Chazwick Bundick was 23 when he signed with D.C.-based Carpark Records. It warranted a mention in Pitchfork's News In Brief: described as a "psychedelic R&B project," the publication anticipated the release of his debut single, "Blessa."

That release was the beginning of an inspired career that's defied categorisation. Bundick's experimented with both sample-based work and live instrumentation, crafting Dilla-esque soundscapes and Wilsonian rock songs with the same trademark ingenuity. He's collaborated with artists such as hip hop innovator Travis Scott, plunderphonics legends The Avalanches, electronica beatsmith Nosaj Thing and electro-funk duo Chromeo, his guest appearances doubling as powerful cosigns. Despite these high-profile assists, Bundick's commercial peak sits at a modest #60 on the Billboard 200, achieved by his sophomore record, 2013's Underneath The Pine.

Bundick is no stranger to critical acclaim, and yet mainstream commercial success seems to allude him. There's an injustice in Toro y Moi's cult following: namely, the fact that such a productive talent should be relegated to a niche. From hip hop collabs to rock n' roll throwbacks, Chaz Bundick has been quietly achieving as one of the decade's most versatile musicians.

In the spirit of celebration, here's a brief guide to Chaz's stellar career.

(It's Not) Chillwave

Despite only singing to a label in 2009, Bundick had been honing his craft under the Toro y Moi moniker since 2002. Originally starting with "a Fostex cassette-tape four-track... an acoustic guitar and [a] Roland keyboard," Bundick became a self-taught producer. It wasn't until college that he bought a laptop, branching into sampling and loop-based composition. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in mid-2009, around the same time that he was signed to Carpark Records.

He begun working on his major label debut, which comprised of "a lot of soft synths and default drum patches." Also key to the album's sound was music software Reason, which Bundick heavily experimented with throughout the recording process. Unknown to Chaz, his debut record would place him at the vanguard of a microgenre immersed in controversy and debate, burdening him with a hard-to-shake label for much of his early career.

Coincidentally, Causers Of This bore similarities to a swathe of electronic records from the same period. Christened "Chillwave" by satire site HipsterRunoff, the microgenre revelled in soft synths and nostalgia-inducing palettes. David Keenan, writing for The Wire in 2009, coined the term "hypnagogic pop," which he defined as “pop music refracted through the memory of a memory.”

"It draws its power from the 1980s pop culture into which many of the genre’s players were born, and which is only now being factored into underground music as a spectral influence. Hypnagogic realms are the ones between waking and sleeping, liminal zones where mis-hearings and hallucinations feed into the formation of dreams."