At the beginning of 2020, Chicago artist NNAMDÏ was preparing to release his newest LP BRAT and subsequently undertake extensive touring through the remainder of the year. A global pandemic brought all of that to a halt. NNAMDÏ would still go on to release BRAT in April 2020 to much critical acclaim but thereafter used his unplanned down time to make more music as a response to the unpredictable seismic changes of the time. What resulted was a series of unplanned releases that would see NNAMDÏ release 2 LPs, an EP and a handful of singles throughout the year. He released his acclaimed EP Black Plight on Juneteenth, having written and recorded the whole thing in 3 days in response to the racial justice protests that roiled the summer months. He raised over $12,500.00 for racial and social justice causes in the process. With additional time and no opportunities to tour, NNAMDÏ immediately set to work finishing an ambitious project that had sat dormant in his mind and hard drive for a few years: Krazy Karl, his largely instrumental LP length rock-orchestral project inspired by the late Looney Tunes composer, Carl Stalling. The first pressing of Krazy Karl was limited to 325 copies, and sold out in less than 48 hours. The album is unavailable on streaming. In the years since its release, Krazy Karl has gained a kind of cult following amongst NNAMDÏ-heads as something like his purest composer album. In 2020 NNAMDÏ described the album as “untethered…. deranged modern compositions… when your brain tries to leave your skull, but you keep mashing it back into your nose.” NNAMDÏ commissioned fellow Midwest rapper and artist Zelooperz to paint the album cover.
The initial pressing of Krazy Karl included 25 handmade copies from Cleveland’s internationally collected and recognized master artisans of the handmade vinyl record, Wax Mage Records, as well as a series of hand drawn test presses, and 300 hand numbered copies on bottle glass green vinyl. All 325 sold out in a few days, and each of those variants command considerable sums on Discogs today.
To commemorate the 5-year anniversary of this seminal record in NNAMDÏ’s catalog, NNAMDÏ is doing his first ever re-press of Krazy Karl including a historic co-release with Cleveland’s Wax Mage Records. In addition to 500 copies of the album on black vinyl (also available for the first time at retail), and 29 limited edition Wax Mage handmade records, NNAMDÏ’s Krazy Karl has the distinct honor of being the first co-release with Wax Mage Records. An additional set of 250 handmade, custom designed vinyl records each adorned with a B-Side label featuring the Wax Mage and Sooper Records logos are for sale through NNAMDÏ and Wax Mage webstores now.
WAX MAGE EDITION AVAILABLE ON NNAMDÏ's Bandcamp Page
SOOOOOPER Logo T-Shirt
Limited Edition Retro Tech T-Shirt
Limited Edition Cassette Trucker Hat
Logo T-Shirt