Toronto’s up-and-coming rapper JUGGER today released his debut album PUPPET MASTER. Executive Produced by Grammy-nominated producer and label boss WondaGurl, the 13-track project brings JUGGER’s anarchistic universe to life, with twisted lyricism and haunting instrumentals. The first three tracks set up the villainous character JUGGER plays across the record, while songs like “D’Lit” and “Money Talks” re-introduce the rage rap prowess he became known for. The new single, “Nightmare” arrives with an eerie movie trailer that screened in theaters around Toronto this month. Created by lauded UI/UX designer Nicolas Neubert, the dystopian scenes were generated with AI technology, made to look like an authentic film preview.
On PUPPET MASTER, JUGGER shared – “I want this album to usher in a new worldview of music. It’s not just rap, or rock, or pop anymore, it’s formless and dimensionally unexplored. Sometimes it’s unexplainable with words. ‘PUPPET MASTER’ unearths the truth of the known and the unknown, diving deep into a rabbit hole where you ascend on the other end of a vortex. Connect your mind, body, and spirit, and let me take control.”
Where JUGGER excels most on the record is within the corners of experimentation, from his ominous full-minute intros on tracks like “Nite Love” to smooth R&B flows on “Hold U.” He never stays within one sound, style, or aesthetic for too long – perfecting the element of surprise like a good thriller. Fittingly released the weekend before Halloween, PUPPET MASTER is both a soundtrack for the supernatural, and a body of work that cements JUGGER’s place in the next wave of rap.