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Pyramid Vritra

American rapper and record producer (born 1991) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Hal Donell Williams Jr. (born November 11, 1991), known professionally as Pyramid Vritra, is an American rapper and record producer. Aside from their solo career, they initially rose to fame as a member of Los Angeles–based hip hop collective Odd Future via the sub-group The Jet Age of Tomorrow alongside Matt Martians, and Atlanta-based hip hop collective NRK (Nobody Really Knows).[1][2] They are one half of transatlantic hip-hop duo Wilma Vritra alongside Wilma Archer. They have released music under Stones Throw Records, Alpha Pup's The Order Label, and Bad Taste Records.

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Early life

Hal Donell Williams Jr. was born on November 11, 1991, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Williams had moved to and from multiple states throughout their childhood due to their mother's service in the United States Air Force, before relocating long-term to Powder Springs, Georgia.[3]

Musical career

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2009: NRK and beginnings

After moving to Powder Springs, Georgia as an early highschooler, Williams started making music with friends for the sake of listening to while skateboarding. Initially they started working with the rapper KC 2.0 (now Lombardi), as the duo “Kash and Gullie”, later including other neighborhood friends of theirs, who went by the pseudonyms of “Adlive Murdock” (later, Pyramid Murdock) and “The Original” (later, Gloomy Pyramid). Eventually fellow artists and friends of Williams such as Tyler Major, Andre McCloud, and Floyd Mables had joined the group, renaming themselves “The Bandits” and releasing a mixtape entitled “The Goodwill Tape” in 2009. Later members included artists such as “Lui Diamonds”, “Pyramid Quince”, and “Mr Northstar”. Member Jay Cue suggested they name their group “NRK”, which stood for “Nobody Really Knows”.[4]

The group went onto perform numerous live shows, all releasing projects on their own NRK music label on bandcamp and their own website. The members of the group continue to work with each other and Williams throughout their careers. Williams’ mother had always been supportive of their musical endeavors, letting them and the rest of NRK work in their house’s basement as a rudimentary recording studio.[5]

Before “The Goodwill Tape” was released In 2009, Williams reached out to Odd Future artist Matt Martians on the social media then known as Twitter, requesting that he help mix and master the songs on the project. This marked the beginning of their longstanding collaborative relationship.[6]

2010-2012: Odd Future, Jet Age of Tomorrow beginnings, and initial solo projects

In 2010, Williams would start seriously pursuing music as a career path, while being mentored by Matt Martians with the rest of NRK. That year, not only did they release what was considered their first solo project, Eloise, but also continued experimenting with numerous musical styles with Matt Martians as “The Jet Age of Tomorrow” (then “The Super 3”), becoming an Odd Future sub-group.[7]

Williams adopted the alias "Pyramid Vritra", named after the water serpent God of chaos in Vedic theology, to which Williams had a significant interest in high school, while aligning themself with other NRK members who shared the pyramid the stage name motif.

The Jet Age of Tomorrow would blend psychedelic neo-soul with the experimental approach to hip hop Williams would later become known for. One extended play and two albums would be released that year from the duo via Odd Future's Tumblr page, Voyager, and Journey to the 5th Echelon. Voyager being a mostly instrumental project featuring the song titled “The Knight Hawk” which was later sampled by Kendrick Lamar on the song “A.D.H.D”,[8] and the latter being a larger scale project with guest appearances from additional Odd Future members and affiliates such as Hodgy, Tyler, The Creator, Mike G, Casey Veggies, Vince Staples, and Kilo Kish, alongside NRK members such as Jay Cue and Tyler Major.[9]

On February 4, 2011, a music video for the album’s track, "Wonderland" had been posted on the official Odd Future YouTube channel.[10]

Both albums had distinctly excluded the wider leaning towards shock value Odd Future fans had come to expect from the other members, instead opting for a greater emphasis on atmospheric melodies and electronic approaches to acid jazz.[11] That same year, NRK would release a mixtape entitled “The Nobody Really Knows Us: Compilation of Audible Sound Vol.1”, more simply alternatively titled “The NRK Compilation”. featuring production and vocals from nearly all NRK members.[12]

