Az local “KNØTTZ” born in the city of Chandler, but raised on the border of east Glendale and west Phoenix, is an artist that I’ve been seeing a lot more of this past year, a lunatic when on stage live, the epitome of destruction.
The name KNØTTZ came from his hair, stating, “I had an afro at the time and I lived with my mom and my brother (both were white) and they had no idea how to take care of "black hair." So up until my sophomore year of high school, my hair was nappy and knotted asf.” The “Ø” later being adopted, taking on the meaning of “not welcome”. Before this going by the names lil knottz, and pestilenzen.
Starting to make music back in 2017, he spent the first 4 years not being involved in the Arizona scene and majority of the people he would work with were wannabe copies of mainstream artists like Lil Uzi Vert or Lil Peep, making it hard for him to find people who would actually wanna work with him. Performing for his first time in 2021, he has since then performed 11 times with some of the shows being ones he has organized himself. Learning to mix and master all his own tracks while also releasing his music on all platforms, and in the recent months has started receiving a lot of love and support in the Az scene. KNØTTZ was musically inspired by artists such as XXXTENTACION, Corey Taylor, Randy Blythe, Philip Anselmo, Serj Tankian, and Hopsin. But also inspired by other things non music related such as world history, politics, violent crime, mass planetary/existential crisis, and warfare. As far as the music and the image, everything he does is a statement. Leaving the lyrics to his songs on SoundCloud and Instagram so people can truly grasp the shit he is saying. Covering multiple topics like religion, politics, mental illness, warfare, civil issues, school/mass shootings, police brutality, cancel culture, global warming, and much more. Majority of the songs having specific meanings, with a lot of his lyrics being very figurative leaving the listener to form a point of view. Knøttz makes music meant to push boundaries, provoke people into thinking about their reality and open the human mind. He stated, “I don't consider myself woke I just analyze everything around me 24/7 and I HATE what I see. That's why I’m so angry, each song is a loaded gun aimed at the world and the people who inhabit this rock.”
The mask he wears symbolizes a muzzle because he tends to not have a filter, especially when pissed. Wearing it represents every word he’s ever held back in life and the voice he never had growing up. Constantly silenced and told that he was wrong for the emotions he felt and the way he’d think. Translating that to his performances, once the mask is off, he is screaming in everyones faces, making them deal with it. Quiet until he is not, but when he’s not, you better fucking listen. You can find Knøttz’s music on all platforms under the name, “KNØTTZ” and follow him on Instagram @knxttzz
