The Witzard

Transportation by Your Old Droog Your Old Droog 's newly-minted Bandcamp page lacks much in lieu of a typical Artist Bio/Release Description and only contains a simple proclamation: " Y.O.D. is the best." Droog has come a long way from his early days as a Ukrainian-American immigrant, whom most people initially thought was an alter-ego of Nas; early on in his career, Your Old Droog received stamps-of-approval from both Sean Price & Prodigy (Mobb Deep,) as well as Sascha Jenkins, Edan, Homeboy Sandman, and countless others. I can recall the mass amounts of hype, mystery, and sheer confusion surrounding 2014's self-released Your Old Droog EP/LP , but my personal favorite Droog release was 2015's KINISON EP with its Rock "N" Roll & Stand Up Comedy-indebted edge. Your Old Droog 's second proper studio full-length, PACKS , was released in early 2017 and boasts collaborations with Heems AKA Himanshu (Swet Shop Boys,) Danny Brown, Chris Crac...

LURK is a self-described "lowbrow artist and lover of the weird." He's originally from England, but is now based out of Canada and simply told me, he did art as a kid and now, does art as an adult. "A little while ago, I did a portrait for the @homeboysandman; if you haven't heard his music and love Hip-Hop, go give him a Follow. @schlonglord offered to animate a quick clip using the portrait! Kris and I are now Skype friends. It's getting kinda serious," @thelurk1 half-jokingly gushed on Instagram roughly 24 weeks ago. 2-D animator, visual effects artist, music video director, and musician Kris Baldwin (@schlonglord) had reached out in an effort to animate LURK's recent zombie-esque The Boy Sand portrait for a short animation to accompany Sandman's Jonwayne-produced "America, The Beautiful" from HALLWAYS (2014.) Not only did Instagram play an integral part in initially connecting LURK and Kris Baldwin with each other, as well as Home...

"Today, New York -bred emcees Wiki & Your Old Droog are sharing a new collaborative EP. What Happened to Fire? is a 5-track joint effort that demonstrates a chemistry between Wiki & Droog that could only come from both artists growing up in New York City ; narrated by found samples of Kool Keith , the focus of the EP for Wiki & Droog was having fun while putting down the best bars possible," read a press release I received late last week from Nick X Dierl at Orienteer (formerly Liberal Arts and Life or Death PR ). What Happened to Fire? EP was recorded in tandem with an art installation under the same name, which ran at Romero Gallery in late 2016. " What Happened to Fire? was recorded at Wiki 's Chinatown apartment as the installation was being formulated and displayed and the art that accompanies the EP contains imagery from the gallery." Your Old Droog was compared to Nas early on in his career and was even believed to be some sort ...

" Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman are back together once more, to deliver a new strain of Lice to fans worldwide. People of Earth , we are proud to announce our new FREE EP— Lice 2: Still Buggin' —available for download NOW, via Rhymesayers Entertainment and Stones Throw Records ... Now, go share Lice [2] with everyone you know," Homeboy Sandman & Aesop Rock wrote within a rather spur-of-the-moment joint statement to accompany their 2015 Lice EP follow-up, Lice 2: Still Buggin' yesterday morning; their latest "infestation" of Lice showcases production from the likes of Dan Hayden , Mondee , SoberMindedMusiC , Your Old Droog producer (El) RTNC , and Aesop Rock himself. Bristol -based producer Dan Hayden , who hand-crafted the beat for "Zilch," was recently profiled within Homeboy Sandman 's inaugural self-penned Bandcamp Daily column titled, Big Ups: Homeboy Sandman Picks His Favorite Hip-Hop Artists . "Kid has mad range....

It appears as though reclusive early 2000's rapper, producer, and cold-cuttin' DJ Edan has finally decided to re-emerge from his self-imposed sabbatical and unleash his first batch of new material since 2009's "Echo Party" mixtape; Edan recently contributed production work to old sharp-tongued friend Mr. Lif 's long-awaited comeback single of sorts, "Whizdom," as well as Homeboy Sandman 's newly unveiled Kindness for Weakness album teaser, "Talking (Bleep)." Sandman 's latest Stones Throw Drip can likely best be described as a Hip-Hop -laden amalgamation of pop culture's beloved, often over-used "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH" filler phrasing for drab, long-winded, unnecessary, etc. conversation we're often subjected to throughout our every day lives – be it Ke$ha 's chart-topping No.1 single, Charlie Brown & The Peanuts' "WAH, WAH, WAH" diction substituted for adults talking, or Seinfeld prota...

"Holy sh*t! Here's a new song we made [with] Homeboy Sandman for our show together Friday," now-defunct New York Hip-Hop revivalists Das Racist Tweeted way back when in 2010, promoting a then-upcoming November 5th Southpaw gig along with a pre- Stones Throw Angel del Villar II ; if I remember correctly, "I'm Up On That" was the very first time I had ever been treated to the sweet, rhythmic sounds of Homeboy Sandman , who's comfortably seated as one of Stones Throw 's sharpest emcees. "Here's a new track from Homeboy Sandman , as the MC (and amazing live performer) kicks off a couple weeks of live dates through the east and southern states, culminating with a couple Texas shows with Stones Throw crew [Peanut Butter] Wolf , J Rocc & Guilty Simpson ," Stones Throw wrote in a recent quick-strike press release accompanying Sandman's latest non-album Soundcloud loosie. '"Nonbelievers" produced by EL RNTC . T...

"Last year, a mysterious rapper named Your Old Droog came out of nowhere with a self-titled mixtape. He sounded so much like Illmatic -era Nas that people thought it really was Nas , rapping under a Clockwork Orange -inspired pseudonym. Well, no, as it turns out, Your Old Droog is just some white guy from Coney Island ," Stereogum "Hip-Hop Head In Chief" Tom Breihan wrote in a recently penned Your Old Droog -centric piece. Following a whirl-wind year, which showcased two 2014-issued releases, Your Old Droog [LP] , critically-acclaimed Your Old Droog EP , and a handful of non-album singles, Your Old Droog unleashed an 11-track Rock -themed KINISON EP late Wednesday afternoon. It's littered with inventive Rock "N" Roll samples ranging from Johnny Cash to the Beastie Boys ("Pass The Mic") and at least 40+ cleverly inter-woven references including Sam Kinison , Pornos for Pyros, Rage Against The Machine , and Sonic Youth (track titles)...