The Witzard

Foliage is the latest seven-track mixtape from White Plains, New York emcee, producer, music journalist, and children's book author Stan Ipcus. It's the proper follow-up to his Spotify-only exclusive release aptly titled White Label . Actually, Foliage boasts two of the same tracks as White Label with "Grizzly" and "Cream." Ipcus expalins Foliage is "a dedication to the most beautiful time of the year in The 914 and a nod to the trees. Memories of summer, change, nostalgia, new school energy, lush landscapes, fall flavors, crisp breezes, and bright colors that eventually turn dark." Along with "Grizzly" and "Cream," "Pumpkin Cheesecake" has been previously released, as well. So, that leaves "Bust The Way I Flip It," "Tummy Time," "Ganja," and "Gifted" as the four brand new new tracks on Foliage. Foliage by Stan Ipcus Stan Ipcus himself produced "Grizzly," "B...

Fireside Chats Cassette Tape Art/Prints By: Ethan D'Ercole Chicago-based artist Jason Griff (sometimes, just "Griff") has become a heavyweight in Indie Hip-Hop in recent years. Griff is part of an Underground Hip-Hop network that spans from Chicago to Philly and likely even farther. Griff has produced music for the likes of Zilla Rocca, Scorcese Lorde Jones, Alex Ludovico, My Man Shafe, and Curly Castro. Within recent years, Griff co-founded a label imprint dubbed Insubordinate Records along with Alex Ludovico and Scorces Lorde Jones (may he rest in peace) to release both collabrative and solo efforts from each. Griff's most recent album is a primarily Punk/Hardcore-sampling affair, Fireside Chats, which references iconic Chicago venue, The Fireside Bowl. It features collaborations with emcees Alex Ludovico, Juganaut, ALASKA, defcee, Moecyrus, Scorcese, billy woods, Curly Castro, Zilla Rocca, ialive, PremRock, and SKECH185. Fireside Chats by Jason Griff I. Wh...

Back in 2019, Los Angeles emcee Alex Ludovico continued his ongoing #MedicineMondays weekly singles series and last year, he did something similar with #RewindWednesdays. His Bandcamp page explains, "Drugs, sex, and Hip-Hop. Alex Ludovico, born in Gary, IN and created in Chicago, is the living embodiment of that credo." One of our personal favorite moments from 2019's #MedicineMondays roll-out was Ludovico's collaborative EP with fellow Chicagoan Jason Griff entitled Scarf Tissue. Upon returning from our honeymoon to Italy, we immediately linked up with Griff & Alex Ludovico, via email, to talk about their phenomenal Scarf Tissue EP. They were kind enough to help us assemble a comprehensive track-by-track (All-around) Breakdown for Scarf Tissue. Not long after, following a string of one-off singles, Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff returned with the first proper EP of #RewindWednesdays, THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. For THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. We got a chance to ...

Last year, Los Angeles emcee Alex Ludovico continued his ongoing #MedicineMondays weekly singles series and this year, he's doing something similar with #RewindWednesdays. His Bandcamp page explains, "Drugs, sex, and Hip-Hop. Alex Ludovico, born in Gary, IN and created in Chicago, is the living embodiment of that credo." One of our personal favorite moments from 2019's #MedicineMondays roll-out was Ludovico's collaborative EP with fellow Chicagoan Jason Griff entitled SCARF TISSUE. Upon returning from our honeymoon to Italy, we immediately linked up with Griff & Alex Ludovico, via email, to talk about their phenomenal SCARF TISSUE EP. They were kind enough to help us assemble a comprehensive track-by-track (All-around) Breakdown for SCARF TISSUE. Now, following a string of one-off singles, Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff have returned with the first proper EP of #RewindWednesdays, THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. For THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. Griff & Alex Lu...

