The Witzard

Jonathan's Golden Wings (demo) by Tim Heidecker "This is a quick track I put together, after reading about these disgusting gold-encrusted chicken wings 🍗 www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSub4951k9g The first line from that a$$hole's interview jumped out at me as a good first lyric... I know nothing else about any of these people. I jumped to some conclusions. All proceeds go to LA FOOD BANK !" Lyrics: "I became friends with Jonathan Through the nightlife scene I met him through The Kardashians He was part of their social media team I knew him from Instagram Part of the bouichy Fancy Foodie Fam We began talking about our dreams and what we'd like to do We were both young and had come from means And we wanted what'd get us that clickbait news We could have done anything, But we settled on gold-encrusted chicken wings (OH-OOOH WHY?) We'd serve 'em up all through the night Charge a thousand bucks for just one plate And I have to admit...

"2016 was simultaneously, the worst and best year of my life, so far. It was the worst because the five years I had spent struggling with an emotionally, mentally, and spiritually crippling drug addiction had finally, culminated in a failed suicide attempt and an agreement, on my part, to spend three months in a residential rehabilitation centre. It was the best because I finally took the steps to take responsibility for it all; I came through it and started making music again. The first project I made was a 6-track EP called Waking Up , which would loosely, chart those five years of addiction and I'm going to break down each track in a little more detail, as well as talk about the tracks I sampled for each beat." - Charles Edison (Beats Laying About) Waking Up EP by Charles Edison 1. "Broke In Two" Sample(s): "Stronger Than Before" By: Chaka Khan, "The Mickey Mouse March" By: The Mike Curb Congregation "I had made this beat an...

"someone did a mash up album of @qotsa vocals over various music i've made and it's kind of awesome. thanks for this weird gift @boototom," el-p (@therealelp) wrote within an enthusiastic April 3, 2018 Tweet. To be honest, I hadn't heard about ToToM's El-Q album either, until El-P Tweeted about it, but once I delved in and started listening, I thoroughly enjoyed it! ToToM is the production alias of Paris-based "bastard pirate producer" Thomas Boivin; after a bit of investigative journalism, I was able to get in direct contact with the mysterious producer himself. ToToM has been constructing genre-eschewing mash-ups AKA bootlegs AKA "Bastard Pop" since about 2005-06 and readily lists DJ Zebra, Nine Inch Nails, La Phaze, and LCD Soundsystem amongst his greatest sources of influence. He's released collaborative mash-up albums with SpareElbowSkin, Fissunix & Colatron (B.I.M.A.) MichMash, Shoefiti, MsMiep, and La Phaze, as well as on...

"Nowadays, I'm more influence by the artists around me making making music here in Baltimore. We probably take that for granted a bit, but we're really lucky. When I [first] started making beats at 16-17, I was pretty much just biting DJ Premier and every producer on [Nas'] Illmatic, sampling the hand-me-down vinyl I was given from my friend's weird uncle. As I got older and more fascinated with Pop and Alternative music—especially, the really depressing stuff—my production was shaped by hearing this handful of albums in my early beat-making days. Honestly, it's really hard to narrow down [to] under 10 (I wish I could pick a Prince album or Madonna's first album) but I'll keep it at six." - Drew Scott (AKA Giddeon Gallows) Forbid feat. Al Rogers Jr. by Giddeon Gallows I. OutKast - Aquemini (1998) "First CD I bought with my own money; hearing the 808's and that guitar on "Rosa Parks" at 10 years old was a moment. I alread...

" [Class Ring] EP is a fully independent production/release written and produced by myself and a handful of friends. I'm from the Los Angeles area, always made music, mostly was a drummer in bands and within the past couple years, have made the jump from making beats on my laptop to producing my own music and eventually, putting out this project. I definitely have plans to continue working and releasing music. Hopefully, some live shows, if I can book them and get some people that want to listen haha," Class Ring producer and multi-instrumentalist "Spencer" described within a recent emaile. Prior to his very recently released Class Ring EP , Spencer had only uploaded two projects to his newly-formed Soundcloud page: 13-minute Summer Mixtape and "Crafty," both quietly released within the last 1-2 months. Class Ring EP is fittingly tagged on Soundcloud as " Trip Hop , Ambient, Downtempo , Hip Hop, Chillwave , Beats, Sample , Drum & ...

"When you're a DIY musician/producer, you do everything; you write the songs, you record, you compose, produce, and mix. I look at production as a finished product, not just a beat to sell to an emcee. And really, I don't sell beats. I produce my own albums and EP's . It's so time-consuming that it's hard to do it for someone else, unless I'm a huge fan. But when I first started making music back when I was a wee-lad, I had these cliché ideas of how an album is produced. I was an emcee, so I needed beats and I started sampling. It was pretty simple stuff. Mostly, a couple samples chopped and Copied together as a few loops on Reason . Then, I would put a drum beat on it; either Reason drum sounds or drums I sampled, chopped, and Copied together. There's certain albums that helped change my whole perspective about production, though. These aren't my favorite albums, but they definitely influenced how I make music." Mannequin Eater by MANIK|NE...

