The Witzard Proudly Presents: DJ Manipulator's 6-track Breakdown of His Hip-Hop & Jazz-fusing "Jazz Is Everything" (mix) & Herbie Hancock Remixing Cover Art (Jesse Racusen)

I'll keep this intro rather short and sweet, as this one's pretty self-explanatory and cut and dry... while watching the Atlanta Falcons honorable attempt at a Super Bowl LI Champion trophy last night, I saw this rather intriguing @2DopeBoyz-premiered DJ Manipulator (@dustymanip) mix prop up within my Twitter timeline. Its Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters Head Hunters re-appropriating cover artwork is the first thing that caught my eye (I've been obsessed with "Watermelon Man" ever since RS500). After a brief, yet highly informative listen, I decided to write a quick email to the self-proclaimed "DJ/Producer/NERD Contact'"s Twitter-listed email contact, which ended up being his manager, Derek "Kas" Kastal. Long story short... Kas quickly got me in touch with DJ Manipulator himself and we decided the best form of "attack" might be some sort of playlist of "Jazz Is Everything" mix breakdown; by around 1:00 am, DJ Manipulator had emailed me a breakdown of the striking Jesse Racusen-designed cover image and "a breakdown [of his] 6 favorite joints off the mix," which you can now, thoroughly enjoy down below while listening to his comprehensive 30-minute "Jazz is Everything" mix. DJ Manipulator's Hip-Hop & Jazz-melding mix is currently available for streaming and FREE download from his Soundcloud page, along with a complete 20-track playlist. DJ Manipulator's "2 Drums"-featuring Stranger Than Paradise album should be expected sometime this year.

"This mix really began with the artwork. I had the idea for the cover about a year ago; I was [listening] to Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters' Head Hunters (1973) and was always intrigued but the famous yellow Goli mask on his head and though, "what if you were to see the same mask, but in a different setting?" Around the same time, I was looking through my crates and saw the cover for Brand Nubian's Everything Is Everything (1994) and the two just connected in my head. Just imagining three guys in a car wearing the Goli mask and one of them is getting ready to roll a blunt. That sh*t was funny to me, but also made sense. Flipping a Hip-Hop album for a Jazz project was just another version of flipping a sample to me. I contacted my good friend Jesse Racusen [who] I've worked with before on previous album covers and he made my idea come to life."

6 Favorite Tracks Off "Jazz Is Everything" (mix) & My Connection with Them:

1. Amahad Jamal's "Swahililand"

Amahad is genius and this track was the perfect way to set off this mix. Aside from being the sample for De La Soul's Stakes Is High (1996), the piano on this is pure beauty.

2. Eddie Henderson's "Inside You"

I remember finding this record during a digging session; so smooth! This track was was sampled for Jay Z's "Coming of Age" from the Reasonable Doubt album (1996). It's still one of my favorite Jay Z songs to this day, so I had to throw the sample in the mix.

3. Ramsey Lewis' "Tambura"

The break on this join is bananas! I used this part of the mix just as an excuse to cut sh*t up. Had fun doing it, too!

4. Laboratorium's "Szalony Baca"

I got this joint at a record show in Providence, [Rhode Island]. Before the show, I never saw this record before. When I got home, I was blown away. This song puts me in a dream-like state. It's so dope!

5. David Matthews' "Sandworms"

Way back when I first started digging for records, David Matthews’ Dune was one my Holy Grails. The legendary Large Professor used this sample [on] his classic, "The Mad Scientist." One of the illest bass lines of all time.

6. Herbie Hancock's "Stars In Your Eyes"

I had to put a Herbie joint on here. It's kinda funny though. It might be the least Jazzy joint on the mix, but f*ck it. It's funky as Hell and one of my favorite songs of all time.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel

The Witzard

Search This Blog