Williams continued to pursue their musical career with their first major solo effort in 2011 known as “The Story of Marsha Lotus'”. The project was released via Stroll on Records, with genres ranging from avant garde jazz to psychedelic hip-hop. Despite consisting only of 6 tracks, some were 15 to 18 minutes in length. The album would see a re-release on vinyl and streaming services in 2012.[13][14]

Alongside the Jet Age of Tomorrow, now frequent collaborator Matt Martians would attempt to start another musical project with Williams alongside other Odd Future members of Syd and Left Brain, which would eventually become known as The Internet. Yet by the release of the band's initial debut Purple Naked Ladies, with both Williams and Left Brain featuring on the tracks “Gurl” and “Cocaine” respectively, the project developed into a duo effort soley between Martians and Syd.[15]

In July of 2012, Williams released the song “Drain”, featuring Syd (under the alias of ‘Frisco’) along with an accompanying music video. The track would serve as the first single to William’s debut studio album, “Pyramid”. [16]

Other promotion for the album, included a self-titled mixtape entitled “PYRAMIDVRITRA”, composed of draft material which did not make the final cut of the Pyramid album. The mixtape released on November 11, 2011, being their 20th birthday.[17]

On August 7th, 2012, Williams would release ‘Pyramid’, describing the album as “whimsical, dreamy, technical, s[e]mi-lethargic, experimental anger pop”. Alongside Syd, the album featured familiar collaborator Matt Martians, NRK members Andre McCloud, K.C 2.0 Pyramid Murdock, and Tyler Major, alongside additional features of Speak! and Gary Wilson.[18]

In 2012, Williams would also form the NRK side project of Rose Gold Dutch Masters, with fellow NRK members Tyler Major, Pyramid Murdock and Andre McCloud. The group was featured alongside additional NRK member Jay Cue, Matt Martians, and Vince Staples on an 18 minute EP by Williams, consisting of a single track, titled “Elenor”. [19]

The project would fully culminate in a mixtape with longtime collaborator Caleb Stone entitled “-___-”, alternatively verbally titled “Smuggins”, which they released tumblr for free. The mixtape was described featuring the blends of hip hop with neo-Soul synth funk NRK and Jet age of Tomorrow fans had come to expect, with a noted emphasis on how no samples were utilized during its production.

As the Jet Age of Tomorrow began to achieve momentum in the underground Hip Hop community, Williams would move from Georgia to Los Angeles to live with Matt Martians to work closer on musical projects as well as attend label meetings. This, however, would be for only a short period of time, as both Williams and Martians were evicted from their apartment, obliging Williams to move back to Georgia for a year. This frustrated Williams, as when they returned, they felt like most Odd Future acts had already been signed and built their careers, while they were left behind, unable to secure similar success. “I was experiencing the success of Odd Future, but I wasn’t necessarily a part of it. Everybody had all this money, but I was the one driving people around asking for gas money.” [20]

2013-2015: Stones Throw Records and The Jellyfish Mentality

In 2013, Williams with Matt Martians released their collaborative project “The Jellyfish Mentality”. The mixtape featured more Odd Future members and collaborators such as Earl Sweatshirt, Mac Miller, Casey Veggies, Mike G Hodgy, Vince Staples, Domo Genesis, and Kilo Kish.[21]

A music video for the bonus track “Delta” was released on Williams’ NRK youtube channel.

This same year, Williams would be signed to their first major record label, that being Stones Throw Records, a label featuring major acts such as Madlib, MF DOOM and James Pants. The record label would be the first to significantly promote Williams outside of their own NRK platforms.

This had culminated in further publicity for their 2nd studio album “Indra”, being the name of the God of thunder and rain in Hindu mythology, who is said to have defeated the Vritra serpent in battle. The project was entirely produced and performed by Williams themself, with the exception of a single feature from rapper Alberto Sparks on the song "Zord".

With the album’s release in 2014, Stones Throw records propelled the album with music videos for the songs “Tea and Lemonade”, “Spool”, and “Eleven12”. The album was also promoted by Williams themself in 2013, with an EP titled “Big Ralph’s Midnight Pink River Weather Grey” to generate interest in their then forthcoming studio release.

While the album received admiration and praise within the underground hip-hop scene, Williams was still unable to maintain the means to leave their job as a forklift operator between touring and performing with their label.[22]

Under Stones Throw records, Williams released the Extended Play ‘Palace’, marking the first in a series of smaller scale, more rap-centric extended plays. The project spawned music videos for tracks ‘Palace’ and ‘224’. The EP entered the UK Official Singles Chart, peaking at #96.[23]

Stones Throw later released a video for the song 'Like Summer' from the project's sequel ‘PV2’, which compiled footage of Willaims on the label's 2014 Asia tour in Hong Kong and Japan.

From there Willims would announce their third studio album ‘Dānu’, named after the Hindu primordial goddess described as the mother of Vritra In the Rigveda (I.32.9).

However, by 2015 Williams had no longer been signed under Stones Throw, and again had to rely on their own NRK label to promote the project.

After performing at Low End Theory, Williams along with the rest of NRK had been recognized by ‘Daddy Kev’ of Los Angeles based record label of ‘Alpha Pup records’, allowing them to distribute not only projects such as Dānu, but projects of other NRK members as well, under a branch of Alpha Pup’s label known as “The Order” label.[24] Dānu’s release was followed by singles and accompanying music videos for the tracks “58 (Heavy)”, “IDLI2TSNM (I Don't Look In 2 Tha Sky No Mo)”, and “V”.

2016-2018: VRITRA, Yellowing, and The Jet Age of Tomorrow reunion

In 2016, Williams released the album Yellowing, signaling a transformative era in both their musical career and own life. In a statement to “hypebeast” magazine, Williams announced “Yellowing represents a change in my production style and subject matter. The entire project is about getting older, and yellowing as plastic does and pictures do when they age.” The album featured the track “Wings” which was dedicated to William’s then newly born son, Ivan.[25]

The album was the first of William’s solo efforts to be released under the Alias “VRITRA”, rather than “Pyramid Vritra”, to indicate an advancement to a more matured era in both their musical artistry, and outlook on their own life experiences.[26] Around this time NRK members on The Order label would follow suit, with acts such as Pyramid Quince and Pyramid Murdock rebranding to Coodie Breeze and Mayhem Murdock respectively.

From there, Williams would go on to release an EP titled “I Miss My Son & My Wife :(“ alternatively titled “IM2S+MW” (I Miss My Second Self + My Wife) on platforms such as Bandcamp. Featuring production on the song “Failsafe”, by Matt Martians as the Jet Age of Tomorrow, beckoning one of the first instances of their professional relationship reuniting since William’s period with Stone’s Throw.[27]

In 2017, the reunion of Williams and Matt Martians would culminate in the fourth and final Jet Age of Tomorrow album, “God’s Poop or Clouds?” with features from Earl Sweatshirt, India Shawn, Mark Us Free, and Syd, as well as contributions from more recently included members of The Internet, such as Patrick Page II, Christopher Allan Smith, and Steve Lacy.[28] The album released via Martian’s newly formed, independent record label “5th Echelon Jet Repair Co”, named after their second album.

In an interview with the Fader, Martians spoke on the end of the project, stating “I don't think there'll be another Jet Age album. It was a lot easier to make those records before, and that's just growing up.” [29]

After this, Williams would go on to release a solo project entitled “HAL”, only one week later.[30]

In 2018, Williams released two complementing Extended plays titled "Double Rainbow" and "Felicity" respectively. Williams was unsatisfied with "Felicity" however, and planned to rework the album into a short film. In 2022 Williams released a demo tape for a reworked version of the project, but currently has not released the aforementioned film.

2019-Onward: Wilma Vritra, FEMME, SONAR, and 72Demons

Both 2019 and 2020 were transformative years for Hal Williams, especially with the formation of a new project with British producer/Composer Wilma Archer, “Wilma Vritra”. Williams had Archer’s attention since 2017, and began working together in 2018 on their then upcoming album “Burd”. The duo solely worked together via email at first, then met in Los Angeles to finish the recording process. The album differed quite heavily from William’s other musical endeavors, in that they had next to no output on the instrumentation, which was instead handled by Wilma Archer with the help of Tenor Saxophonist, Theo Erskine [31]

This, according to Williams, allowed them to better focus on expressing their own story lyrically, especially through the difficulties in their personal life they had while experiencing depression at the time.[32] The album was released on April 5, 2019 via Bad Taste records to generally positive reviews by critics and fans alike, and spawned various music videos for the songs “Ketchup” and “Targets & Digits”.

