Henry Williams – better known as the ‘Kamaal’ half of nu-jazz duo Yussef Kamaal – has officially announced the release of a new album. Wu Hen will be the musician’s second LP under his jazz pseudonym Kamaal Williams (the first being 2018’s The Return) and his third in total.
The album’s title hails from a pet name Williams’ Taiwanese grandmother used to call him as a child, as well as a partial inversion of Henry Wu, Williams’ alter ego under which he has produced several deep house EPs. Born in Peckham to an English father and a Taiwanese mother, the multi-instrumentalist first entered the music industry as a drummer for the singer Katy B, before branching out into the London jazz scene.
Though unconfirmed, it is unlikely a coincidence that Wu Hen shares strong phonetic similarity to the geographical origin of the COVID-19 virus, ‘Wuhan’. Since hate crimes against East Asians living in the UK have risen by 21% this year, perhaps the title is an act of solidarity and an affirmation of Williams’ own Taiwanese heritage.
Monday’s official announcement (below) revealed that at midnight on the 24th of July, “Part 1” of Wu Hen will be available on all platforms. This seems to suggest that in the vein of several other high profile releases from 2020 (BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7, Moses Sumney’s græ, and Hayley Williams’ Petals for Armor to name a few), the album will be rolled out in segments.
“Wu Hen” 24.07.20 :: Part 1 Dropping midnight on all platforms. Thank you for all your support. Get ready to enter the new realm. Video by Qiu Yang pic.twitter.com/JCJfVjUGKA
— Kamaal Williams (@kamaalwilliams) May 25, 2020
Before the official announcement, Williams had confirmed the project’s imminent arrival last week (the 19th of May) after building excitement from his fanbase through a series of tweets at the end of April, calling it “the best piece of art that I’ve ever made”. Along with his signature blend of RnB, jazz, rap, and funk (which he dubs “Wu Funk”), Williams was proud to let us know we can expect “some incredible artists and musicians”.
Through a tracklist posted onto Bandcamp, we now know that the album boasts contributions from Lauren Faith, strings from Miguel-Atwood Ferguson, and L.A. rapper Mach Hommy. Covering the story for The Vinyl Factory, Lazlo Rugoff reported that the album will also feature Quinn Mason on saxophone. Greg Paul (of Kalayst Collective) on drums, Rick Leon James on bass, and harp from Alina Bzhezhinska.
According to Pitchfork, Williams said of the album “This is a revolution of the mind. A spiritual rebellion. To reach new heights requires separating ourselves from the material world and finding power in what’s intangible. That’s what music and art is for – whether it’s a primitive emotion or something deep, you feel it. And there’s a subliminal element that resonates throughout my work. If you’re painting, it’s what you’re feeling as you’re painting. And the person looking at that artwork or listening to that music, they can feel it too, because it’s sincere”.
Wu Hen will be released and distributed on the 24th of July through Williams’ own label Black Focus Records. You can pre-order the album and listen to the two songs “One More Time” and “1989*” by following the link to the artist’s Bandcamp here, or you can stream the official audio for “One More Time” via Black Focus’ YouTube channel below:
