Clams Casino Announces Debut Album '32 Levels' Out July 15 on Columbia Records

(Columbia Records; New York, NY; May 26, 2016) - Iconoclast hip-hop producer Clams Casino has announced his return with the long-awaited release of his debut album 32 Levels, out July 15 on Columbia Records. The album includes 12 original tracks and features vocal appearances from an impressive crew of collaborators, including A$AP Rocky, Lil B, Vince Staples, and more. Instrumental versions of every track on the album will be made available across all formats.

Watch the Lil B-directed video for "Witness" at Pitchfork: http://smarturl.it/witnessvideo

Set against the backdrop of the Bay Area, the video nods to the classic spy films of yesteryear. It marks Lil B's large-scale directorial debut and forms an arresting accompaniment to Clams' ominous production and B's tales of international intrigue.

Last week, Clams debuted the animated video for 32 Levels album track "Blast," directed by Strange Loop (Flying Lotus, Skrillex, Erykah Badu). FACT calls it "a reminder of what made him so good in the first place: towering rap beats that bleed into the red." Watch here: http://smarturl.it/blastvideo

With 32 Levels, Clams expands upon his distinctive musical vocabulary. He lends ballads an otherworldly, percussive sheen; confessional crooning a devastating sense of atmosphere; and trunk-rattling bangers a swaggering menace. It's a cinematic trip, with an expertly selected cast of characters that rise to the challenge of matching the emotional heft and sonic breadth of the production. Rolling Stone calls Clams a "visionary" and says his "richly textured, poignant sound stands entirely on its own," while The Guardian deemed him "most likely to change the face of hip-hop." SPIN calls his work "fascinating and ominously exhilarating."

Born and raised in New Jersey, Clams Casino, AKA Michael Volpe, began his career as a teenager, sending beats that he made in his mother's attic to rappers on MySpace. While studying to be a physical therapist, Clams released a free compilation of instrumental versions of his production, the now classic Instrumentals. Featuring Clams' signature hypnotic, kaleidoscopic beats, Instrumentals quickly earned acclaim and led to close collaborations with the likes of A$AP Rocky, Lil B, Mac Miller, and Vince Staples. His production work has also appeared on albums from The Weeknd, Schoolboy Q, FKA Twigs, A$AP Ferg, Foster The People and Jhene Aiko.

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