SPOTLIGHT: The Rise of the Wicked: Jauz Makes His Debut Anew With ‘The Rise of the Wise’ and ‘The Wrath of the Wicked’
FIVE YEARS AFTER HIS DEBUT ALBUM TURNED HEADS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY — Jauz is back with an innovative two-part story and pure joy for the music he creates. After hours hovering over his computer and a crib, the iconic musician and new dad Sam Vogel, also known as Jauz, ends his year with the rebirth of his debut album, The Wise and the Wicked.
Released in 2018, the album solidified Jauz as an artist to look out for. Five years later, the story continues on in two albums split by their contrasting yet connecting personalities: The Rise of the Wise and The Wrath of the Wicked.
“I just felt like there was more to tell,” Jauz said. “This is a culmination of a concept that I've been trying to execute on for a while.”
The Rise of the Wise, released in July, floats us through a collected yet furious story, whereas his September release, The Wrath of the Wicked, screams its name and demands our attention.
“It feels like a yin and yang... harmony and chaos,” Jauz said. “I loved the first album, but with the way I sectioned [it] off, I felt like each part of the album had its own story to tell.”
Which is where the new two-part project was born.
“It literally hit me in the fucking face,” Jauz said. “The answer has been right there the entire time and I don't know why I didn't figure it out sooner.”
The Wicked
In complete contrast to the album released in July, Jauz’s September release, Wrath of the Wicked, categorizes the heavy-toned records into their cohesive yet contrasting story among the two universes.
“I had all this … super, super aggressive stuff that I wouldn't normally put out … and that's where the whole thing came from,” Jauz said. “I had these two worlds of music that, for whatever reason, I didn't feel comfortable putting out as a single for jobs.”
With a backlog of this intense music stored away and the inspiration to expand and explore his musical range, The Wrath of the Wicked took shape.
The album's first impression, “Chaos,” originally sat in waiting for a while before it became the monster it is today. But when Jauz returned to the track, he left no stone unturned.
“If I'm calling this the heaviest Jauz album, I have to have the heaviest song I've ever made on this album,” he said. “I definitely succeeded in making the heaviest Jaws song (‘Chaos’) in existence.”
As for the rest of the album, like the remake of the original song “Super Fly” into “Super Fly (Wicked VIP),” “Choppa,” “Bad Boi Sound,” and “Dreaming” are all transitioned into a cohesive storyline, building off each other to guide you through the mind of Jauz. Finally, he rounds out his project with the hauntingly beautiful but aggressive and loud “Save You Now.”
“‘Save You Now’ has some pretty epic melodics to it that I feel, even if it is kind of left center of what I would normally do, it's still a pretty good representation of who I am as a producer,” Jauz described.
Released as the third single prior to the debut of the album, the record embraces the conclusion of the story and connects the two universes into the finale of a grand tale.
The Future
An expression of his own experience as a musician and his core, Jauz’s music conflicts, contrasts, and fights for attention.
“If I go left, then next I want to go right, and if I go right, next I want to go left,” he explained. “I'm starting to make it pretty clear why I came up with an album called The Wise and The Wicked.”
Throughout the chaos and before the lights go out, the energy crafted by Jauz’s music leaves an emotion overflowing with a need to be heard.
“The whole story was about these two, ‘The Wise’ and ‘The Wicked,’” he said. “The whole thing is supposed to be a metaphor for the way that my stupid fucking brain works.”
With his tour well on the way, Jauz continues his reign with The Wise versus The Wicked shows and making regular festival appearances. But he will keep his audience on their feet and on the dance floor with his desire to grow as an artist.
“I'm really just scratching the surface in terms of what I have in mind for the future,” he said. “This tour just feels kinda like a seed that I'm planting, and in a couple of years from now it'll be what it really what I really want it to be. [For now,] it's the start of something new — I'm super stoked for everyone to come along on this journey with me.”
