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isomonstrosity: Johan Lenox / Ellen Reid / Yuga Cohler

by isomonstrosity & International Contemporary Ensemble

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1.
wake up!
2.
your love is shining on me your love is blinding and sweet your love is shining on me your love is blinding and sweet i don't wanna play with these bitches leave me down for the kill i'm a sheep in the trenches i'm a wolf in the field stay outside the pandemic but you're paranoid still it's alive in your headache it's a part of the drill baby steps all the things you said all the things you said shoved inside my chest deep inside my chest deep inside my chest i don't wanna play with these bitches leave me down for the kill i'm a sheep in the trenches i'm a wolf in the field stay outside the pandemic but you're paranoid still it's alive in your headache it's a part of the drill
3.
4.
i don't really miss it
5.
it's quiet too quiet it's quiet too quiet no peace in my quiet of late the silence has been violence of late, yea that silence and riots at night, yea  and outside we riot at night, yea set that shit on fire set that shit on fire watch it burn, burn, burn, yea set that shit on fire watch it burn, burn, burn life is a stage you're not getting free feel alive when i ride, tap into 3 feeling the wave, moving my feet, my vibe is a vibe, tap into the 3 playing the keys, glow in the dark, up in the wave growing my wings, i'm growing my wings growing my wings, growing my wings i'll buy one for you i'm yearning for your touch still ain't heard from you yea, i reminisce i don't really miss it this loneliness has thrown all of my sense out the window it's too quiet, i've been losing my mind switch places cuz i'm not for real set that shit on fire watch it burn, burn, burn, yea set that shit on fire watch it burn, burn, burn my soul is solar while my heart is polar i miss my momma while i'm at the MoMA mind is focused, living in the moment who's the homies when the homies are homeless? who's my people before the people? who you see in the game? is you see-through? who's my folks before the hoes and n--as for real? set that shit on fire watch it burn, burn, burn, yea set that shit on fire watch it burn, burn, burn wake up!
6.
7.
i don't want to be alone anymore miss the room shake  i miss having you next to me telling me that everything is perfect this moment  take it slow i know you but right now i don't know what's gonna happen anymore feel the room shake take me back there i know there's more there waiting for me the silence and the room  can't take me back to you can't take this anymore take this anymore
8.
9.
thoughts racing, one track mind tripped over a couple hurdles,  still made the finish line spending time relaying message, talking in circles why they sprinting for attention running round with no purpose? on the track i field keeping them on they heels cheap thrill mean nothing if the love ain't real don't meddle with silver soles cuz i got a heart of gold with feet made of bronze i'm a god with no hope so i write like walking on ice and cleats put my life in the lines when i write to the beat man this ain't for defeat this the feat  like walking barefoot in the street sometimes you gotta reach til you hit your peak lowkey when i'm riding through the city ??? they said i'm filthy i'm bout respect ???? if my youngest crash out it's a wreck ???? i took a one-way ??? monday through sunday they say they with me but i know they not i ain't with that sucker shit it'll get you shot i came from ??? i ain't one of these n--as that's talking about what they had they said be careful what you wish i always played my part ??? since the start just live your life cuz you can't get that back ??? with a penny turning into racks bummer turning into summer turn into another just a little longer i've been tryna hold out gonna hate it when it's cold out be a while, don't burn out you ain't sure and i got no doubt i'm just starting at my breakfast all day listening to Brahms and Beyonce careful what you wish, happy holidays careful what you wish for--it might just stay this way that's ok either way
10.
wake up! wake up! wake up! wake up! wake up! hear the church bells ringing i'm singing freedom we live in modern enslavement  i'm exercising my demons i'm splitting the congregation i done caught the holy ghost on these motherfuckers  the spirit is in me father to son, i'll bury my enemies we a dynasty compared to the Kennedys  but more Black, with more straps i mean they barely could kill me i'm immortal bitch you ain't walking in these here Jordans size nine and a half tell me who your favorite  i'm Kurt Vonnegut  promise i'll slaughter all 5  running out of the ride with a Louis Vuitton bag a lot of yall looking real performative (doing what?) sitting, thinking way done with that wake up! sleep  eat pass out
11.
I used to go out a lot I still felt lonely then  But not the way that I'm feeling now Now I miss talking loud At least I'm still in love I used to go out I used to go out I used to go out At least I'm still in love It's more than I could want I've been losing my mind I've been losing my mind
12.

about

isomonstrosity is a pandemic symphony in rap and avant-pop. The project was assembled by three collaborators Ellen Reid, Johan Lenox, and Yuga Cohler. They solicited contributions from an array of contemporary classical composers, then overlaid features from an all-star cast of voices from contemporary rap and modern avant-pop.

