Stream SONAR now.
Under the guise of Pyramid Vritra, Baton Rouge-born Hal Williams originally came in to the public’s line of vision as a founding component of the hugely successful hip-hop collective Odd Future, navigating the production of The Internet’s Matt Martians as one half of The Jet Age Of Tomorrow.
With Los Angeles as his creative hub Williams has maintained a prolific musical output since his former project’s quiet dissolution, deftly exploring the broad realms of hip-hop through a slew of solo albums released by revered labels and distributors Stones Throw and Fat Beats. 2019 also saw Williams expand upon his collaborative catalogue of work with the well-received release of an album crafted in collaboration with London’s Wilma Archer.
His latest album entitled SONAR sees another collaboration realised with LA beat scene figure Leon Sylvers IV recruited for production duties throughout. Elaborating upon the materialisation of SONAR Williams explains,
“For me this was one of the most fun to execute. Most of my self-produced music falls closer to the experimental spectrum, but I feel like I’ve never focused on a solid “rap” album. This is that. I feel like fans of my music wanted that. Leon has been one of my favorite producers for a long time. With him taking control of the production it freed me to focus on flow, style, and rhythm pockets. The name Sonar is fitting as well. Makes me think of beams. What made rap interesting to me in the first place was style. This is me beaming that style and putting it on the radar.”
Stream SONAR in full below.
SONAR is out now via Bad Taste Records. Purchase the album on coloured vinyl here.
Words by Sam Wilkinson.
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