The Witzard

Intentional or not, Abel Tesfaye managed to make quite the [late night] ruckus by boldly opening Echoes of Silence with a spot-on Michael Jackson cover: "Dirty Diana" (Bad) . Tesfaye initially burst onto the scene in March 2011 under the musical guise "The Weeknd," along with fellow Canadian producers Illangelo & Doc McKinney . Their critically acclaimed inaugural mixtape, House of Balloons was released soon thereafter and Part 2 of "The Balloon Trilogy," Thursday was released that following August. The Weeknd 's unique brand of sample-based R&B draws heavily from a number of Indie Rock sources: Beach House , Siouxsie & The Banshees, Cocteau Twins, Thieves Like Us , and Marina Topley-Bird . Mild production work has since been outsourced to fellow up-and-comers, Clams Casino and DropxLife (XO) . Echoes of Silence was released @ roughly 12 midnight, Dec. 21-22; That is, during Fall 2011 (albeit the final minutes) as originally pr...

18-year-old Simmie ("Buddy") Sims is a FRESH Compton -bred rhymesmith; One of the premier editions to Pharrell's newly-formed up-start label, i am OTHER . Sims has already managed to lace up a beat or 2 from the master chiefs themselves, Pharrell & Chad Hugo: The Neptunes . Legend has it that late one fateful evening, music supervisor/friend, Scott Verner randomly strolled on through "Star Trak Studios." Verner proceeded to show Pharrell a self-produced music video of a FRESH, up-and-comer, Buddy [then 16]... brutally massacring Craig Mack - "Flava In Ya Ear" (Instrumental) . Skateboard P. was reportedly so blown away, that he instantly set up a meeting with Buddy a mere few days later. Right off the bat, Pharrell saw something "special" within the young rapper, offered to become his mentor, imminently inked a recording contract... and the rest, as they say, is history [in the making]! Buddy's debut single, "Awesome Awe...