Youniss / Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals

VIERNULVIER

Thu 07.05

19:30 - 22:45

BALZAAL

Antwerp-based multi-disciplinary artist Youniss Ahamad operates much like a quantum particle, constantly resisting categorization and knowability. Expect a rebellious combination of post-punk, hip hop and noise.

About Youniss

Youniss’ unique path in the Belgian underground has been influenced by his ancestral roots in Cote D’Ivoire and Iraq. His experience growing up in the Antwerp suburbs as a Black person with an Arabic name inspired 2023’s White Space – marking a shift from cerebral dance music to distorted, experimental storytelling.

Each subsequent record has seen Youniss shift his sound. White Space was an outburst of electric guitar, spitfire vocals, and barbed breakbeats. Do We Try Beyond The Edge? continued in this vein, sharpening his lyrical bite against the colonial structures that still pervade everyday life in Belgium. On his upcoming record Youniss steps out from behind the distortion, exploring the full range of his voice. An ode to the modern city and a clarion call against gentrification, Good Effort! marks yet another musical turn toward jazz, a chimeric combination of To Pimp A Butterfly-era Kendrick, Flying Lotus, and Slauson Malone.

Post-punk, noise, hip hop & experimentalism. A double bill that refuses to be pinpointed to a single genre or mood through relentless experimentation.

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"In this patchwork of ideas and visions in sound, is something completely captivating."

- The Quietus on Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals

Micah E Wood

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Adel Setta

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Micah E Wood

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Micah E Wood

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Adel Setta

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Micah E Wood

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About Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals

As seen at Out the Frame, and now back for more! Transcending beyond the generic idea of what a hip-hop producer can do, Infinity Knives (Tariq Ravelomanana) frequently demonstrates his oft-discussed love of contemporary classicalists such as Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson. Hidden deftly amongst the hard-hitting beats and Ennals' lyrical dexterity are moments of blissful orchestration that betray an abundance of musical talent. The precise control over the cleverly formed layers of melody and harmony provides a relentlessly inventive backdrop for Brian Ennals' righteous poetry of vitriol, rage, philosophy, humour, and myth-making.

Since partnering in 2020 for the album Rhino XXL, Knives and Ennals have built a global fanbase almost entirely on word of mouth. Their follow-up album, 2022's King Cobra, was released by taste-making UK label Phantom Limb, named #1 album of the year by Loud and Quiet, #5 album of the year by Spin, leading to Knives and Ennals' invitation to open Irish hip hop trio Kneecap's US tour.

The duo's latest album, A City Drowned in God's Black Tears, was released in April 2025 to rave reviews from The Needle Drop, Rolling Stone, Wire Magazine, The Quietus, FD Signifier, and more.