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Why?

Part literary underground hip-hop, part brightly melodic indie rock, and part synthy, kaleidoscopic art rock, Why? has existed in a class of its own since its establishment by singer/rapper/songwriter Yoni Wolf. Begun as a solo project in the early 2000s, Why? soon grew into a full band, who, under Wolf's guidance, have crafted heady albums that return to themes of family, mortality, and neurotic responses to everyday life. They reached a new level of critical acclaim and fan support with their much-lauded 2008 masterstroke Alopecia and continued in kind with albums such as 2012's Mumps, Etc. (named for getting sick on tour) and 2017's quirky, sample-injected Moh Lhean. In 2024, Why? delivered their most accessible album yet, the breakup-themed The Well I Fell Into, which took a more poignant, singer/songwriter-oriented approach without landing anywhere close to dull. Bay Area rapper Yoni Wolf began performing as Why? sometime in the late '90s. A highly collaborative artist, Wolf was involved with the scene that would give birth to the Anticon label, and he was involved with Hymie's Basement, Clouddead, and other projects while he was beginning to work as Why? After releasing 1999's Part Time People Cage... or Part Time Key? and 2003's Oaklandazulasylum, he enlisted older brother Josiah Wolf, Doug McDiarmid, and Matt Meldon (all playing multiple instruments) and transitioned Why? from a solo project to a full band in 2004. The first full-length release from the group came with 2005's Elephant Eyelash, a hip-hop record heavy on melody, synthesizers, and jangly guitars. The band toured and recorded constantly in this time, releasing EPs and singles between proper albums and staying on the road for months at a time. In 2008, the project's second full-band album, the critically acclaimed Alopecia, arrived and became Why?'s first to hit the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. Featuring Mark Erickson along with Fog's Andrew Broder, Eskimo Snow arrived in 2009 and also landed on the independent albums chart. The title for their next effort, 2012's Mumps, Etc., was inspired by contracting the disease while in Europe, along with other "on tour" calamities. In 2013, the conceptual Golden Tickets EP materialized; a fundraiser for tsunami victims in Japan, the seven-song collection of personalized tracks was crafted by Wolf for seven individual Why? fans he'd Internet-stalked over the course of several months. For the group's fifth studio album, Why? moved to Joyful Noise, which had released the 2016 debut of Wolf's duo with rapper Serengeti, Yoni & Geti. Co-produced by Wolf and his brother Josiah, a frequent music collaborator, Moh Lhean was released in 2017. It was the first fully home-recorded Why? LP since the project's debut. Now stationed in Cincinnati, Ohio, Wolf regrouped quickly for their sixth album, 2019's AOKOHIO. The set was a deeply nostalgic statement, collecting short songs into six larger movements. The band embarked on tour in support of AOKOHIO alongside dates where they'd play Alopecia front to back. When Why? eventually returned five years later with a new album, it was with Wolf's most poignant, singer/songwriter-oriented material yet, in service of processing a breakup. Still far from conventional, The Well I Fell Into was recorded as a band with producer Brian Joseph (Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver) at Hive Studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with guests including Gia Margaret, Macie Stewart, Lala Lala, Ada Lea, and Serengeti. It was the inaugural release on Wolf's own Waterlines label (in conjunction with Joyful Noise) in August 2024.
© Marcy Donelson & David Jeffries /TiVo
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