Album Executive Produced by Russell Simmons, Co-Produced by Kush Mody, Additional Production by Anderson .Paak & Contributions from Twenty One Pilots Drummer Josh Dun Among Others!
Watsky is excited to announce the August 19th release of his fourth full-length studio album x Infinity. The new album was recorded at Seahorse Studios in Los Angeles, Grand St. Recording in Brooklyn and Aqua Vibea in Hadley, Massachussets by Andrew Oedel. Watsky produced the set along with longtime collaborator Kush Mody. Russell Simmons executive produced and there was additional production by Anderson .Paak (who produced Watsky’s last album, 2014’s All You Can Do). In addition, the 18-track release includes a few guest features including Tony Award winning Hamilton star Daveed Diggs as well as Julia Nunes – who can be heard on “Stick to Your Guns” – a song Watsky dropped on Friday July 1st which delves into issues surrounding gun violence.
The album announcement comes on the heels of the release of Watsky’s debut essay collection How To Ruin Everything (Plume/Penguin-Random House). The book dropped on June 14th and debuted at #10 on the New York Times BEST SELLER’s list first week out. Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda commented on the collection, stating “whether you’re a fan of Watsky’s poetry or hip-hop or a total newcomer, you will find joy in the words contained herein. Watsky in prose form is just like Watsky on a track—funny, subversive, and able to excavate such brutally honest sentences that you find yourself nodding your head in wonder and recognition.”
This is not surprising for the young poet and musician who ten years ago won the Youth Speaks Poetry Grand Slam Finals in SF that ultimately led to a performance at the Apollo Theatre in NYC and numerous other awards in the slam poetry world. That same year Watsky filmed the sixth and final season of Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry on HBO and went on to Sundance where he was the recipient of Robert Redford’s “Sundance Summit Award for poetry on Climate Change.” In 2009 Watsky was one of three poets who performed live on FOX at the NAACP Image Awards in honor of Russell Simmons’ lifetime achievement award. He continued to impress with his skill set, honing his craft both live and recorded but it wasn’t until 2011 when, thanks to a couple of viral videos, he was thrust into the national spotlight. That same year he was invited to The Ellen Degeneres Show as a guest and performer, he self-released his second album Watsky that peaked at #7 on the iTunes Hip-Hop albums chart and he was invited to participate in a TEDx program in SF.
Watsky’s fan base has grown considerably since thanks to a relentless stream of mixtapes and videos as well as two more albums — 2013’s Cardboard Castles and 2014’s Anderson .Paak-produced All You Can Do. He’s racked up more than 250 million views on YouTube and one of his most recent clips – “Whoa Whoa Whoa” – amassed more than 10 million views alone. In addition, he’s toured the world extensively over the past five years as a headliner and as part of the Vans Warped Tour and has hit several festivals including Outside Lands, Bumbershoot, Soundset, Ottawa Blues Fest, Hip-Hop Open, Rock the Bells and Wireless.
Now with a newly minted best-selling book to add to his credits, it seems only fitting that Watsky return with his most ambitious album yet and a UK tour, which kicks off in September. Confirmed dates below:
26th – Library, Birmingham 27th – Glasgow, King Tuts 28th – Manchester Academy 29th – Islington Assembly Hall 30th – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
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