K.A.A.N.

Hordes of twenty-somethings living in their parents' house dream of becoming rap superstars. What sets Brandon Perry, aka K.A.A.N., apart: he's really good. Jezebel's Jia Tolentino has described the Maryland rapper's "technical virtuosity," likening Perry to Kendrick Lamar and calling his best moments "so directly vulnerable and commanding that they feel channeled." - NPR

I’ve talked to a lot of artists in my day – one thousand? Certainly more than 500, I’ve long since stopped keeping count. As the chef cooks plate after plate or the construction worked rivets bolt after bolt, so do I interview rappers. And in all that time, I don’t know if I’ve ever talked to someone like K.A.A.N. - DJBooth

Nowadays, it seems like a new star in the hip hop world is discovered every week. The Internet has given rappers from all corners of the nation a platform to broadcast their music, and anyone has the chance to be discovered, at any time. Just look at guys like Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Chance the Rapper, A$AP Rocky, Big K.R.I.T., Action Bronson or Danny Brown. Five years ago, no one really knew who any of those MCs were. Now, they’re all stars in the rap game and have been universally respected by newcomers and old heads alike. They grace the covers of magazines, have won multiple awards and even have their own cooking shows. In hip hop, you can never truly know where the next big thing will show up.

This brings us to K.A.A.N. Like most of the MCs I just mentioned, K.A.A.N. has gotten his start online. For the past year and a half, he’s been steady uploading tracks to his SoundCloud page, gaining more and more views as the weeks push on. But, K.A.A.N. isn’t like most rappers in the game. He’s not chainsmoking blunts on a stoop somewhere, waiting for his break. He’s not spamming blogs on Twitter, pleading for them to post his music. Instead, K.A.A.N. works masonry six days a week as a way of funding his dream of being a full-time rapper. For K.A.A.N, isn’t about the fame, glory, women or money. It’s just about the music. - Steeze Magazine

When K.A.A.N. raps, he sounds like he’s releasing the valve on a pressure cooker.

There are a lot of confessions, rants and proclamations gurgling inside the mind of the 25-year-old Maryland lyricist. When he sets them loose, they fly with blazing velocity. After listening to K.A.A.N.’s newest project, Eclectic Audio, it’s easy to wonder whether the 25-year-old — real name Brandon Perry — has figured out a way to survive without oxygen.

K.A.A.N.’s speedy delivery has fans forecasting his rise to fame. Praised for his technical ability and contemplative lyricism, he’s been compared to emcees Logic and Kendrick Lamar.

But for now, Perry doesn’t feel that fortunate. He’s still living at his parents’ house in Howard County, working various jobs. He used to work at Target. When we spoke in January, he had a gig cleaning cars. Before that, he labored as a brick mason for six years until he was laid off. He dropped out of community college, he says, because he couldn’t afford tuition, and he refers to a lonely childhood, spent mostly indoors under the watch of a protective father.

Now K.A.A.N. devotes most of his time to music, publishing new tracks and videos at an impressive rate. But he’s as self-critical as he is prolific. Perry says once he drops new music, he never listens to it again. If he did, he’d wind up deleting it.

Ahead of K.A.A.N.’s show tonight at DC9, he talked to Bandwidth about his machine gun-like cadence, his introverted personality and why he considers some mainstream artists — such as Future — dishonest. - WAMU

Brandon Perry aka K.A.A.N has taken the internet by storm with his distinctive and unquestionable talent. Three years ago, at the age of twenty-one K.A.A.N began to paint his own pictures, he never imagined how much of an impact he’d have on his peers lives. In June 2014, K.A.A.N was able to gain the attention of his peers after releasing a cover of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s 1992 single “Deep Cover”. It was then when K.A.A.N realized his potential is limitless. He has since released two mixtapes, L.M.R. (Losing My Religion) in 2014 and Abstract Art in 2015, and numerous music videos. K.A.A.N displays honesty in his music, using rapper artist such as Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Nas , Jay -Z & Big Pun as influences to delivering intellectual, introspective, intricate lyrics. You can feel every drop of emotion as he takes you on a journey through his world. - Eighty85

K.A.A.N. is one Maryland’s most talented artist coming up in the scene. From a difference, the scene looks to be populated with trap music influences and misguided from other portions of rap music. “Concealed the outro” is one of his most lyrically slaughtered tracks. With nonstop rhyming, K.A.A.N. succeeds at putting his ambition, portion of life story, and more into this 4-minute track. The song can be found on his latest mixtape Abstract Art. He begins the track with “My father use to tell me I was nothing more than worthless, just a stupid motherfucker that will live without a purpose“. From the opening line, we can already gauge where K.A.A.N.’s (Knowledge Above All Nonsense) motivation comes from. It is track 18 on the project, and it’s a hell of a way to end it. Take a listen to “Concealed the outro” below and let us know what you think of it. - Blunt IQ

First, let’s get this started with a slight disclaimer: This editorial is long overdue. I say this because I first contacted Brandon way back in September of 2015. It’s now February of 2016 and this is just taking its first breath. However, take my word on it when I tell you that the wait was well worth it.

You’re probably wondering who this dude “Brandon” is. To explain him in the simplest of ways; his name is Brandon Perry and he’s a 25 year-old rapper currently killing it in Maryland. The thing is, Brandon isn’t necessarily a “simple” guy. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even go by Brandon Perry. If you know of him, you know him by K.A.A.N. No, not like the Khan from Star Trek or Genghis Khan from your AP History class, but K.A.A.N. as in Knowledge Above All Nonsense. For short, call him Knowledge because that’s what he is embodies in his music. He becomes the literal physicality of Knowledge. - Cut x Sewn

K.A.A.N. is one of the most talented rappers I have heard in years, but even that high praise is doing him a disservice. He’s not just some future product of the hype machine, he’s one of those people that will make you fall in love with music all over again.
I first stumbled upon him a few weeks ago when Jia Tolentino of Jezebel included “Concealed the outro” in her subscribe-worthy Tiny Bitch Tapes series, and it was love at first play. Within seconds, I was Googling “K.A.A.N. rapper,” only to find barely a whisper of him on the blogosphere. Within hours, he had replied to my DM with his email address.
I ended up sending him about two handfuls worth of questions that ranged from the necessary1, to the cliche, to the (hopefully) introspective. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of answers, as I told him to be as long or short-winded as he like, but when I got his reply a day later, it was in the unexpected form of one, long paragraph.
At first I was taken back by the daunting task of reading this manifesto, but as I read the first few lines, I couldn’t pull myself away from my screen. The unabashed earnestness of his answers took me off guard, but it gripped me too. When I reached the end, I immediately scrolled up and read it again. This was what music was all about. This was what the power of music could and should be used for.
In fact, it moved me so much that I am proud to announce that any money Patronized to this article will go straight from me to Brandon. Musicians at his level are in the same boat as writers, and he deserves to capitalize on this amazing mixtape he put out. Think of it like a Pay What You Want, you Radiohead fans. - Random Nerds