The Witzard

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band (BRSB) is a rather mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, Germany who have amassed a cult following around the globe. BRSB features Ben Greenslade-Stanton & Björn Wagner and anywhere from one to eight additional musicians. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band's previous two efforts, 55 & The Serpent's Mouth , boasted a wide array of genre-spanning steel pan instrumental covers, including 50 Cent , John Holt, Mobb Deep, Dennis Coffey, Faith Evans, Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Dr. Dre. Mary J. Blige, Gang Starr, and Amerie. Now, BRSB have returned once more with the announcement of their third proper album, Expansions, due out later this summer on Big Crown Records. Expansions by Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band "On their third album, aptly titled Expansions, BRSB are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different," explains Big Crown within a press statement. Again, covering songs that span genres a...

"The band we know as Phony Ppl is a mix of people, time, and sound that's been nurtured over generations in Brooklyn " currently consisting of members: Elbee Thrie on vocals, Elijah Rawk on lead guitar, Matt "Maffyuu" Byas on drums, Aja Grant on keyboards, and Bari Bass on, of course, bass guitar. Since forming in 2009—amidst self-releasing 3 albums and an EP on Phony PPL LLC — Phony Ppl have had the unique opportunity to perform alongside Domo Genesis , Erykah Badu, Fetty Wap , Kali Uchis, Mac Miller , Odd Future, Princess Nokia , The Roots, Snake Hips , and more. Now, following a brief hiatus, Phony Ppl have returned with their first new material since Yesterday's Tomorrow (2015.) Last week, okayplayer premiered "Before You Get a Boyfriend," which effortlessly blends together Soul , Funk, Hip-Hop , and R&B-leaning sounds into a "noGENRE" musical mix the site deems "an ice-cold summer daydream." Phony Ppl '...

"I can't really say what the title will be, but it should be released as a single in a week or two, depending on what [Jordan Parrish] decides to do with it. I decided to work on it because it really brought me back to the "Hopeless Romantic 1+2" tracks emotionally and it's always nice to challenge yourself to write something new about a familiar subject," San Diego rapper-producer and engineer Mick Boche revealed within our previously published interview a few months back. Long story short, I actually first heard about "disappearing" emcee Boche (then Izaac) from my friend and collaborator John "Jumbled" Bachman, who featured Izaac within a bonus track, "World's On Fire," on his impeccable Baltimore-centric beat-minded album, [I wish it was longer]. Not long after, Izaac's social media accounts were completely wiped and he went dark, unbeknownst to Bachman and I, having left Baltimore and secretly relocated to San Di...

Now, I wouldn't exactly go ahead and bet my life on it, but I'm almost positive the first Hip-Hop album I ever bought with my own money was Will Smith's squeaky clean, parent-approved Big Willie Style (1997) and after that, I believe it was the slightly less embarrassing and arguably, far more genre-shaping Power In Numbers (2002) by recently reformed Los Angeles six-piece Jurassic 5. Hip-Hop, as you well know even if you just remotely follow this very publication, is by far one of my all-time favorite genres, along with Hardcore Punk and Indie Rock. Throughout the five or so years I've been single-handedly running The Witzard, I believe I've done a few of these Best of... or year-end lists (most recently, in 2013). While there were a handful of undoubtedly great Indie Rock, R&B, Punk, etc. albums released throughout the course of 2015, I've decided to compile a Hip-Hop-centric Top 10; with that said, here are a few cross-genre honorable mentions worth a s...

"I'm writing all the time, but recently I got the bug back. When it comes, it comes, and I can't force it, but... I got it back with "Hotline Bling" and all the other things I've been experimenting with," Erykah Badu recently told Noisey concerning her five-year gap between New Amerykah Part 2 (Return of The Ankh) and just-released But You Caint Use My Phone ; a clever allusion to Badu's own widely-acclaimed 1997 Live single "Tyrone," in which she famously laments, "you need to call Tyrone... but ya can't use my phone." "HOT LINE BLING BUT U CAINT USE MY PHONE MIX" (now re-titled "Cell U Lar Device" ) was initially conceived as an impromptu birthday present for a friend of Erykah Badu 's with assistance from Dallas -area producer Zach Witness , better known locally as one White Chocolate . "When I thought about doing the "Hotline Bling" remix, I thought about him. And the same ...

"Remember one night, I went to Erykah [Badu 's] house, she made tea for me. We talked about love and what life could really be for me. She said, "when that sh*t is real, you just know," Canada 's #1 Rap-Singer Drake crooned of an apparent tea-date with Miss Badu on "Days In The East." While it may or may not actually be a fictionalized re-telling, Drake and Erykah Badu 's mutual admiration doesn't seem to end with "Days In The East;" without any prior warning, Erykah-She ILL-Badu suddenly uploaded her slightly wordy "HOTLINE BLING BUT U CAINT USE MY PHONE MIX" to her newly-minted Soundcloud page Friday evening. ANALOUGE GIRL {IN A DGITAL WORLD} aka THE MIGHTY AFRO DIGHTY herself plays bells, in addition to providing original vocal accompaniment, on "HOTLINE BLING" along with her cast of highly skilled players: producer/keyboardist Zach Witness , guitarist Ben Hixon , and Ethan Worland on "brushes...

"Oh well, since it leaked... here's a better quality version," @JayElectronica exuberantly Tweeted early Friday morning, upon the unexpected leak of a low-quality version of his track, "Road to Perdition" 'guest starring' mentor and Roc-Nation label boss, Jay Z . It's the latest track Electronica's recorded and released 'with' Jay Z (behind "We Made It" and "Shiny Suit Theory" ) - 'with' in quotation marks because Jay Z 's feature in question on "Road to Perdition" is more or less composed of lines sampled from his American Gangster -centric track, "Success" (2007). "Road to Perdition" in fact, first appeared on Jay Electronica 's 2012 screen-grabbed 15-track Act II: Patents of Nobility (the turn) rough tracklist. Electronica's notoriously shelved album will reportedly also showcase the varied talents of Kanye , Serge Gainsbourg, Erykah Badu , Jay Z, Charlo...

