The Witzard

Directly following his own Son Raw Vs. The Psychotic Hippies and stints producing The Council of The Gods' Trilogy and The Council member Nomad Carlos' "At Will," Son Raw is back with Fantasy RapBall. Son Raw's latest has been described as a re-imagining of classic Rap verses from the 90's and beyond and the answer to a question that has confounded humanity for ages: "what if we made a beat tape... but with raps?" Initially conceived over the course of 2020, Fantasy RapBall was developed as a form of wish fulfillment during the thick of The Pandemic, when proper studio collaborations were impossible and "free time" mostly meant yet another episode of The Last Dance . Fantasy RapBall by Son Raw Amidst watching clips of Michael Jordan both literally and figuratively dunking on the competition, Son Raw decided that if sports fans could cosplay as NBA & NFL coaches, he could probably grab a few Rap acapellas and mold them into new ...

Nate Patrin Author Photo (CREDIT: Craig VanDerSchaegen) "So, I put together a [playlist] that comprises my favorite moments of Hip-Hop & Punk intersecting, intentionally or otherwise, from the old school to the current moment. It ranges from Downtown NYC Crossover efforts to sample flips to all-out collabos, and spans a broad range of both genres—so, it's more of a historical overview, than a cohesive snapshot of a particular sound. That said, I f**k with each and every one of these songs, 100%." With The Quickness #7: Nate Patrin's Adidas In The Pit/Punk Meets Hip-Hop Playlist 01. The Clash - "This Is Radio Clash" Samples: J. Bodewalt Lampe - "Mysterioso Pizzicato" 02. ESG - "UFO" Sampled By: The Notorious B.I.G. J Dilla, Big Daddy Kane, MF DOOM, Q-Tip, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails, and more 03. Liquid Liquid - "Cavern" Sampled By: Grand Master Melle Mel, Guru, Doug E. Fresh, The Notorious B.I.G. 2 Live Cr...

Early on in their career, Leeds -based band alt-J were quickly heralded as "The Next Radiohead" due to their extremely well-orchestrated, thought-provoking brand of Indie/Art Rock heard across their 2012 full-length debut, An Awesome Wave . Then, Joe Newman, Thom Sonny Green & Gus Unger-Hamilton did a total 180° and more or less, alienated nearly half of their new-found fans—à la: Beastie Boys' 1987 single "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" debacle—by releasing tongue-in-cheek über- "American" single, "Left Hand Free" from 2014's This Is All Yours ... but, unsurprisingly, "the least alt-J song ever" pretty much back-fired because no one got it, including the label, and the song rapidly became, quite arguably, one of their biggest smash-hits to date. Last summer, alt-J suddenly returned this their third album (technically, an EP) RELAXER , which in the months since, has become my personal favorite release...

"'[PROJECT 2] is a concept mixtape that covers the themes of fame, isolation, Armageddon, suicide, immortality, dark magick, and Christian mysticism. "Glass Half Empty" is the mid-point of this story and deals primarily with the emotion of helplessness... How do you see the glass? Can you see it any other way? Will my visions ever change? [PROJECT 2] on the horizon," self-described Occult Hip-Hop emcee Mahatma Crowley wrote within recent Facebook and Soundcloud statements... Mahatma Crowley's ghoulish delivery vaguely reminds me of his grizzled barking predecessors DMX, Ja Rule, Rick Ross, Yeezus-era Kanye, and at times, even Death Grips' frenzied frontman MC Ride. "Upon first hearing Crowley & The Beholder's Trinity's latest single, "Glass Half Empty" this past moon-lit Saturday evening, I was instantly reminded of his fellow Horrorcore peers Flatbush Zombies—who recently, for whatever reasons, played The Tonight Show Starri...

"With the blessing of my Fool's Gold family by my side, I'm excited to be working with Warp [Records] on new material. They're music fans to the same high degree I am and I'm looking forward to breaking some rules together," frantic Detroit -bred emcee Danny Brown recounted within a brief statement released along with his latest single, "When It Rain." Nearly mere hours after its Tuesday night reveal, Brown appeared on revered Beats 1 Radio DJ Zane Lowe 's web-series; "it's actually even better! Shout out to [Mimi Cave] , man- she really just made my vision come to life... I really got the idea from this Talking Heads documentary that I saw and I was really into that, so I wanted ["When It Rain"] to look like that," Danny Brown divulged when Lowe inquired if Cave's video treatment came out like he had imagined. Brown continued that his still currently untitled album was heavily influenced by a book penned abo...

