This summer, Craig Northup II evolved from solo hip-hop artist to experimental jazz rap band frontman with the release of his band iies.’ Don’t Forget The Dot. The album, produced by Tango Studios, is the result of the band coming together and bringing their different backgrounds, styles and perspectives with them. From hip-hop, to rock, to jazz, to classical, to the blues, the five members of iies. have created a new sect of jazz rap that plays on everything they’ve known, everything they’re learning and everything they aim to do with their music. Don’t Forget The Dot is clean eclecticism, simultaneously easy listening and hard around the edges, and achieves an endless depth that will leave Denver’s fans thinking, feeling and — most of all — vibing.
Originally going by the moniker Craig II as a hip-hop artist, Northup II was performing at a house show supporting a 2017 solo album when fate played its hand. Northup II had forgotten the hard drive that held his backing tracks. Baz Gillen offered to play some drumbeats for him to freestyle over, and a bond was formed. Sometime later, Northup II would join Gillen and keyboardist Killian Bertsch for a jam in Boulder. The inevitable idea of a band came about, and eventually, bassist Jacob Montano and guitarist Aidan Roberts joined up. After some recalibrating and rebranding for Northup II, Craig II became iies., a five-piece who debuted at the iconic local venue, Mutiny Cafe, for the “first test” of what they could do together.
While Don’t Forget The Dot carries Northup II’s body of work, it is entirely different from his previous work in that it was developed under a whole new plan that shares the five members’ perspectives. The album’s name itself refers to the band name — iies. — and the period, or dot, that finishes that name. “The dot is the point and the point is perspective,” said Northup II about the relationship between album and band name. “It’s very much a collective piece of sharing each of our respective talents and backgrounds, making a blend of different textures and sonics that we wanted to experiment with.” iies. isn’t the first artist or group to create experimental jazz rap, and they were intentional in their playfulness with the malleable genre, inviting different styles and expanding on their ideas of where it could go. In Northup II’s own words, “We play with our hearts.”
The transition from solo artistry to a collective creation process turned out to be less about the music itself and more about the “cooperation and communication” needed to bring the music to fruition. In finding a happy medium between friendship and business, “a lot of communication had to be done” to give everybody a chance to shine. The five players, or elements (as Northup II called them), taught themselves to take the time to really hear one another’s opinions and try to find a “through line, a middle point to be able to express ourselves the way we wanted to.”
Just as the five internal elements were at play in the creative process, so were the endless external elements. Living, creating and performing in and around Denver and its music scene has given Northup II storytelling material and the ability to turn those stories into music. The experience in the local scene — the push and pull, waxing and waning, the good and bad — “the whole vibe, it becomes writing material,” he said. From seeing the hip-hop and jazz scenes in-depth to watching the jam band scene and all the energies in between, those external elements shape how Northup II moves in the music business, and it’s something he takes pride in. The amalgamation of these elements, the transition from solo to teamwork, and the experimentation with and reinterpretation of inspirations and ideas is iies.’ wholly impressive and creatively unprecedented Don’t Forget the Dot.
Listen to Don’t Forget the Dot on Spotify here.