| Hype Williams | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Origin: | London/Berlin[1] [2] |
| Years Active: | 2005 (allegedly)–present |
| Current Members: |
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| Past Members: | |
Hype Williams is a music and art group best known for consisting of UK-born artist Dean Blunt and Russian-born artist Inga Copeland (aka Lolina) between 2007 and 2012. Supposedly founded in 2005 as a "relay" project passed between artists every five years, the group has given few interviews, leaving music journalists and the media in doubt as to the exact nature of the project.[2]
The group's work encompasses widely experimental music releases marked by a lo-fi sound, including their 2011 album One Nation on Hippos in Tanks, and distinctive video pieces, including the defunct YouTube channel pollyjacobsen, which featured a bizarrely cryptic range of content.[1] Their work has drawn irreverently on popular culture and incorporated opaque imagery and contexts, as well as an idiosyncratic online presence. In 2011, they were signed to Hyperdub.
In 2016, Glass announced that Blunt and Copeland were no longer part of the project, which would be continuing with other members.[3] The group's lineup has remained obscure, although Blunt's artistic style has been heard within newer releases, and a variety of other names have also been invoked as members. A mysterious representative named Denna Frances Glass has alternately been posited as either the manager of the project or a fake identity created by Blunt and Copeland.[2] [4]