Quills by Vans_Westly I was attending a wedding reception here in South Jersey at The Little Red Schoolhouse this past weekend with my fiancé, when I received a Tweet from @DrewciferScott tagging me in a previous Tweet from @Vans_Westly , which simply read: "Yo, I really want someone to review Quills ." Westly was of course, referring to his latest Quills EP , which was completed and released just in time for his Quills Release Party this past Saturday, June 24th at Baltimore 's The Windup Space with "special guests" Height Keech, Drew Scott, Raymond Strife , and Lt. Headtrip —nearly all of whom I've previously worked with and covered here at The Witzard . Drew Scott , who produced "Spring Sh*t" on Quills , road tested a few new tunes from his upcoming "weirdo Psych-Pop EP," which soon after The Windup Space show, he said "felt real sexy and pathetic;" in addition to Vans_Westly 's Quills EP , Scott also released ...

"It's a song I always loved, but I could never figure where to place it, in terms of albums and such. I've performed it a few times and it always did well... I kind of Kanye'd the hook and had variations of it done by El Malito & Margel The Sophant , before I put it together the way it is now. I just wanted it... to be great because the beat is crazy and the story/concept is heavily indebted to this book, The Song Is You by Megan Abbott ," Wrecking Crew & Career Crooks emcee Zilla Rocca wrote, via text Monday night, concerning his latest stand-alone single. "Lemon Drop" was released in a similar fashion to Zilla 's recent influx of 90's Golden Age Hip-Hop -evoking Noir-Hop loosies: "98 Avirex Flow" and Ghostface Killah & Raekwon -flipping "Faster Blade Redux," which was fittingly premiered right here at The Witzard . Zilla Rocca further explained that it's his "goal to drop one song a month for...

"Leading with dream-like panpipes floating over TEACHERS' signature Tribal percussion; "Mannequin In Heat" is a breezy cut that will transport the listener to warmer climates. Speaking on the track, experimental and innovative lead singer Ben Bronfman says: "This is one of those tunes that wrote itself, sometimes you struggle to find the right melody, sometimes it just comes through you and all you have to do is get out of the way. "Mannequin In Heat" is one of those tunes, just step aside and let it be. We got some Caribbean vibes mixed with Afro-polyrhythmic Pop that stays true to our leftist/Punky swagger! We do it for the love!" - TEACHERS Frontman Ben Bronfman "' [Ben] Bronfman first collaborated with [Kanye] West in 2010, when he flew out to Hawaii to work on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . (You can hear a mangled sample of his voice weaving in and out of the mix on "MONSTER," plus a keyboard melody he contrib...

"MCDONALD’S, MAN MCDONALD’S, MAN THE FRENCH FRIES HAD A PLAN THE FRENCH FRIES HAD A PLAN THE SALAD BAR AND THE KETCHUP MADE A BAND 'CUS THE FRENCH FRIES HAD A PLAN THE FRENCH FRIES HAD A PLAN MCDONALD’S, MAN MCDONALD’S I KNOW THEM FRENCH FRIES HAVE A PLAN I KNOW THEM FRENCH FRIES HAVE A PLAN THE CHEESEBURGER AND THE SHAKES FORMED A BAND TO OVERTHROW THE FRENCH FRIES’ PLAN I ALWAYS KNEW THEM FRENCH FRIES WAS EVIL, MAN SMELLING ALL GOOD AND SH*T I DON’T TRUST NO FOOD THAT SMELLS GOOD, MAN I DON’T TRUST IT I JUST CAN’T MCDONALD’S, MAN MCDONALD’S, MAN MCDONALD’S, DAMN THEM FRENCH FRIES LOOK GOOD [THOUGH] I KNEW THE DIET COKE WAS JEALOUS OF THE FRIES I KNEW THE MCNUGGETS WAS JEALOUS OF THE FRIES EVEN THE MCRIB WAS JEALOUS OF THE FRIES I COULD SEE IT THROUGH HIS ARTIFICIAL MEAT EYES AND HE ONLY BE THERE SOME OF THE TIME EVERYBODY WAS JEALOUS OF THEM FRENCH FRIES EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE SPECIAL GUY... THAT SMOOTH APPLE PIE" - TEXT BY KANYE WEST.

" Leland Jackson [@Ahnnu] creates Footwork and Juke as Cakedog . Devoted to the dancer, DJ, and producer culture, and mentored by fixture Footwork originator R.P. Boo , Champions is a 23-minute digital mixtape album leading into the proper LP release Doggystyle , on Leaving Records later this year," Stones Throw wrote within a recent on-site press release attached to their latest mixtape release on sister label, Leaving Records . For those who may be unfamiliar, much like myself, " Footwork is a genre of related music and street dance that originated in Chicago during the 1980's," which was pioneered by Jackson's own mentor R.P. Boo , and was later "popularized outside Chicago by inclusion in the music video for Dude 'n Nem 's 2007 single "Watch My Feet;"' from what I can understand, I would best appropriate Footwork/Juke to Kanye 's T-Pain -assisted Alvin & The Chipmunks -evocative Graduation smash single, ...