"I did one song with them a while ago and it was cool. They felt like it was OK and I felt like it was OK. But then we actually got in the studio and made a record and I swear, the record we made is incredible. "[Frankie] Sinatra" was the first one we did. That was cool, but the one we did after that... I swear, if we put that out, it'll change the world. I heard it that first night and that was the only time I heard it. I wanna hear it again," Danny Brown mysteriously revealed to Australia 's Triple J Radio nearly two summers ago. Now, roughly 16 years after releasing their critically-acclaimed debut, Since I Left You , The Avalanches have finally unleashed the first single, "Frankie Sinatra" from their now-mythical follow-up, Wildflower . MF DOOM & Danny Brown -assisted "Frankie Sinatra" was suddenly premiered on Zane Lowe 's Beats 1 Radio program overnight Wednesday into Thursday; ultimately, kick-starting a flurry of m...

While tough-as-nails emcees Guilty Simpson & Danny Brown don't seemingly have much in common (aside from mutual collaborator Black Milk ), the two like-minded lyrical wordsmiths are surprisingly cut from the same battle-worn "cloth." Simpson & Brown both just so happen to have unleashed newly-minted material yesterday, August 3rd: "Animal" produced by Quakers beatsmith Katalyst and "Worth It" produced by Lil B affiliate, Clams Casino , respectively. Late Monday afternoon, I curiously Tweeted @guiltysimpson , whom I recently had the opportunity to interview for this very site , inquiring if he and Mr. Brown had ever worked together; to which he quickly replied with a video still of Elzhi 's "Fire" Remix featuring Black Milk , GUILTY SIMPSON, Fatt Father , DANNY BROWN, and Fat Ray . Lest we forget, Guilty & Danny additionally teamed up way back in 2010 on Quelle -produced Detroit State of Mind 4 mixtape cut, "Mu...

Fresh on the heels of their forthcoming collaborative Jazz-Rap album with Ghostface Killah , awesomely titled Sour Soul , Canadian -bred instrumental trio BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG) have spearheaded an unofficial GHOSTDOOM/DOOMSTARKS "reunion;" Ghostface and infrequent rapping partner/producer, [MF] DOOM have been teasing their mythical tentatively titled "Swift & Changeable" album for about 10 years now. BBNG recruited Ghostface Killah & DOOM for their third Sour Soul pre-release track, "Ray Gun," which as a recently released statement reads, "was inspired by 1960's and [70's] music, taking inspiration from the recording techniques and production of that era." While "Ray Gun"' s companion retro-fitted Rob Schroeder (Lodger Films) -directed video doesn't appear to feature BBNG, Ghostface Killah , or DOOM , "the video instantly transports you into a bizarre retro-futuristic world as "The Mask" ...

"[a] beach boys meets ty$ kinda vibe," @diplo Tweeted early Thursday afternoon, attempting to best describe his latest Soundcloud upload, "LONG WAY HOME;" a quasi-remix, or more so a loose cover, of Ty Dollar $ign 's non-album single, "Stand For" re-recorded with Grizzly Bear/Vampire Weekend members Ed Droste & Rostam . "its about time that indie rock acts started to co-opt rap beats," Diplo lamented in the track's short-lived Soundcloud description, which Pitchfork points out, was imminently deleted. I was just telling my beautiful girlfriend, in terms of sheer line-blurring concept, "LONG WAY HOME" vaguely reminds me of Vampire Weekend 's middle-of-the-road Indie Rock/Hip-Hop hybrid track, "Step (Wintertime Remix)" featuring appended verses from Danny Brown , Heems, and Despot . "Stand For," the structural basis for "LONG WAY HOME," was actually co-produced by Diplo ...

Purity Ring have kept a relatively low profile since releasing their major label Dream-Pop debut, Shrines , nearly two years ago; aside from a handful of Electronic -tinged remixes crafted for everyone from Soulja Boy to Lady GaGa and non-album tracks recorded with Danny Brown and Jon Hopkins . Purity Ring have reportedly been working on their as-yet-untitled second album for about a year or so no and then, all of a sudden, without any rhyme or reason, they quietly uploaded a brand new track late Wednesday night. "push pull" was crafted at the hand of in-house producer Corin Roddick and has seemingly already won over the approval of frequent collaborator, @xdannyxbrownx , who ecstatically Tweeted, "nothing short of amazing!!!!!! ... I love these guys." It really seems like the next logical natural progression for Purity Ring as a band, a little less murky and lo-fi, but still just as glitchy, jittery, and eerily beautiful as their early material; "You...