The three principals’ credits are unassailable. Ellen Reid won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera p r i s m in 2019, the year after Kendrick Lamar shone a new light on an award previously spoken about mostly in the jazz and classical worlds. Yuga Cohler has a dual career as a Juilliard-trained orchestra conductor and a well-established software engineer working for Google and Coinbase. Johan Lenox is an LA-based artist who studied composition at the Yale School of Music then built a subsequent career as a go-to producer for iconic pop performers, contributing to records by Travis Scott, Big Sean, Shawn Mendes, Teyana Taylor, Lil Nas X, Selena Gomez, and Cautious Clay. Most recently he was an integral part of 070 Shake’s You Can’t Kill Me album, also opening most of her North American tour dates with a pair of sets presenting his solo work and a block of classical composition.

isomonstrosity was inspired in part by the mood and the constraints of the Covid-19 quarantines of 2020-21, recorded separately in pieces, with every musician working in isolation. The goal was to make a vocal chamber music album using the same process as a contemporary rap album, assembling contributions from a wide array of artists then reorganizing them endlessly into a final work. They first commissioned excerpts from established new music composers—Bryce Dessner, Marcos Balter, Nina C Young, Wang Lu, Carlos Simon and themselves—which were then recorded one track at a time by International Contemporary Ensemble. Next, the featured vocalists recorded parts inspired by those excerpts. Finally all of the music was chopped up and restructured, layered and collaged into a final album.

The features include:
• 645AR
• Danny Brown
• Danny L Harle
• Empress Of
• Johan Lenox
• Kacy Hill
• Vic Mensa
• Zacari

A few artists, like Danny Brown, probably require little introduction no matter what part of our fragmented music landscape you pay most attention to. If some of the other names aren't familiar, they should be. 645AR and Tommy Genesis are experimental pop artists who regularly flout pop music’s unwritten rules. Zacari has been associated with the Top Dawg family, including multiple features on the Black Panther soundtrack. Empress Of, Vic Mensa and Kacy Hill are underground darlings who have each flirted with the mainstream: Kacy was initially signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. label and Vic is both a successful solo artist signed to Roc Nation and a frequent collaborator with his Chicago peer Chance the Rapper. Danny L Halre has become a go-to collaborator for experimental pop artists such as Caroline Elizabeth Polachek, Tkay Maidza, PC Music and Clairo.

We’ll say it again: isomonstrosity is a pandemic symphony in rap and avant-pop. We now live a world where “normal” feels like an artifact of a lost civilization. Lost to political and environmental disruptions. Lost to a world remaking itself after a period when globalization’s steady hum…stopped. isomonstrosity might just be the soundtrack to what comes after.

credits

released November 18, 2022

composed, recorded and produced during quarantine, summer 2020. completed in 2021-2022

album produced by isomonstrosity
mixed and mastered by Madeline Leavitt 

featuring instrumental music composed by Marcos Balter, Bryce Dessner, Johan Lenox, Wang Lu, Ellen Reid, Carlos Simon, Nina C. Young and performed by International Contemporary Ensemble

instrument credits for International Contermporary Ensemble members
- Isabel Gleicher, flute and piccolo
- Josh Modney, violin
- Joshua Rubin, clarinet, electronics and keyboard
- Katinka Kleijn, cello
- Levy Lorenzo, percussion
- Nathan Davis, electronics
- Phyllis Chen, piano
- Rebekah Heller, bassoon

additional instrumental performances by composers:
- Bryce Dessner, electronics
- Johan Lenox: Bassoon chorale

artwork by Allison Tanenhaus

packaging design by Rob Carmichael | Seen Studio

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isomonstrosity New York, New York

isomonstrosity is a pandemic symphony in rap and avant-pop. The three principals’ credits are unassailable. Ellen Reid won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Johan Lenox studied composition at the Yale School of Music then built a career as a go-to producer for iconic pop artists (i.e. 070 Shake, Travis Scott, Lil Nas X). Yuga Cohler is a Juilliard-trained conductor and a software engineer. ... more

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