Lushlife

Raj Haldar (rapper-producer Lushlife) has had a strange and storied career on the edges of hip-hop and indie music. Starting with <a href="spotify:album:0IMbC64k1nPoyRWk6MV7cg" data-name="Cassette City">Cassette City</a> (2009), he released three critically-acclaimed albums, most recently <a href="spotify:album:6zSPYImKXzl3s3V64GHExI" data-name="Ritualize">Ritualize</a> (2016) which featured collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:2N4EYkIlG1kv25g6Wv8LGI" data-name="Killer Mike">Killer Mike</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5H0YoDsPDi9fObFmJtTjfN" data-name="Ariel Pink">Ariel Pink</a> and more. Following a Trump-era mixtape, My Idols are Dead and my Enemies are in Power and a collaborative album with the producer, Botany under the name <a href="spotify:artist:5mJiFvqkNSVtquIc51ZO3B" data-name="The Skull Eclipses">The Skull Eclipses</a> (2018), Raj spent the last few years publishing a #1 New York Times bestselling children’s book P Is For Pterodactyl, which spent 26 weeks on Times’ bestseller list, and the sequel, No Reading Allowed. This led to a TV development deal for his kids’ book projects, as well as a “social horror” TV series set in India entitled, Cult of Aghori. All that to say, he got a little sidetracked on the music front…until now.

The new EP recasts classic east coast hip-hop in the context of an astral jazz synth odyssey. The recording is a collaboration with the <a href="spotify:artist:5XqyqoLZXA69lCNyBT3f89" data-name="Irreversible Entanglements">Irreversible Entanglements</a> quartet, who bring moments of sheer free jazz chaos across the tracks. Lushlife doubles as a producer, creating a universe where gorgeous synth arpeggios and Bomb Squad squeals fit hand-in-hand. With contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:5VF0YkVLeVD4ytyiyVSIiF" data-name="Dirty Projectors">Dirty Projectors</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3uKe1tF6HSEHFFKfHgpGnj" data-name="Felicia Douglass">Felicia Douglass</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0YIRvV4i3BIk1uRGM2Mdtt" data-name="Hprizm">Hprizm</a> (FKA High Priest of Anti-Pop Consortium), noise-rap god heads, Dälek and more - Lushlife&#39;s EP bristles with the energy of an artist willfully deconstructing his sound into something new.