While pseudo-frontman Justin Nealis has seemingly singularly produced countless records for Action Bronson, Cam'ron , and Danny Brown , Party Supplies is in fact, a self-described 2-man "Anachronistic Rock Music" group; newly-augmented member Sean Mahon appeared alongside Nealis on Party Supplies' 2013 Fool's Gold Records debut, Tough Love and supposedly assisted in production on frequent collaborator Action Bronson 's critically-acclaimed Blue Chips 2 mixtape and long-rumored cross-genre "Jericho" project. They've been relentlessly teasing at a Tough Love vinyl re-issue for months now... " Justine [Monsul], Sean [Mahon] , and myself wrote this in a hotel in Ohio a few months back, very happy to see it come together #OHIO," @xpartysuppliesx sporadically Tweeted this past weekend. It was of course, a preemptive message in allusion to "Ohio," the latest Country -laden non-album Party Supplies track, which was so...

It's almost hard to believe that chef-turned rapper Action Bronson 's independently pressed Dr. Lecter album was already released nearly four years ago. He's somehow managed to unknowingly charm over middle [white] America , whilst rapping almost exclusively about fine dining, pro wrestling, sexual exploits, and drug trade. My beautiful girlfriend and I have been lucky enough to witness Bronson's charismatic stage show twice thus far, on the 2 High 2 Die Tour alongside Danny Brown & Trash Talk and as part of the XXL Freshmen 2013 Tour with Joey Bada$$ & Big K.R.I.T ... both ahead of the release of his Blue Chips 2 mixtape, which is quite arguably his most cohesive body of work yet. While we're still patiently waiting for Action Bronson 's long-rumored VICE Records debut, tentatively titled "Mr. Wonderful," Spanish production duo Cookin' Soul recently concocted an unofficial remix of Dr. Lecter stand-out, "Get Off My P.P....

For his latest single, "Ego Death" LA -based rapper-producer Busdriver has essentially assembled an all-star team of Underground Hip-Hop MVP's; Busdriver, Aesop Rock & Danny Brown spit hot fire in succession over the course of Stones Throw affiliate Jeremiah Jae 's nearly 6-minute neck-snapping beat. While hailing from three separate corners of the Underground Hip-Hop spectrum, the three veteran emcees surprisingly mesh very well together (I believe Busdriver & Aesop have rapped together before). "Yeah, no... I understand what you're saying. But is is sexier than torture?" opens Jae's slightly off-kilter beat, which features multi-layered lines like: "And downtime is never met with an overjoyed grin / cause sleep and death have always been conjoined twins," "He shoots the whores, truly stupid troubadours," and Danny Brown 's fairly sound assertion that he's the "Rap Marilyn Manson." It's ...

Just mere minutes before the stroke of 12 midnight New Year's Eve 2013-14, @vampireweekend Tweeted out a pretty self-explanatory mini-message: " wintertime remix of "Step" featuring Danny Brown, Heems & Despot . Happy New Years from Vampire Weekend ," along with a smarturl hyper-link. It's the kinda thing that probably shouldn't work anywhere near as well as it actually does, and I'd guess that this is your typical Pitchfork staff writer's ideal wet-dream collabo scenario ha. "Step" (Wintertime Remix) builds off frontman Ezra Koenig 's original, penned for Modern Vampires of The City and acts as the B-side to lead single, "Diane Young" [see below]. When juxtaposed against Koenig's past relationship reminiscing lyrics, Danny Brown, Heems & Despot manage to fit in surprisingly well with "Step"' s running theme. While the track's supposedly based off an unreleased and re-purposed Sou...

Fool's Gold Records co-founder and sometimes club-ready DJ Nick Catchdubs recently took it upon himself to conjure up a Danny Brown/Sleigh Bells mash-up couplet, dubbed Brown Bells . It's in honor of the slightly odd pairing's 2 upcoming gigs at Terminal 5 (New York), November 22-23rd. While I'm not really the biggest mash-up champion, unless it's either Girl Talk of Danger Mouse , Catchdubs did it right; releasing a 2-track EP complete with cleverly-titled "Diggin' Demons" & "Grown Up Rivals," which sound more like a tried-and-true in-studio collaboration! Nick Catchdubs of course left in plenty of recognizable fragments from "Dip/Demons" (Diplo Remix) and "Grown Up/Bitter Rivals." When you consider Danny Brown 's guest-list of fairly unexpected collaborations on his recently-released OLD album (ie: Purity Ring , Charli XCX, BADBADNOTGOOD , etc.), an anthemic full-fledged Sleigh Bells team-up doesn...