"So proud of my brother James Blake dropping the bigness tonight... Also, so proud of our song ["I Need a] Forest Fire" came from wonderful accidents and good friendship... James , or Jim as I call him when I'm upset with him, is such a powerful musician; to be like Aaron Neville , AND Aphex [Twin] ?" Bon Iver frontman and frequent James Blake collaborator Justin Vernon (@blobtower) exuberantly Tweeted on the eve of The Colour In Anything . Vernon and Blake previously collaborated on "Fall Creek Boys Choir" from mid-album Enough Thunder EP , although likely first rubbed shoulders due to this singular candid statement: "He's James Blake . Just go listen to his music and say, "hey, that's Kanye 's favorite artist." Justin Vernon contributed crooned backing vocals assists to "MONSTER" and the majority of Kanye 's sprawling magnum opus, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy , as well as a number of fractured ...

Sacramento -based Noise-Rap band Death Grips have had a very tumultuous, to say the least, relationship with the media since their sudden 2010 inception, although the recently "disbanded" and reunited three-piece have been heralded as "the first truly important band of the 21st century;" having direct influence on The Thin White Duke's final album ★ (Blackstar) , Kanye 's Aggro-Rap masterpiece Yeezus , and even Travi$ Scott 's righteous T.I. & Kanye -assisted Rodeo . Death Grips' first post-"breakup" album, Bottomless Pit was unleashed Friday, May 6th at the stroke of midnight, amdist a weekend abuzz with new music and countless headlines from the likes of Radiohead , James Blake, Chance The Rapper , De La Soul, Homeboy Sandman , KAYTRANADA, and Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def . Bottomless Pit was preceded by eventual album tracks "Hot Head," Zane Lowe -debuted "Eh," and non-album "Interview 2016," althou...

"I made "Sunday Candy," I'm never going to Hell . I met Kanye West , I'm never going to fail. He said, let's do a good-a** job with Chance three . I hear you gotta sell it to snatch the GRAMMY . Let's make it so free and the bars so hard that there ain't one gosh darn part you can't Tweet," Chance The Rapper ferociously rhymed during his show-stealing verse within Kanye 's The Life of Pablo opener "Ultralight Beam." He's of course referring to his long-awaited and currently still untitled Acid Rap (2013) follow-up, since last year's SURF as actually a Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment -helmed project. It's quite a daring, and almost unheard of, feat that Chance The Rapper has garnered so much wide-spread fandom and critical-acclaim without ever having released an album or even single song for purchase; ultimately culminating with Chance 's appearance last year on SNL , becoming the first unsigne...

Let me just preface this week's slightly abridged edition of The Witzard's Week In Rap by first explaining that while I could be covering Kanye 's "newly updated, remixed, and remastered version" of haphazardly-assembled steaming pile of s*it The Life of Pablo , I'm not even going to be giving his second of what could likely end up being umpteenth mixes, recently dubbed a "continuous process" by Def Jam , the sheer satisfaction of even buying into and covering it; however, with that said, his Sampha -assisted "Saint Pablo" (formerly titled "Closest Thing to Einstein" ) from his second of three rumored in-the-works albums, Turbo Grafx 16 , is likely as strong, lyrically verbose, and dare I say, self-reflective as Kanye 's sounded since Jay Z -helmed Watch The Throne or even 808's & Heartbreak . For what it's worth, a couple contenders for "honorable mentions" released sporadically throughout the week s...

Freddie Gibbs , to the best of my knowledge, has never released a proper mixtape in the typical fashion of Hip-Hop culture; a cohesive collection of re-appropriated beats borrowed from popular artists and "freestyled" over, which are given away for FREE or next to nothing. However, it would appear as though that very notion might change soon enough, as Rappcats/Madlib Invazion have unveiled plans to release a limited run silk-screened 12-inch containing "Cocaine Parties In LA" and its sparse instrumental on Side B. Gibbs previously unleashed a cocaine-laden remix of Kanye & Kendrick Lamar 's Madlib -produced G.O.O.D. Fridays (Vol. 2) submission and eventual The Life of Pablo bonus track, "No More Parties In LA." It's reportedly a track left on the cutting room floor, for whatever reasons, during the recording of Kanye 's sprawling 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy , just one composition from six CD-R's-worth of hazy...

"There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or fame... but if you just focus on the work and you don't let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going, you'll look back and know that it was you," Taylor Swift passionately proclaimed Monday night whilst accepting her Album of The Year GRAMMY ; an apparent rebuttal to long-time frenemy Kanye West's exceedingly distasteful claims that he "made that b*tch famous" and that "[he] and Taylor might still have sex," lines which he previously proclaimed to be Kim & Taylor -approved. Let me first, preface this by saying that I've been a Kanye fan ever since "Through The Wire" and The College Dropout , although, I don't exactly agree with his latest burst of social media over-activity and apparent mental breakdown ... relentlessly bashing poor Taylor Swift , begging Mark Zuc...