Trumpeter Nico Segal (fka Donnie Trumpet) and producer Nate Fox, best known as members of Chance the Rapper’s band the Social Experiment, have announced a new project, Intellexual, featuring a deep roster of collaborators from Chicago and beyond. SoX-mate Peter Cottontale, Francis and the Lights’ Francis Starlite, the Cool Kids’ Chuck Inglish, and rappers Raury, Jean Deaux, and Ric Wilson are among those featured, per a trailer released today, which you can watch below. The project also reunites Segal with several members of his original band Kids These Days including Vic Mensa, Ohmme’s Macie Stewart, Lane Beckstrom, and Liam Kazar.
Segal wrote today in a Reddit AMA that the work “has a strong anchor in folk music and draws inspiration from a lot of classic singer songwriters like Paul Simon [whom Segal and Fox collaborated with in 2016] and Prince as well as the great songwriters of today like Benny Sings, Frank Ocean, and Francis and the Lights.” He also confirmed that the Social Experiment, who released their acclaimed album Surf in 2015 and backed Chance on his recent tours, remains a thing. “We are all focused on a lot of projects at the same time so things start to come out at different times sometimes seemingly sporadic but it’s all part of the ‘social experiment’ of making music!” Segal wrote.
Intellexual is set for release on April 12. Watch the project’s trailer below.