While last week's "new track" turned out to be a fraudulent remix, Action Bronson has since teamed up with beat-maker Beautiful Lou and Twitter persona/rapper RiFF RAFF ; "Long Pinky" is the final track in Adult Swim 's summer-long singles series, which will be re-upped online for FREE come Monday. RiFF RAFF recently described himself in 140 characters or less, of course, as: "AN ALL-AMERiCAN ALL-STAR... iF U DONT LiKE HiM, THEN U WiLL BE FORCED iNTO EXiLE iN GUAM & EAT EXPiRED GOAT MiLK FOREVER." Action Bronson & RiFF RAFF previously traded bars on the Harry Fraud -produced "Bird On a Wire" (2012) and RiFF RAFF had a brief cameo appearance in Bronson's blistering VICE Records -backed "Strictly 4 My Jeeps" video-single. While this time around, it was kitty [pryde] 's former collaborator Beautiful Lou who reunited the 2 rapping friends, they'll be appearing together on Diplo 's upcoming Re...

Now that his long-delayed Fool's Gold debut, OLD , finally has a proper release date (Sept. 30th), Danny Brown has unleashed it's Dirt McGirt -referencing lead video-single, "ODB." The self-proclaimed "dirty old man with a pill in his mouth and his dick in his hand" skillfully recruited frequent collaborator Paul White and [director] RUFFMERCY for "ODB," as well as A$AP Rocky , Purity Ring, Charli XCX , Freddie Gibbs, ScHoolboy Q , Rustie, A-Trak , and SKYWLKR, who also contributed to OLD 's currently unspecified tracklist. Let's just fuggedabout Kendrick Lamar 's recent #rapgame-rattling verse on Big Sean left-over "Control," Danny Brown easily out-raps and most likely terribly embarrasses nearly 3/4's of Hip-Hop 's so-called "top emcees," usually over jittery almost un-rappable Electro-Trap beats. Danny Brown and his genre-blending buddies Action Bronson & Trash Talk are soon headed out o...

Former Community cast member and aspiring funnyman Donald Glover released the first track in over a year under his Childish Gambino moniker Tuesday afternoon, "Centipede." It's a 6-minute brooding, epic track that flawlessly shifts between a cappella ballad, hard-hitting rhymefest, and bass-heavy street jam. While I was lucky enough to catch Gambino live at Starland Ballroom with Flatbush Zombies a couple years ago on the Camp concert tour (2011-12), he hasn't really put out much material since last year's ROYALTY mixtape. An uncharacteristically feature-heavy affair, Childish Gambino managed to recruit Danny Brown , RZA, Beck , Danielle HAIM, Bun B , Nipsey Hu$$el, Ghostface Killah , Chance The Rapper , and Tina Fey for ROYALTY 's 18 tracks. But anyways... "Centipede" is without a doubt Donald Glover 's return to form as Childish Gambino ; Glover recently Facebooked , "Smaller role on Community = More time for music. Life is ...

While they've released 2 quick-strike 12" EP's together, there's always been an underlying promise of a larger Madlib & Freddie Gibbs project: "Cocaine Piñata." Even though it still has a "due later this year" loose release date, we now have a tentative guest list: Raekwon , Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown , Domo Genesis, Joey Bada$$ , Ab-Soul, BJ The Chicago Kid , Meech (Flatbush Zombies), Casey Veggies , Mac Miller, Polyester The Saint , and G-Wiz. Adult Swim 's own Williams Street Records imprint has unleashed a non-album (or possible Cocaine Piñata ) track, "City" with Karriem Riggins , which they uploaded to Soundcloud earlier today, slightly ahead of it's Monday Internet -wide release. For what it's worth, "City" also kinda duals as an unofficial Supreme Team reunion; Madlib & Karriem Riggins' long-defunct golden era Hip-Hop revival crew that's only ever put out a few stellar hard-to...

Ladies and gentlemen of The Internet , it looks like The Grand Mufti AKA Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire has risen from the ashes and is finally back with a BRAND NEW 16-track mixtape, Kismet ; For all intensive purposes, it's eXquire 's first project since his critically-acclaimed debut, Lost In Translation (2011) and only his second release for Universal Records (since no one really had a chance to score a copy of The Man In The High Castle ). Mr. MFN eXquire definitely brought in some added muscle for Kismet , recruiting a few of his highly-skilled rapping friends like Danny Brown , Nacho Picasso, Flatbush Zombies [all on one single track], Goldie Glo , and Gorgeous Black. Kismet seems to represent a certain level of personal and spiritual growth for eXquire , who recently took a break from the world of Hip-Hop to tend to his ailing mother and in turn, got sober cold turkey. VICE -employed writer Drew Millard laments that "this is not the same dude you'd asso...