MUNNYCAT and the scratch baked brilliance of 'honest' (explicit) Official Music Video

 

"it really ain't a muther fucking contest..."


The scratch baked brilliance of 'honest' by L.A. based, Youngstown, Ohio bred MUNNYCAT hinges on it's exquisite multi-colored production and vibe that stealthily pulls from so many genres and planes of musical cultures. Seriously, front woman / producer K808 and multi-instrumentalist / producer Khaledzou had me at "yup..yup" and when the piano gymnastic dance of whole and sharp notes fall in between the trip hop textures and dense bass lines it is a stirring ballet of sounds. K808's vocal patter feels intimate, self aware, empowered, charming / disarming while winking at you. 

The thing that I have always like about MUNNYCAT's sound which is clearly expressed on 'honest' is how they seem to draw from 80's / 90's hip hop AS WELL as that period's alternative side. In fact as much as I hear tones that make me think of hip hop / funk icons like 3rd Bass, DJ Pooh, EPMD, I think more of the lo-fi indie, trip-hop alt, twee sounds of Japanese expatriates / East Coast art indie Cibo Matto, Brooklyn based Land of the Loops or even the southern stemmed Sukpatch (or an amalgam of similar artists). 

K808 and Khaledzou are a couple, newlyweds actually and I can't help but think that for a long time now they are finishing each other's sentences. The kind of music they produce, complexly wrought and blended (it's all about the blend), for me, has a natural balance. The bravado isn't audacious, the sexual allure not graphic, the self deprecation not emo, the humor not slapstick. Their sound also pushes cues because it is so cross generational and depending on your age and the kind of art you consume you may see it in different lights but it always feels alternatively cool. 

So back to them being a couple. I imagine that they live in a perpetual state of creativity and being able to throw something down, program a beat or record an idea while bouncing them off each other at a moment's notice must be a wonderful thing in. I don't know where MUNNYCAT is going artistically but I know they do not stay sonically static and they always make me smile. 

Speaking of smiling, the Official Video for 'honest' influenced by everything from Red Dead Redemption 2 and Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns is amazing. 

‘honest’, "a song about the exhausting nature of the male gaze" is the first single from MUNNYCAT's upcoming full-length debut album ‘age of the scorpio’.   

-Robb Donker Curtius

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:


https://www.munnycat.com/

https://www.instagram.com/munnycat/

https://www.facebook.com/munnycatmusic

https://twitter.com/munnycat

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3mib3ZXDjjjGpWxnoZu0XF?si=m12NqLSLS_-1tw35APB0JQ&nd=1

https://soundcloud.com/munnycat

Whether you know it or not, you’ve heard MUNNYCAT.

Maybe it was in a movie or a TV show montage, while doom-scrolling through TikTok, in one of countless commercials from Crest, Apple, or X-Box, or maybe you stopped to Shazam their song playing through the tinny speakers at H&M. You cannot escape MUNNYCAT. And there’s a reason for that - this scrappy, ferociously DIY duo has a flare for infectious and chaotic songs that have grabbed the ears of their loyal fans, as well as other creative folks that make stuff. Filmmakers, editors, playlisters and choreographers have been using their neon-colored, ADHD-tinged, west coast bops as inspiration to get your attention.


Their music (RIYL: Charli XCX, Kim Petras, Rosalía, Tierra Whack, Kero Kero Bonito, Santigold) is firmly rooted in modern indie-pop, and has been called “hyperpop on Lexapro”. The press has frequently referenced MUNNYCAT’s obsession with East Coast proto hip-hop and 80’s art pop. The first single ‘honest’ from their upcoming full-length debut album ‘age of the scorpio’ is a song about the exhausting nature of the male gaze. With bouncy saloon piano riffs and thumping 808s, front-woman K808 sarcastically explains her deep-rooted confidence in a world that isn’t very comfortable with a woman brashly celebrating herself. She has the unashamed bravado of a young LL Cool J delivered with the disaffected “...obviously” vibes of Professor Snape.


MUNNYCAT is, in its totality, a two-person project made up of producers K808 and Khaledzou. Originally from the infamously corrupt and troubled rust-belt city of Youngstown, OH where they learned so much of the self-reliance and individualism that makes them creatively distinct, they now live in sunny Los Angeles creating art side by side. The newlyweds write, produce, and shoot and edit their own videos together, lending new meaning to the phrase 'dynamic duo.'

MUNNYCAT, 'honest' (explicit) Official Music Video, trip hop, hip hop, East Coast funk, proto hip-hop, 80’s art pop, front-woman K808, multi-instrumentalist, producer Khaledzou,