Listen to Jauz’s debut artist album, ‘The Wise and The Wicked’

Today marks a defining moment in JAUZ‘s young and burgeoning career. The LA-based artist and genre pioneering producer has released his hotly-anticipated debut album, The Wise and The Wicked. This is not just any regular debut album though — it stands as a testament to Sam Vogel’s thorough commitment to his artistry.

Clocking in at 23 tracks, with some high-profile collaborations from the likes of Krewella, Adventure Club, Snails, and DJ Snake, TWATW is a full-scale concept album that builds an entire world of continuity, with each track contributing a new storyline. With tracks that really pay no mind to any one genre, the album tells a story of a dystopia that has resulted from increasing threats to our society in our current day and age — namely, the wealth gap. Jauz and his team set the scene as follows:

The Wise inspire the masses by using intelligence and knowledge, and hope to find a cure for the ailing earth we live on with new groundbreaking technologies. They believe that only the truly adept should survive. On the other side, The Wicked believe in full anarchism, using anger and aggressiveness to grow their ranks, and will eventually let the modern world burn itself to the ground so it can be rebuilt in a more sustainable way.

But the plot thickens, The Wise celebrate music and creativity in ancient theaters, concert halls and in front of monuments. Their music aims to teach, and is more catered to the intelligent. While the music of the The Wicked is more primal, fueled by energy and anger. They share their sounds more publically, under bridges, in abandoned buildings, in the middle of the streets.

Their rivalry comes to an end, after chapters of the two castes opposing each other, a third party enters, The United, who are fueled by passion to create a better world. As outcasts of both parties, they have seen the errors both sides have made and also the strengths each side possesses. They have realized that this fight is not between two sides of humanity, but between all of humanity itself and everything that corrupted both sides into sinking our world deeper into darkness.

To fully grasp the album’s storyline, one must listen to the tracks in consecutive order. So dive in and press play on this 23-track masterpiece from Jauz.