For rap group Knuccleheadz, they hope Saturday's Strip Music Fest was a hometown kickoff to eventful 2016. Natives of Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood, Good Kelly, Jiggy Cee, and Heem of Knuccleheadz are on the cusp of signing a record deal with Taylor Gang Records.
Inside a McDonald's, conveniently located one parking lot over from the Daily Bread x Taylor Gang stage, the Knuccleheadz and myself got warm and fed our hunger with french fries, chicken McNuggets, and McDouble burgers. Good Kelly sat with me and explained the future of Knuccleheadz. "We're about to be big," he said. When one of his friends, Kali, became upset with the number of chicken nuggets in front of him, Kelly said, "In a year, we're about to be arguing about Corvettes, cuh."
At the show, Knuccleheadz was due on stage at 10:10 p.m., three slots away from Chevy Woods' finale performance. With friends like Chuck Global and Wreckaz Gang affiliates COOP and fly class weirdo Kyle Branson, Knuccleheadz gathered adjacent to the stage stairs, smoked weed, and talked amongst themselves about their upcoming performance.
"We're gonna remind ya'll what hip-hop really is," I heard Heem and Good Kelly say to each other.
The group definitely looked "hip-hop." Kelly and Jiggy wore heavy, blue flannels, and Heem wore black from head to toe. He had on a black trench coat, a black button-up shirt, and a pair of black Levi's denim all completed by a black bowler hat and a pair of black sunglasses. Also, the Knuccleheadz members repped the Crip flag; Jiggy waved the flag in the air, Kelly tied one as a bandana around his head, and Heem hung the blue flag from his left side back pocket, the Crip side.
Knuccleheadz's attire and lyrics promote their gang affiliation. Their "Cripn" credentials are only important because it plays into the style of their music, an ode to '90s hip-hop.
