Pyramid Vritra

Hal Donell Williams Jr. (born November 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Pyramid Vritra (or simply Vritra), is an American rapper and record producer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

He is currently based out of Los Angeles, California.

He has released music under Stones Throw Records, Alpha Pup's The Order Label, and Bad Taste Records.

Aside from his solo career, he is also a member of Los Angeles–based hip hop collective Odd Future via the sub-group The Jet Age of Tomorrow (formerly The Super 3) alongside Matt Martians, and Atlanta-based hip hop collective NRK (Nobody Really Knows).

Hal Donell Williams Jr. was born on November 11, 1991, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Williams had moved to and from multiple states throughout his childhood due to his mother's service in the United States Air Force, before relocating long-term to Powder Springs, Georgia.

After moving to Powder Springs, Georgia as an early highschooler, Williams started making music with friends for the sake of listening to while skateboarding.

Initially he started working with the rapper KC 2.0 (now Lombardi), titling their rap duo “Kash and Gullie”, later including other neighbourhood friends of his, who went by the pseudonyms of “Adlive Murdock” (later, Pyramid Murdock) and “The Original” (later, Gloomy Pyramid).

Eventually fellow artists and friends of Williams such as Tyler Major, Andre McCloud, and Floyd Mables had joined the group, renaming themselves “The Bandits” and releasing a mixtape entitled “The Goodwill tape” in 2009.

Later members included artists such as “Lui Diamonds”, “Pyramid Quince”, and “Mr Notthstar”.

NRK member Jay Cue suggested they name their group “NRK”, which stood for “Nobody Really Knows”.

The group went onto perform numerous live shows, all releasing projects on their own NRK music label on bandcamp and their own website.

The members of the group continue to work with each other and Williams throughout their careers.

Williams’ mother had always been supportive of his musical endeavors, letting him and the rest of NRK work in their house’s basement as a rudimentary recording studio.

Before “The Goodwill Tape” was released In 2009, Williams reached out to Odd Future artist Matt Martians on the social media then known as Twitter, requesting that he help mix and master the songs on the project.

This marked the beginning of their longstanding collaborative relationship.

In 2010 Williams would start seriously pursuing music as a career path, while being mentored by Matt Martians with the rest of NRK.

That year, not only did he release what was considered his “first” solo project of the Eloise EP, but also continued experimenting with numerous musical styles with Matt Martians as “The Jet Age of Tomorrow” (then “The Super 3”), becoming an Odd Future sub-group.

The Jet Age of Tomorrow would blend psychedelic neo-soul with the experimental approach to hip hop Williams would later become known for.

Two albums would be released that year from the duo via Odd Future's Tumblr page, Voyager, and Journey to the 5th Echelon.

The former being a mostly instrumental project featuring the song titled “The Knight Hawks” which was later sampled by Kendrick Lamar on the song “A.D.H.D”, and the latter being a larger scale project with guest appearances from both additional Odd Future members and affiliates such as Hodgy, Tyler the creator, Mike G., Casey Veggies, Vince Staples, and Kilo Kish, alongside NRK members such as Jay Cue and Tyler Major.

On February 4, 2011, a music video for the album’s track, "Wonderland" had been posted on the official Odd Future YouTube channel.

Both albums had distinctly excluded the wider efforts towards shock value Odd Future fans had come to expect from the other members, instead opting for a greater emphasis on atmospheric melodies and electronic approaches to acid jazz.

That same year, NRK would release a mixtape entitled “The Nobody Really Knows Us: Compilation of Audible Sound Vol.1”, more simply alternatively titled “The NRK Compilation”.

featuring production and vocals from nearly all NRK members.

Williams continued to pursue his musical career with his first major solo effort in 2011 known as “The Story of Marsha Lotus'”.

The project was released via Stroll on Records, with genres ranging from avant garde jazz to psychedelic hip-hop.

And despite consisting of only five tracks.

The record was noted for its ambition, despite consisting only of 6 tracks, some were 15 to 18 minutes in length.

The mixtape released on November 11, 2011, being his 20th birthday.

The album would see a re-release on vinyl and streaming services in 2012.

Alongside the jet age of tomorrow, now frequent collaborator Matt Martians would attempt to start another musical project with Williams known as The Internet, alongside other odd future members of Syd and Left Brain.

While both Williams and Left Brain, would go on to feature on The Internet’s first album Purple naked Ladies on the tracks “Gurl” and “Cocaine” respectively, the project developed into being solely a duo effort between Martians and Syd.

In july of 2012, Williams released the song “Drain”, featuring Syd (under the alias of ‘Frisco’) along with an accompanying music video.

The track would serve as the first single to William’s debut studio album, “Pyramid”.

Other promotion for the album, included a self-titled mixtape entitled “PYRAMIDVRITRA”, composed of draft material which did not make the final cut of the Pyramid album.

On august 7th 2012, Williams would release ‘Pyramid’, describing the album as “whimsical, dreamy, technical, s[e]mi-lethargic, experimental anger pop”.

Alongside Syd, the album featured familiar collaborator Matt Martians, NRK members Andre McCloud, K.C 2.0 Pyramid Murdock, and Tyler Major, alongside additional features of Speak! and Gary Wilson.

In 2012, Williams would also form the NRK side project of Rose Gold Dutch Masters, consisting of NRK members, Tyler Major, Pyramid Murdock, Andre McCloud alongside Williams himself.

The group was featured alongside additional NRK member Jay Cue, Matt Martians, and a young Vince Staples on an 18 minute EP by Williams, consisting of a single track, titled “Elenor”.