Happy New Year to all of our trusty readers! 2020 marks 10 consecutive years of The Witzard, which is a little hard to believe, even for me! It's been a great ride thus far and we greatly appreciate everyone that visits and supports our site on a regular basis! I'm hoping to do a full site re-design in 2020 (something I've wanted to do for a few years!) but my wife and I are expecting our first child this Summer... so, we'll just have to see what happens, honestly. Hope everyone had a happy and safe holidays season! Here's a selection of new singles that were released over the holidays; let's just call it a best of 2019 year-end/2020 kick-off singles feature. Truth be told, these are some of our favorite artists here at The Witzard and we're excited to see/hear what they have in store for 2020! Festive Beastie Boys artwork courtesy of Pollywog Crew (@pollywogcrew.) Sincerely, Matt "The Witzard" Horowitz It's A New Year, Wavy Baby! ...

Dream Team: A Stokely Hathaway Joint by Griff/Scorcese Dream Team: A Stokely Hathaway Joint is a project that's long been in-the-works from Chicago-based producer Jason Griff and Philly emcee Scorcese Lorde Jones , here, known together as Griff/Scorcese . Dream Team... was originally pitched as a mixtape in celebration of the independent wrestling circuit, as well as Hathaway's unique, Hip-Hop indebted approach to the artform. However, it eventually evolved into a full-fledged album based around the ideals and inspiration of the esteemed 1996 Source Award Winner, publicist, and manager, Stokely Hathaway —now signed to WWE/NXT as Malcolm Bivens . Dream Team... is entirely produced by Jason Griff (Alex Ludovico, Zilla Rocca) and primarily performed by Scorcese Lorde Jones AKA Scorcese FKA Scorcese Shells (2-Man Power Trip... Gods Know) with cinematic interludes and embellishments from Stokely Hathaway AKA Malcolm Bivens himself. Dream Team... is, indeed, Wrestle/Wra...

I've still been trying to get back on track following our 2-week honeymoon/vacation to Italy back in March, but, at this point, I'm probably not gonna get fully "back on track" until next year. However, with that said, one of my favorite releases since returning home was and still is SCARF TISSUE EP , the first collaborative release from Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff —sometimes, simply, referred to as "Griff" or "Jason/Griff." It's a quick 5-track burst, less than half the length of your standard Extended Play (EP) although, it's an extremely strong offering! While travelling across Italy, I was luck enough to get in touch with both Griff & Alex Ludovico and we were able to set up an track-by-track EP breakdown exclusively for The Witzard . I've very recently been hearing rumblings about a music video for Jimmie "J.J." Walker-referencing "Dy-No-Mite!" as well as a rumored 3-way collaboration between Griff ...

"Hathaway comes to the Performance Center after a successful tenure as a manager and a wrestler on the indies. Although, trained for the ring, Hathaway gained a reputation in recent years for wheeling-and-dealing on behalf of other wrestlers. The notoriously outspoken Hathaway has represented clients in several promotions throughout The US, from EVOLVE Wrestling to the New England-based Beyond Wrestling. He hails from New York City," reads a recent WWE Performance Center press statement. They're, of course, talking about Independent wrestler and manager Stokely Hathaway, who recently signed a deal with WWE NXT/Performance Center. Hathaway has previously wrestled and managed talent for EVOLVE Wrestling, Beyond Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and Major League Wrestling (MLW) and has gone by a variety stage names, including Chuck Taylor, Ramon, and most recently, Court Moore for NXT. Stokely is the self-proclaimed 1996 Source Awards Winner & Former Editor of XXL Magazine. ...

As many of you may have noticed, The Witzard was temporarily shut down for about two weeks until just this past Monday. It was a nice little break, as my beautiful wife and I traveled across Italy for our "second" honeymoon and as expected, it was phenomenal! We were with a tour group and made stops in Venice, Florence, Rome, Tuscany, Assisi, Murano, and finally, Naples for Pompeii. We saw some truly gorgeous sites and had some of the best Italian food and wine I've ever had in my life; quite honestly, I think I've, essentially, "ruined" Italian food for myself here in The States for the time being, at least! While in Italy, I took a much needed break from my 'round-the-clock writing schedule here at The Witzard... but I did get a chance to listen to a few then-newly released albums and EP's while in transit. One of those select releases being Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff's collaborative SCARF TISSUE EP . It's a quick 5-track lyrical as...