The single “Shallow Grave” received a significant amount of traction from a mainstream audience, earning millions of streams on platforms such as Spotify, and being featured on the soundtrack to the American drama film The Fallout directed by Megan Park. [33] The song was also used in a commercial for O2, a major British telecommunications services provider.[34]

Later in 2019, Williams released their Sixth solo studio album FEMME on Blossöm records. The album would be released alongside a 4-part music video series, featuring the tracks “Focus” (featuring NRK member Jay Cue and Tara Byars as Tequila Mockingbird), “Girl in Shorts”, “Feel Better”, and “HODL”.[35]

That same year, Williams released three separate Extended Plays. One being a collaborative work with Los Angeles based rapper “Red Bag” titled “PV vs Red Bag”, the second being a sequel to the 2016 collaborative EP with N01SES, “Per Capita” titled “PC2”, and the third being a completely instrumental, self produced EP “Larane, In Christ, At Mass”.[36]

With the momentum of Wilma Vritra on Bad Taste records, Williams would release their seventh studio album “SONAR” on the same label in 2020. The album, much like 2019’s “Burd”, did not feature production from Williams themself, rather serving as a collaborative effort with Leon Sylvers IV, son of Leon Sylvers III of the R&B family vocal group “The Sylvers”. Prior to this, Sylvers had been a longtime affiliate on other NRK projects with and without Williams as well. The album served as a primarily jazz rap focused work, differing from William’s more self proclaimed “alternative dance [music], just from a more hip-hop perspective”. [37] The album was preceded by the Extended Play, “FLOATERS”, also fully produced by Sylvers. “SONAR” spawned two music videos released via Bad Taste records’ YouTube channel “Air Raid”, and “What’s That”, with a third, self-directed video released via Williams' own channel for the song “Closer To God”

In 2021, Williams adopted a new stage name to release music under "LaRane," spawning a single and video for a song titled "PRASE." The moniker was quickly abandoned however, and "PRASE," along with its music video, was later reworked into the song "Mirror!" for Williams' EP "Dark Dark, High Contrast" under Blössom Records. Williams released another song for the house-music centered project, with a self-released video, titled "ULTRAVIOLET."

In 2022, Williams would release the second studio effort with Wilma Archer as Wilma Vritra, entitled “Grotto”. The duo described the project in a statement to “The Fader”, “The album is about self-preservation, private reflection and personal refuge from an oppressive exterior”.[38] “Grotto”, spawned music videos for the singles “One Under”, and “Clean Me Clean”, and received more generally positive reviews from fans and critics, admiring the atmospheric production of Archer and laid back vocal style of Williams.

Williams would then release another Blössom records EP, “VOID!” Marking a partial return to production since Femme, though still included some production from Sylvers. Williams initially released the project as a single 19 minute long track on Spotify. Williams later released the project as separate tracks on other platforms, alongside a corresponding NFT series.[39] In 2023, In 2023 Williams' released a remastered version of the project called "DEVOID" via the same record label.

In 2022 Williams would also release of two more extended plays, one with singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer from the Philippines, Eyedress, entitled “THEY ONLY LOVE YOU WHEN YOU LOVE YOU”, and “SNAKESS”, featuring more production from Sylvers.

In 2022, Williams hosted community freestyle competitions on their personal Discord server. For the contests, Williams created a number of original instrumental tracks, under a new alias "72DEMONS". These instrumental tracks would later comprise two minor Extended Plays; "Fitness P1" and "Fitness P2" respectively. This alias would remain largely secondary to the "VRITRA" pseudonym fans were acutely familiar with, until February 2024, with the release of the Extended Play single "NOTHING MATTERS". The single served as the beginning of Williams' replacement of "72DEMONS" as their primary stage name.

In February of 2024, Williams released their eighth studio album “AMBER”. Released under Bad Taste records, the 9 track project featured production from Williams themself, Deleano Gipson, ELWD, Wilma Archer, and Big Flowers. This was the final release under the “VRITRA” name.

On October 25th of 2024, Williams would go on to release their first full length project as "72DEMONS", entitled "TRICK THE DEVIL" under Blössom records. The album was preceded by the singles "Blu Ray", "Destroi", "Near2Me" and "Gema Ur a Pearl". The final single was released alongside a remix by rapper and alternative rock artist, Paris From Tokyo. The project featured a more alternative punk-rock centered sound than Williams' previous works, while maintaining their experimental production style.

