Dean Blunt

Maverick musician and producer Dean Blunt has long puzzled audiences and reviewers alike through an array of uncategorizable recordings issued under numerous pseudonyms and group monikers. Recognition first arrived via his involvement in the enigmatic avant-garde pop outfit Hype Williams, after which he embarked on an extensive solo trajectory beginning in 2011. Across a steady stream of albums, mixtapes, videos, and standalone pieces, his output has spanned abrasive drone textures, flatly delivered hip-hop, and deconstructed house, though certain releases—above all 2014’s Black Metal—have drawn explicitly from ’80s college rock and dream pop palettes. His most directly political endeavor, the U.K. rap trio Babyfather, delivered the widely praised album BBF Hosted by DJ Escrow in 2016, while the jazzy R&B collective Blue Iverson unveiled its first recording in 2017. Following joint albums with Joanne Robertson and Delroy Edwards, Blunt returned with one of his most accessible statements, 2021’s Black Metal 2, the follow-up to an earlier long-player that had gradually attained cult status.

A native of London’s Hackney district originally named Roy Nnawuchi, Blunt had already played bass with Graffiti Island before gaining wider attention alongside Inga Copeland in Hype Williams. Observers placed the duo within chillwave and hypnagogic pop, labels both artists dismissed. Between 2009 and 2012 the project issued several albums together with a number of singles and EPs whose contents moved between lo-fi house and fractured, noisy assemblages bearing equally playful titles. Blunt initiated solo activity in 2011 and soon assembled a catalog comparable in scale to his work with Copeland. Standout full-lengths from this period include The Narcissist II (Hippos in Tanks, 2012), The Redeemer (Hippos in Tanks, 2013), and Black Metal (Rough Trade, 2014). The opening pair explored loose-limbed vocals and songcraft, whereas the third fully adopted conventional song structures and incorporated guitar at several points.

In 2015 Blunt posted the online mini-album Babyfather, subsequently expanding the name into a trio completed by DJ Escrow (the alias of South London poet and musician James Massiah) and Gassman D. After two self-released mixtapes, Hyperdub put out Babyfather’s single “Meditation,” co-produced by Arca, along with the album BBF Hosted by DJ Escrow in 2016. Hype Williams resumed activity with several releases in 2016 and 2017, yet Blunt and Copeland—who had adopted the name Lolina—were said to have no participation, the project now described as a “relay project” that had enlisted fresh contributors. Under the handle @jesuschrist3000ADHD, Blunt issued the guitar-oriented ambient single “As Long as Ropes Unravel Fake Rolex Will Travel” in 2017, while Wahalla, recorded with regular partner Joanne Robertson, surfaced concurrently. That same year the Los Angeles-based R&B ensemble Blue Iverson, produced by and featuring Blunt, released its debut Hotep. Blunt contributed to A$AP Rocky’s 2018 album Testing, and the rapper in turn appeared on several of Blunt’s own projects, including Soul on Fire. Desert Sessions with Delroy Edwards also arrived that year. Zushi, containing guest spots from Panda Bear and Sauce Walka, followed in 2019. The expansive digital anthology Roaches 2012-2019 emerged in 2020. Blunt rejoined Rough Trade in 2021 for Black Metal 2, a compact sequel to his expansive 2014 release.