Last year, we had the pleasure of premiering a Zilla Rocca -produced remix of Alpha x Scorcese 's "Untitled" Feat. Killer Mike & Pastor Troy from their 2018 collaborative effort as Gods Know , A World Only Gods Know . Now, Scorcese (@JihaDScorcese) has returned with his first proper "solo" project of 2019: A Remix Only Gods Know - SIDE A , a cleverly-titled and long-awaited 7-track remix companion EP to Alpha x Scorcese 's A World Only Gods Know . Not only does A Remix Only Gods Know feature the aforementioned "Untitled" Zilla Rocca Remix , it boasts six additional remixes from Scorcese 's Underground/Indie Rap peers, Tony Dark , Disco Vietnam, Jason Griff , Camouflage Monk, and L'Orange . "So, yeah... "THIS. IS. THE. REMIX." ( Puffy voice.) Been a long time coming, but you all can blame L'Orange ! Anyway, this was a selected [seven] remixes based on fan response," Scorcese Lorde Jones explained on Gods ...

The Vivian Maier EP by Alex Ludovico Since we last spoke with Los Angeles -based bartender and A Clockwork Orange -referencing emcee Alex Ludovico , upon our premiere of "Calendar," he has released five more one-off single installments in his ever-evolving #MedicineMondays series. The, suddenly, before year's end, Alex Ludovico unleashed a brand new 10-track full-length entitled pretendtobe , which we previously teased within our "Calendar" premiere. Just this year, as part of his #MedicineMondays2019 series, Ludovico has already unleashed six one-off singles, as well as a fittingly festive 3-track EP entitled New Year's Resolutions . I've heard "through the grapevine" that Alex Ludovico is earnestly at work finishing up an EP with Brooklyn -based producer and fellow Zilla Rocca collaborator, Jason Griff (@iamJasonGriff) which should be properly released within a month or so. It appears as though, in the meantime, Ludovico has still b...

A World Only Gods Know is a collaborative project from Dallas -based producers Alpha Davis & Chris Wright (The Directors) and Philly -bred emcee Scorcese Shells AKA Alpha X Scorcese/God Knows , which was released this past March. At the time, I got a number of emails about the project and really dug it, but, unfortunately, for whatever reasons, was unable to cover A World Only Gods Know within the pages of The Witzard . I've since gotten to know Brooklyn -based producer Jason/Griff (@iamJasonGriff) who's worked with Zilla Rocca , My Man Shafe, PremRock , Curly Castro, Kid Sister , Mr. Lif, and Akrobatik . Lo and behold, Jason Griff is currently working on a project with Scorcese Shells called Dream Team: A Stokely Hathaway Joint in collaboration with independent wrestler and "1996 Source Awards winner" Stokley Hathaway slated to be released this December. I've since been in touch with both Jason Griff & Scorcese Shells and have heard a number ...

My Man Shafe (@MyManShafe) is a South Philly Soul magnate, Funk buster, crowd rocker, and self-proclaimed " Street Funk/Soul rapper." Shafe self-released a FREE mixtape/street album entitled "Who's That?!" recorded and mixed by Zilla Rocca and has since unveiled material with Nex Millen , Wrecking Crew on Wu-Tang Pulp, Curly Castro , Zilla Rocca & Has-Lo, Small Professor for World Around Records , Son Raw, and most recently, Career Crooks' "Mike Milligan (Kitchen Brothers)" with Curly Castro & ALASKA . "I make Soul music. Even though I rap and came up as an emcee, my music is Soul . It's Soul because of the place that it comes from," My Man Shafe profoundly writes within his on-site Bio . " Soul music comes from the gut; the bottom, the pit of your stomach. It's a feeling. It's a vibe. It's the notion that we've all been through things and together, we can overcome," he continues. Si...