charlie Mack. He then signed to Interscope Records for a brief amount of time before leaving the game temporarily & re-emerging in the 2010s as a close Roc Marciano affiliate. His full-length debut Flintlock eventually saw the light of day in the summer of 2018, which was followed up with the sophomore effort Black Cesar as well as the debut EP Family Jewels & his 3rd album Hidden Treasures. But for his 4th full-length outing here, Knowledge is bringing Big Ghost Ltd. into the picture to produce the whole thing.

“Pull Up” is a string-laced opener talking about hopping out on those running their mouths whereas “Devotion” takes a funky, soulful route giving his flowers to all the people who’ve sacrificed a lot out in the streets. “Heavy Crown” shoots for a rawer aesthetic addressing street politics just before “Trenches” is a boom bap heater talking about making a $100k a month.

Meanwhile on “Young n Dumb”, we have Knowledge on top of a crooning sample expressing his desire to be the man in the slums leading into “Russian Sable” is a brooding eye-opener for those who don’t understand the dope game. “The Tombs” is a grisly shot at the people who be talking slick until the real G’s pop out, but then Flee Lord tags along for the guitar-laced “Bad Boys” to declare themselves as such.

“Wolves Eat” returns to the boom bap with some more chopped vocal flips saying he got service while the song “Know God” takes a soulful approach looking back on forming a team to make bread during his adolescence. The penultimate track “Treasure Chest” with Ty Farris finds the 2 over a another guitar-driven beat talking about balling like MJ & Dr. J with “Sweetwater” serving as a bluesy closer advising not to be found floating in the Hudson River.

As much as I’ve enjoyed Knowledge’s work in the past, Wolves Don’t Eat with Shepherds could very well be my favorite of the 4 albums that he’s put out yet. You can never go wrong with Big Ghost Ltd.’s production & lyrically, it really does cemented Knowledge’s status as a wolf in the rap game.

Score: 4.5/5