U253 by Hal Warren

This project was written under the mentorship and guidance of Dr. Cassio Vianna, a pianist, arranger, music educator, clinician, and an award-winning composer whose work reflects the broad range of musical and cultural influences he received during his years of training. Dr. Vianna is the Director of Jazz Studies and the Assistant Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University.
This project would not be what it is without Dr. Vianna. His commitment to my art, his willingness to have hard conversations, and his openness to my ideas made writing so much fun. I am deeply indebted to Cassio and if you are reading this, I hope I have honored you by making something I am certainly proud of. U253 is a product of not one, but two minds.

During my junior year of college, I studied in Berlin, Germany. Officially, I was studying German language and Berlin as an area study with IES Abroad Berlin and at the Humboldt University. Outside of my program, I was deeply involved with the hip hop scene in Berlin. I became a member of DNA, an Art Club based in Berlin that brings together multidisciplinary art forms, artists, and people from all over the world. With DNA I performed weekly in open mics, jams and was a featured artist in many showcase shows. In this space, I was speaking almost entirely German, getting a wide variety of professional performing opportunities, and constantly adapting to performing in different spaces all over Berlin. Outside of local shows in Berlin, I opened for two international touring acts and performed at MELT festival in Gräfenhainichen in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. My entire project is built off of this experience of living, studying, and being a musician in Berlin, Germany. It follows eight distinct moments throughout my year that I felt I wanted to elaborate on and tell stories about. The city itself had a huge influence on my sound. Inspired by many elements of the culture that is hip hop: Graffiti, DJing, breakdancing, and MCing, Berlin is a city that showcases these elements everywhere you look. Graffiti and street art outline the streets and underground subway systems, techno DJs run the city due to the techno hub that Berlin is, while hip hop DJs spin nightly. Breakdancing can be found in Mauerpark, a historic location for sub- and counter-culture to thrive and be taught to the masses. And MCs can be found almost anywhere in the city. Whether busking at the train station on Warschauerstraße or on a corner at central Alexanderplatz, there are people with microphones on your way to school, the gym, or to the grocery store. Street culture runs the city and it uniquely stained my creative influence for the better.

Each individual track conveys a different lived experience and takes the listener on a visual and emotional journey through the city of Berlin, struggles of self doubt as well as confidence, and then finally arriving back home in Tacoma feeling more lost than before. I have collaborated with my fellow PLU music peers Noah Montgomery (cello), Gabriel Casey-Aguinaga (viola), Cora Beeson (violin), and Janelle Barlow (violin). I have recorded with Denny Corson on the saxophone for two tracks and Felix Halverson on the guitar and bass for another, and Fiona Ashton-Knochel on piano. I also feature two rap artists, Kingpin X and Luke Asend.

PSA: *This is not the final album cover. This album art is subject to change*

Hal Warren is a young rapper from Tacoma, WA. Wiser than his years and brought up in climbing gyms and music venues, Warren's gritty and old school inspired sound is supported with lyrics that combine vivid illustration with unreserved emotions.

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