Scottish Beat-maker 'i's Unleashes .and then there was flowers EP with billy woods, Safari Al, SaIGO, Uncommon Nasa & More (Mugwampers)
Chris McCormick AKA 'i's is an Ambient Hip-Hop/Electronic producer and beat-maker hailing from Livingston, Scotland. Many of you might remember him from a The Witzard post back in 2016: 'i's—then know as ('i's')—along with all these fingers (now known as Gould '72) and Butch Dawson, produced beats hand-selected and gloriously re-used by Future Islands frontman Sam Herring under his rapping alter-ego, Hemlock Ernst. 'i's is now part of Mugwampers, a rapper-producer duo/crew with emcee SaIGO, which seems to also, be functioning as a label, imprint, brand, and Odd Future-like creative collective. "Mugwampers are a Scottish Hip-Hop duo that draw ideals from the abstraction of art, meddling in Experimental Hip-Hop, Ambient, Jazz, Plunderphonics, Punk, Metal, and whatever we like; we will just see where a session takes us. Mugwampers are the least important important people you have never heard of," 'i's recently wrote to The Witzard on Facebook Messenger. Last month, 'i's quietly released failure.to.communicate, billed as ".a collection of tracks made during the process of feeling like sh*t," under the newly-launched Mugwampers Bandcamp umbrella.
failure.to.communicate features 10 'i's instrumentals, two collaborations with cunabear, and one with Jazz Williams and acts as an unofficial introduction to the Mugwampers' sound/brand. Savannah, Georgia emcee cunabear and 'i's previously worked together on a multi-media project entitled tr0glodyte.BurialGround, complete with hand-dubbed BearTooth Collective cassette tapes and original artwork, as well as a 34-page 'zine/artbook. Now, 'i's has returned with a new project, .and then there was flowers, released yesterday afternoon on the Mugwampers' Bandcamp page. This one's being billed as a 6-track compilation EP described by 'i's as ".a collection of tracks that i felt i had to get out there, slated to be titled "pretty" but mourned that title until the flowers had to be placed." It features an array of Electronic, Hip-Hop/Rap, Spoken Word, Abstract Hip-Hop, Ambient, and Experimental Hip-Hop tracks with guest appearances from s.al AKA Safari Al, Emmanuel Coto, wc tank, cunabear, Uncommon Nasa, and Backwoodz Studioz emcee billy woods, as well as Mugwampers' proper debut, "white liez," with fellow Scotsman, SaIGO.
Man, I can only imagine what Mugwampers' upcoming proper full-length(s) may feature, if these are merely the left-overs 'i's & SaIGO just wanted to get out into the world! Mugwampers have been teasing their mysterious 717 project, which will actually, be THREE separate EP's delivered in a variety of styles: "one, grimy Trap, one is filthy abstract sh*t, [and] the other, is more of a vibe tape to give a taster of our styles that we bring to the table," Chris McCormick further detailed. Upcoming Mugwampers releases will also, include a project called to kill an already dying space of time with cunabear & Unsung dropping later this month, as well as a SaIGO's ANOTHER TIME MAYBE . . dropping Monday, June 25th. 'i's is additionally, working on a number of projects with his Scottish Hip-Hop buddies Spawn Zero and CRPNTR. 'i's' .and then there was flowers EP is currently available to stream or download from Mugwampers' Bandcamp page. Make sure to Follow @mugwampers and @eyesluvsu (Chris McCormick) on Instagram, as well as Mugwampers' Facebook and Soundcloud pages for frequent updates!