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WDYSWYEC and other ventures

In 2019, Williams created a design firm specializing in product design, visual conceptualization, fashion and textiles called WDYSWYEC (What Do You See When Your Eyes Close). Williams said the company maintained an abstract approach to cover artwork and clothing design, and is currently directing a film.[40]

Williams released a music video titled "BOIL" on their YouTube channel to promote the fashion oriented side of the organization.

In 2020 Williams released more musical projects via Bandcamp to promote the company such as an EP "RANDO," which was later re-released as "FREE RANDO," and a DJ mix compilation titled "We Need Electrcity."

On April 17, 2021, Williams published an activity book titled Tunneling: An Introspective Journal. The book was only available as an [[e-book] via kindle, and was promoted as an introspective journal and self discovery method.

In 2022, Williams began a podcast of the same name (stylized as [TUNNELING]), hosted on their YouTube channel. Williams said the project is "a video podcast with creatives, musicians and artists about Love, perception and mental health."[41]

Discography

Solo

Studio albums
  • Pyramid (2012)
  • Indra (2014)
  • Dānu (2015)
  • Yellowing (2016)
  • HAL (2017)
  • FEMME (2019)
  • SONAR (2020)
  • AMBER (2024)
  • TRICK THE DEVIL (2024) (as 72DEMONS)
Extended plays
  • Eloise EP (2010)
  • Elenor (2012)
  • Big Ralph's Midnight Pink River Weather Grey (2013)
  • PV1 (2013)
  • Palace (2014)
  • PV2 (2014)
  • PV3 (2015)
  • PV4 (2015)
  • I Miss My Son & My Wife :( (2016)
  • Tape 322 (2017)
  • Double Rainbow (2018)
  • Felicity (2018)
  • LARANE, in Christ, at Mass (2019)
  • Rando (2020)
  • Floaters (2020)
  • Dark Dark, High Contrast (2021)
  • VOID! (2022)
  • SNAKESS (2022)
  • [DEVOID] (2023, remaster of VOID!)
  • NOTHING MATTERS (2024) (as 72DEMONS)
Mixtapes
  • paint. (2010) (as donellvritrajet)
  • The Story of Marsha Lotus (2011)
  • PYRAMIDVRITRA (2011)
  • Free Money. Egomericana. (2021)
  • FREE RANDO (2022)
  • Felicity (demo) (2022)
Compilations
  • Scopolomine (2012)
  • (Instrumentals: PV) (2013)
  • Old Beats (Lost & Found Instrumentals by a Younger Vritra in the Past) (2014)
  • We Need Electricity (2020)
  • INST 1 - Journey Riddems (2022)
  • INST 2 - Concrete Pop (2022)
  • FITNESS P1 (2022) (as 72DEMONS)
  • FITNESS P2 (2022) (as 72DEMONS)

with NRK

Compilations
  • The NRK Compilation (2010)
Mixtapes
  • Goodwill (2009) (as The Bandits)

with Odd Future

Studio albums
Compilations

with Matt Martians (as The Jet Age of Tomorrow)

Studio albums
Extended plays
  • Can I Hold Your Hand? (2010)
  • JellyFish Mentality: Bonus EP (2013)

with Wilma Archer (as Wilma Vritra)

Studio albums
  • Burd (2019)
  • Grotto (2022)

with John Harrison and BigCat

Extended plays
  • PV X JH X BC (2015)

with Aditi

Extended plays
  • Aditi (2013)
  • Contact (2015)

with Caleb Stone

Extended plays
  • Adelaide (2016)

With Rose Gold Dutch Masters & Caleb Stone

Mixtapes
  • -___- (Smuggins) (2012)

with N01SES

Extended plays
  • Per Capita (2016)
  • PC2 (2019)

with Red Bag

Extended plays
  • PV VS RED BAG (2019)

with Eyedress

Extended plays
  • THEY ONLY LOVE YOU WHEN YOU LOVE YOU (2022)

with Namek Beats

Extended Plays
  • Sprouting (2018)

with Tduchesss

Extended Plays
  • yOURS (2024)

Guest appearances

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References

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