Scottish Beat-maker 'i's Re-emerges As "Emo Sadboy" Jazz Williams, Amidst a Plethora of Solo & Collaborative Releases (Mugwampers)
As you may well know, by now, Mugwampers are a Scottish Hip-Hop collective consisting of emcee SaIGO and producer/beat-maker 'i's. Mugwampers have been able to construct a very unique blend of Hip-Hop, Metal, Spoken Word, Electronic, Plunderphonics, Abstract/Experimental Hip-Hop, and much, much more into their own unique sub-genre. Since first announcing the sheer existence of Mugwampers earlier this year, the collective has already released a number of genre-eschewing projects including: 'i's' failure.to.communicate and guest-littered .and then there was flowers EP, SaIGO's 9-minute ANOTHER TIME MAYBE . . fully produced by 'i's, and Mugwampers' 717: Parts I-II EP's. Next to be released will be a collaborative ('i's) x cunabear release called skulptures dropping on Savannah, Georgia-based BearTooth Collective this upcoming Tuesday, September 25th. Chris 'i's McCormick recently told The Witzard there are TWO additional collaborative EP's slated to drop following skulptures; one project that's just Mugwampers & cunabear and another that's just Mugwampers & West Virginia emcee Unsung. Ahead of skulptures, ('i's) & cunabear have let loose a teaser single, "nails hold me down," featuring both SaIGO & Unsung, which you can stream down at the bottom of this very post.
Now, on top of all the aforementioned projects, Mugwampers have announced YET ANOTHER project scheduled to be released to the masses sooner than later: an as-yet-untitled project from 'i's' alter-ego, Jazz Williams. From what I can tell, Jazz Williams (@jazzwilliams_) is a MADVILLAIN/Quasimoto-esque artist alias for 'i's, wherein he "[sings] and [speaks] as this jazzy sadboy." While at my age, I'm a bit disjointed from the outlying sub-genres of Hip-Hop 20-somethings listen to these days, but I would go as far as to liken 'i's' Jazz Williams project as similar to Lil Peep, Yung Lean, and Young Thug or even Kanye's oft-loved/hated 2008 album, 808's & Heartbreak. Jazz Williams sees 'i's doing everything: beat-making, production, assorted instruments, mixing, mastering—not unlike he does with Mugwampers and solo material—as well as 100% of the vocal duties, which are all handled by SaIGO for Mugwampers. Chris 'i's McCormick described Jazz Williams to The Witzard as, "more of a vibe, some sadboy emo sh*t." While a solid release date has yet to be set, you can now view Jazz Williams' "bleeding gums" music video directed by frequent Mugwampers collaborator and director Joe Eaton (@joeeverse.) Jazz Williams' debut project will be dropping sooner than later, along with Mugwampers' 717: Part III EP.