The Witzard

"So much about the duo, Last Sons, goes against the grain of what most of today's Rap fans think of when they hear a the words "Rap duo." The two most obvious deviations are the group's make-up (rapper & DJ) and where they call home, Nottingham, UK. Now I know the old heads are currently yelling at me that the only true duos are ones consisting of a DJ and a rapper—insert joke about DJ Jazzy Jeff getting thrown out by Uncle Phil—but even in many of those classic duos, the DJ was the one making the beats, but here, Furious P is manning the 1's & 2's and adding that extra oomph to the producer's musical background, handled on Chekhov's Gun by Uncommon Nasa. As for the Nottingham aspect, many US Rap fans have constantly had some sort of hang up about English emcees, but, then, in the same breath, say they "love" Slick Rick or 21 Savage. So, let us end that issue right now: we rarely have problems with other dialects or accents...

Chekhov's Gun by Last Sons For at least a few years now, I've been speaking with UK emcee Duke01 (@DukeBinary) effectively one 1/2 of Last Sons , about their long-rumored full-length debut to be produced by Uncommon Nasa . Merely separated by an ocean, Staten Island, NY -based producer/emcee, Uncommon Nasa , has been working with Nottingham, UK -bred Duke01 and his in-house DJ/turntablist, Furious P , since about 2014. Duke01 's Steroid Stereo (Orange Edition) EP was released in collaboration with Nasa 's Uncommon Records and features cuts throughout from Furious P . Now, nearly five years later, Last Sons & Uncommon Nasa have reunited for their aforementioned Steroid Stereo follow-up that's now being billed as Chekhov's Gun ; a couple weeks ago, I received an early press advance of Last Sons' Chekhov's Gun and trust me, it's well worth the wait! Still about a month ahead of Chekhov's Gun's March 15th world-wide "street da...

"I could easily talk about how loud I blasted [ Public Enemy 's] Fear of a Black Planet (1990) daily from my Yorx Entertainment System in junior high or pumped [ Company Flow 's] "8 Steps to Perfection" (1996) and everything else recorded from my Stretch & Bobbito tapes in the Burger King kitchen, after closing time during my shifts or dip into how DJ Premier made beats that were completely abstract, but made them instant norms by nature of his talent. But, in truth, when I sit and make a beat, I don't feel the influence of other Hip-Hop producers too heavily anymore, even less than I feel when I write rhymes. I've settled into something pretty original, not without influence, but kind of it's own thing, for better or worse. So, what I'd rather talk about is my relationship with Progressive Rock music and how it spurned my definition and coining of the term "Progressive Hip-Hop." I still love some good old Prog-Rock ,...