Tortoise II

Tortoise II is the first LP from Tortoisean rapper Clayton Jokythur. Following the huge success of his debut EP, "Tortoise", Clayton kind of disappeared for a while, releasing some small amounts of material and later more EPs. All the while, hype for the promised Tortoise II only increased. Finally, on May 5, 2014 the release date was announced as being June 1, 2014.

It is set to feature different styles of flow and beats in comparison to Clayton's previous works, a fact showcased by the first single of the album, "Join Me", that has a more electro vibe and a more aggressive flow.

Tortoise II is going to be produced by BRZ and amd., but it is unclear if there will be some help from other producers. According to Clayton himself, there is only going to be one featured artist, and it is the rapper nano3, as Clayton had already said he would be featured on the album.

=Background=

After "Tortoise - EP", Clayton went touring and fucking fans and then vanished for great part of the year, supposedly to write and record new material. In January 2011, he released a new single, called "Resurrection" to promote his upcoming album, but didn't say a thing after that.

The album was delayed several times by Jokythur during 2011 and 2012. Some hip-hop sites, however, stated in early 2013 that the rapper was in the studio recording some new songs and that he would probably scrap the old tracklist and restart the process. As for the release date, there was nothing very clear, although Clayton himself stated he wanted the album to be of incredibly high quality. Some hip-hop sites boldly stated that the album would be released still in 2013, while other, more cautious fonts prefered not to guess anything at all.

In June 2013, Clayton released a new EP, "Tortoise 1.5", containing most of the songs that had been rumored to be on Tortoise II according to an old leaked tracklist and some new material. It was a huge success, but, with the previously rumored songs already present, fans were left even more clueless about Tortoise II.

Then, after disappearing for a while again, Clayton officially created a label of his own, Claybel. To celebrate the launch, he released the single "Cla-Clay Is Back", featuring emerging rapper nano3, and, later, a small EP, "Tortoise 1.75".

On April 21, 2014, after teasing about it, Clayton released yet another small EP, "Tortoise 1.875", to showcase his newest Claybel signees, Ninja Treeman and 4 Chainzzzz.

Finally, on May 5, 2014, Clayton debuted a teaser trailer for Tortoise II that contained the release date of June 1st. A few days later, on May 17, he released his already-acclaimed first single, "Join Me".

The rapper has said that he might retire from rapping after the release of this album, so the hype surrounding it has reached even higher levels. It has been said also, according to the rumors, that the project was restarted from scratch, with nothing (or almost nothing) reminiscent of the original 2011/12 plans. This has contributed to the lack of information about confirmed tracks. Nonetheless, sources familiar with Jokythur have said that he plans on doing a little bit of experimentation, such as including electro sound or other stuff he doesn't usually use, but nothing is confirmed. Clayton has stated he doesn't want to drift away too much from his usual rapping style, so as to "keep rocking" and make his fans happy. The album is expected to have a balance between funny, nonsense, "classical Clayton" songs and more serious tracks, that tackle serious matters and show another side of the rapper.

=Recording=

According to sources very close with Clayton, Tortoise II was mostly recorded on the São Paulo studio known as FBM's Room, with some tracks also being recorded at the neighboring studio PBM's Room, both of them in the widely known Feud region of the city.

On January 2014, Clayton said on Twitter that he was at the studio, and that he "just did the craziest, intensest, most motherfucking awesome recording session!!! Just wait 'till you hear this shit".

On an interview with Brazilian radio Radio UFSC on May 19, BRZ stated about the recording process that "it was really really crazy, and nice, and awesome. Man, you wouldn't believe it, it was so nice. All the songs just fitted with the beats and with Clayton's flow and it all just worked out and it's gonna be legen... Yeah, I know you've been waiting for it for a looong time, so hold on just a little bit longer, we're almost there!"

=Track listing=

The track listing goes as follows:

1. Zeno's Paradox

2. Join Me

3. Hola

4. Melocactus Amethystinus

5. Floating Foam

6. Random Numbers

7. Cold Day (Interlude)

8. Fucking Big War I

9. Prison Break

10. Fucking Big War II

11. My Bitch

12. Regarding Samples (Interlude)

13. Lawyered Flow (Feat. nano3)

14. My Love

15. Abercrombie & Fitch Cotton Flow

16. Hard

17. Outro