Mayer Hawthorne has really progressed leaps and bounds since unveiling his premier limited press heart-shaped "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" 45 for Stones Throw (2008). Hawthorne has toured across America with everyone from John Mayer to Erykah Badu ; I was lucky enough to catch Mayer Hawthorne & The County post- A Strange Arrangement at First Unitarian Church (a legit Philly church rec-room). He's already gotten a chance to collaborate with Kendrick Lamar , Snoop Dogg, Daryl Hall , SebastiAn, Jessie Ware , James Pants, Pharrell , Jake-One, etc. Andrew "Mayer Hawthorne" Cohen has effectively pioneered a sort of Hip-Hop -infused "New-Wop" sound, over the course of 3 albums and some change. But critics and fans alike are saying that Hawthorne's most recent album, Where Does This Door Go? , is swaying in a little more of a mainstream radio Neo-Soul sonic lane. 16-year-old Kiwi [New Zealand] songstress Lorde rocketed to #1 on t...

Miss Janelle Monáe is actually Big Boi 's former fun-loving muse, who's now signed to Diddy 's own micro-universe, Bad Boy Records and first appeared on Purple Ribbon All-Stars, Vol. II (2005). Anyways, she's supposedly hard @ work on her sophomore album, Electric Lady , which is coming soon. It's the long-awaited follow-up to Janelle Monáe 's critically-acclaimed 3-part Space Soul-Funk series, Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) EP and The ArchAndroid (2010). Monáe recently told Billboard , "The album in general is more revealing. It's more personal. I'm taking a lot more risks on this album" in a pre- Coachella interview. Lead single, "Q.U.E.E.N." embodies Janelle Monáe whole androgynous 50's Greaser chic fashion sense, complete with pompadour. Director Alan Ferguson conjures up a living museum chock-full of frozen legendary rebels who are suspiciously brought to life by the neck-snapping groove. Janellle Monáe ...

When he's not busy making TOTALLY spaced out Prog Rock with My Morning Jacket , melding together some Neo-Soul sounds with Monsters of Folk , covering classic George Harrison tunes, or gettin' Funky with The Roots and Erykah Badu ... Jim James has been quietly fine-tuning a loose concept album called Regions of Light and Sound of God . James essentially based the album around a 1929 woodcut book titled Gods' Man , which he managed to morph into a "hazy dream that a fully-realized android or humanoid capable of thought might have when it reminisces about the good ol' days of just being a simple robot." Once he's done touring behind Regions, Jim James plans to re-group with his fellow My Morning Jacket bandmates in April or May to start work[ing] on their upcoming seventh studio album. Jim James self-produced the bulk of his solo record and played nearly every instrument on it; Effortlessly sprinkling in bits of Americana , Jazz-Funk, Disco ,...

I don't think I've ever been so fucking elated [EXCITED] to see a tracklist for an album that doesn't really even exist yet!; Just a few mere hours ago, Jay Electronica Tweeted a screengrab of Act II: Patents of Nobility (the turn) in his iTunes , which was originally rumored to have been released online over Winter Break 2008-09. Jay-Z has supposedly been [with]holding Act II since Jay Electronica turned the final version into Roc-Nation back in March 2012 because he thinks "it has no single on it," which I find pretty hard to believe... considering the breath-taking gamut of featured talent: Kanye (2) , Erykah Badu, Sean "Diddy" Combs , Jay-Z (2), Charlotte Gainsbourg , The Bullitts , The-Dream, and even Ronald Regan/Serge Gainsbourg !? After while, my eye noticed that quite a few STELLAR, previously-released tracks like "Dear Moleskine," "Exhibit A-C" (Remix), and that Nasty Nas guest verse are noticeably absent from Ac...

Having laid down drumwork for everyone from Paul McCartney to Madlib , Karriem Riggins is finally ready to unleash his proper solo debut full-length. Alone Together is being pressed up through Stones Throw and is slated for an October 23rd release date; While members of their "Digital Subscription Club" will supposedly get an early pre-release sometime this Summer in 2 separate parts - Alone/Together . Even though it's still nearly 3-4 months away, Peanut Butter Wolf decided to premier the first taste of Riggins' Hip-Hop Beat CD a couple days ago, "Moogy Foog It." Fresh off the heels of "The Brick," Alone Together plays out like a Hip-Hip Beat CD-R ... Karriem Riggins himself labeling it as the "right intersection of Hip-Hop and Jazz ." In addition, Stones Throw also labels it as a "34-track instrumental odyssey" that's ultimately influenced by nearly every aspect of Riggins' musical career thus far. Sel...

Jay Electronica is quite arguably the most prolific, storied, and mysterious rapper(s) of our current generation all rolled into one; A man who's painfully short backcatalog speaks nearly endless volumes. Aside from a few batches of tracks with unknown origins, Electronica has only released about 5 single-worthy tunes since quietly appearing on the scene in 2004: 16-minute [debut] opus "Act I: Eternal Sunshine (the pledge) ," "Exhibit A (Transformations)," "Exhibit C," "Shiny Suit Theory," and "The Announcement." Since Act I 's initial release (2007), it's proper Nas -assisted follow-up has often been long-rumored, time and time again. Frankly @ this point, I'm beginning to wonder whether or not it even exists. Soon after signing to Jay-Z 's very own Roc-Nation label in 2010, Jay Electronica announced the supposed completion of "Act II: Patents of Nobility (the turn)" via Twitter . Don't hold you...