Grammy-winning Chicago producer Monte Booker steps fully into the spotlight with the release of his debut album noise (meaning) — out today via Major Recordings and our HOT NEW ALBUM FRIDAYS (HNAF). Known for crafting the lush, avant-garde soundscapes that defined the Zero Fatigue collective and shaped the sonic DNA of Chicago’s 2010s underground, Booker now reveals his voice—literally and artistically—for the first time.
This album is both an exploration and declaration: how sound, chaos, and connection intertwine. Across its 12 tracks, Booker merges the organic with the synthetic, channeling his signature percussion and intricate textures into something deeply personal.
Featuring an all-star roster including Ravyn Lenae, Smino, Mereba, Reggie, and Nami, noise (meaning) expands Booker’s world from producer to full-fledged artist.
“I started conceptualizing this back in 2022,” says Booker. “At first it was 50 songs—a study on how noise and music shape life. But I realized it’s also about how everyone I meet, from collaborators to people at the grocery store, influences the way I hear the world.”
That human connection drives the album’s spirit. Opener “b 2 b” (feat. Mereba) glides with elastic percussion and neo-soul warmth; “dense” (feat. Nami) pulses with hypnotic emotion; “balance” stretches his rhythmic genius into something cinematic. It’s at once intimate and global—a love letter to Chicago’s beat scene, J Dilla’s lineage, and the blurred edges of modern electronic soul.
Booker’s influences—Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin, Thom Yorke, DJ Rashad, and Kanye West—hover like ghosts throughout the project, but the execution is purely Monte: otherworldly yet grounded, experimental yet inviting. The producer who gave the world Kolors (the viral TikTok hit that soundtracked millions of moments) now uses that same rhythmic language to tell his own story.
Stream the Album: noise (meaning)
Why It Matters
After a decade behind the boards—sculpting classics for Smino, Ravyn Lenae, and Noname—Monte Booker finally defines himself on his own terms. noise (meaning) isn’t just a debut; it’s a manifesto on sound as emotion, chaos as beauty, and creativity as communion.
As AudioFuzz’s Hot New Album Friday pick, noise (meaning) stands as one of 2025’s most visionary debuts—proof that the Chicago scene’s quiet genius has finally found his own voice.