Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The KneeHighs

Members

MC Talls:
MC Dalton:

Sound description

Rock-influenced hip-hop, harder than the Red Hot Chili Peppers but not quite as brutal — nor as metal — as Ice T's Body Count.

RIYL

Kanye West, Tim Raldo, Goodbye Blue Monday, Bad Credit, Blackilicious, Jumbotron

Inception

San Diego , 2005

Influences

Common, My American Heart, Faith No More, Jurassic 5

Discography

Sponsored

Hip-hop groups have a different dynamic than rock bands. Despite the individual boasting and bragging, hip-hoppers tend to mesh their contributions more seamlessly than rock players, whose goal is usually to stand out and "solo." Edgar Alminar walks both lines, playing keyboards and percussion for rockers Irradio and also DJing as DJ GarGar for the KneeHighs, along with three MCs: Talls, DaDa (onetime KUSI news editor Dave Drury, later known as DayDay), and Dalton. "Playing with Irradio packs its own kind of energy," he says, "but the KneeHighs definitely has its own unique energy and stage presence that can't really be described. You really have to see a live show to get the full experience. The music is energetic, feel-good hip-hop that'll get your grandma out of her seat."

Alminar/GarGar thinks San Diego is finally plugged into the contemporary hip-hop scene, citing successful events like Tha Liks at 'Canes, DJ Quik at 4th&B, and especially the Up in Smoke Tour at Coors Amphitheatre. "Up in Smoke was hit after hit after hit by all the artists I grew up with. Packed amphitheater, crazy energy — it was good to see many big-name artists sharing the stage."

Along with the increase of open-mic nights with hip-hop and spoken-word performers, it would seem the city that rapper Kev-4Play once called a "rich bitch, paint-the-ghetto-psychedelic kind of town" is finally more gabba than Abba. If you don't know what that means, you may not be the Kneehighs' target crowd.

They've opened for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Talib Kweli, DJ Quik, tha Alkaholiks, Sage Francis, L.A. Symphony, Ugly Duckling, P.O.S, Lyrics Born, Pigeon John, Blowfly, and Grand Buffet. Their albums include Global Warming (2005) and Rise and Shine (2007).

At the 2007 San Diego Music Awards, the band took home the trophy for "Best Hip-Hop Album" for their record Rise and Shine. They were nominated for another SDMA in 2009.

By 2012, recording commercial jingles has become another good way for the band to help pay their bills. In 2012, they were one of five local artists asked to record a 60-second spot for “Movin’ and Groovin,’” a TV and radio ad campaign created and paid for by the Metro Transit System (MTS) to get San Diegans to appreciate public transportation. Vokab Kompany, Buck-O-Nine, the Kneehighs, Ron Fountenberry, and Todo Mundo were each paid a flat fee of $1500 for their jingle, and MTS has the rights to each jingle for three years.

A new KneeHighs CD was announced for release in May 2016. As of the following year, Edgar "DJ GarGar" Alminar and MC DayDay had left the KneeHighs and were in the band Jumbotron.

In 2019, Edgar Alminar and MC Talls were in a new group, The Beautiful State.

Sponsored

Upcoming Local Shows

No shows scheduled

Post a show View show history
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader