Hot Sugar (musician)

Hot Sugar
Birth nameNick Koenig
OriginNew York City, New York, U.S.
Genres
OccupationRecord producer
Years active2008–present
Labels
Websitehotsugar.bandcamp.com

Nick Koenig,[8] better known by his stage name Hot Sugar, is an American record producer from New York City, New York.[9] He is the owner of the Noise Collector record label.[10] He starred in the 2015 documentary film Hot Sugar's Cold World.[11]

Career

In 2011, Hot Sugar released his debut EP, Muscle Milk.[12] In that year, he produced the Roots' song "Sleep", which was included in their Undun album.[13] In 2012, he released the Moon Money EP,[12] as well as the Midi Murder EP.[14] In 2013, he released the Made Man EP.[15] In that year, he produced Kitty's song "Barbie Jeep".[16] In 2015, his debut studio album, God's Hand, was released on Break World Records.[6] He starred in Adam Bhala Lough's Hot Sugar's Cold World,[17] which received an honorable mention at the 2015 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.[18] In 2017, he released a studio album, The Melody of Dust.[7]

Hot Sugar's music has been used in Broad City.[1] He has collaborated with Antwon, Lakutis, Heems, Big Baby Gandhi, and Chippy Nonstop, among others.[19] He has also directed music videos for Lil Peep's "Awful Things",[20] Marshmello and Lil Peep's "Spotlight",[21] and the Smashing Pumpkins' "Solara".[22]

Style and influences

According to Complex, Hot Sugar's music is called "associative music, where he pulls in a ton of sounds from instruments, found sounds, and non-traditional places to sample them into his own melodies."[3] He has been perfecting the technique since the age of 13.[23] In a 2015 interview with NPR, he described associative music as "try[ing] to capture sounds the same way a photographer would capture an image: If something looks poetic, I'll record it".[24]

In a 2015 interview with Nylon, Hot Sugar stated that Kenneth Anger and John Waters are very important to him.[25] He said: "Their influence on modern culture is incalculable and their work is timelessly innovative."[25]

Personal life

Hot Sugar has dated Molly Soda[4] and Kitty.[26]

Controversy

In June 2018, Hot Sugar filed a defamation lawsuit against Ricky Eat Acid and Fish Narc, stating that they "are co-conspirators who have engaged in libel and slander, among other unlawful acts, against [Hot Sugar] over the course of years including recently through various social media publications such as Twitter and Wikipedia."[27] He initially sought at least $100,000 in damages, and reached settlements with both of them in August 2018.[27]

In November 2018, multiple women, including ex-girlfriends Molly Soda and Kitty, made posts on social media accusing Hot Sugar of "sexual misconduct and abuse." Hot Sugar issued a statement on Instagram which referred to these allegations as "false and disparaging." In response to these allegations, the record labels Ghost Ramp and Ninja Tune removed albums by Hot Sugar from their respective online catalogues.[27]

Discography

Studio albums

  • God's Hand (2015)
  • The Melody of Dust (2017)
  • Candlelight (2020)
  • Torchlight (2020)
  • Atlas (2020) (with Vulax)
  • Screenlight (2022)
  • Creation Myth (2024)

Compilation albums

  • Solid Steel Mix (2012)
  • Seductive Nightmares 1 (2013)
  • Seductive Nightmares 2 (2014)
  • Skeletons (2014)
  • Seductive Nightmares 3 (2016)

EPs

  • Muscle Milk (2011)
  • Moon Money (2012)
  • Midi Murder (2012)
  • Made Man (2013)
  • Mob Mentality (2019)
  • Life Support (2019)

Filmography

Feature films

References

  1. ^ a b Paez-Pumar, Luis (February 5, 2015). "Hot Sugar on His New LP, Betrayal, 'Broad City,' and James Van Der Beek". Vice. Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  2. ^ Russam, Michael (November 13, 2013). "5 Hip-Hop Producers You Need To Know (November 2013): Hot Sugar". Potholes in My Blog. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Nostro, Lauren (December 10, 2014). "Premiere: Listen to Hot Sugar's "Trauma"". Complex. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Saeed, Abdullah (March 2, 2012). "An Interview With Hot Sugar, Newest Addition To The Ninja Tune Roster". Vice. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Bowe, Miles (July 16, 2014). "Hot Sugar – "Your Nails Look So Pretty" Video (Stereogum Premiere)". Stereogum. Archived from the original on March 31, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Levy, Pat (February 27, 2015). "Hot Sugar – God's Hand". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Manders, Hayden (March 23, 2017). "Hot Sugar's 'The Melody Of Dust' Is The Future Of Music". Nylon. Archived from the original on April 29, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  8. ^ Ayers, Mike (January 22, 2015). "Music on TV: Hot Sugar's 'Broad City' Beats". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  9. ^ Bennett, Kim Taylor (August 21, 2014). "Here's Hot Sugar's Video for "The Forest Nymph That Lives Behind The School"". Vice. Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  10. ^ Mertens, Max (April 29, 2015). "Hot Docs Review: Hot Sugar's Cold World shows the IRL genius of a bedroom producer". Chart Attack. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ Scheck, Frank (November 6, 2015). "'Hot Sugar's Cold World': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Ellis, Matthew (June 6, 2012). "Hot Sugar: Prefix Artist To Watch". Prefix. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  13. ^ Moore, Jacob (November 23, 2011). "Video: The Roots "Sleep"". Complex. Archived from the original on December 27, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  14. ^ Soderberg, Brandon (October 26, 2012). "First Spin: Hot Sugar & Haleek Maul's 'I don't wanna b judged'". Spin. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  15. ^ Plaugic, Lizzie (October 1, 2013). "Listen: Stream Hot Sugar's New EP, Made Man". CMJ. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  16. ^ Hecht, Sasha (June 14, 2013). "Listen to Kitty's New Banger, "Barbie Jeep" (Produced by Hot Sugar)". Vice. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  17. ^ Harding, Michael-Oliver (April 27, 2015). "Hot Sugar's Cold World - Adam Bhala Lough". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  18. ^ Vlessing, Etan (May 1, 2015). "Hot Docs: 'The Closer We Get' Earns Top Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  19. ^ Nostro, Lauren (October 2, 2013). "Premiere: Hot Sugar "Made Man"". Complex. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  20. ^ India, Lindsey (August 18, 2017). "Watch Lil Peep Set Himself on Fire in 'Awful Things' Video With Lil Tracy". XXL. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  21. ^ Britton, Luke Morgan (February 12, 2018). "Watch the video for Lil Peep's posthumous Marshmello collaboration 'Spotlight'". NME. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  22. ^ Slingerland, Calum (May 9, 2018). "Smashing Pumpkins Are Teasing Their New Single "Solara"". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  23. ^ Mlynar, Phillip (May 24, 2012). "Q&A: Hot Sugar On Associative Music, Working With The Roots, And Sampling A Rat Who Played Keyboard (1/3)". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  24. ^ "Hot Sugar Makes Music Out Of Anything And Everything". NPR. October 31, 2015. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  25. ^ a b Barna, Ben (February 23, 2015). "band crush: hot sugar". Nylon. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  26. ^ Lobenfeld, Claire (May 6, 2013). "Q&A: Kitty On Danny Brown, Sharpening Her Rap Skills, And What's Next". Stereogum. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  27. ^ a b c Strauss, Matthew; Phillips, Amy (November 16, 2018). "Hot Sugar, Accused of Abuse, Sued Ricky Eat Acid and Fish Narc for Defamation". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 11, 2019.