The Witzard

Marcel Theo Hall, better know as Biz Markie and oftentimes, affectionately referred to as The Biz, The Clown Prince of Hip-Hop, The Inhuman Orchestra, The Diabolical Biz Markie, and The Emizah-Emizah, was highly revered as one of the most genuine emcees to ever do it. Biz passed away on Friday, July 16, 2021 at the tender age of 57, likely due to complications from Type 2 Diabetes, although, no official Cause of Death has been revealed just yet. Biz Markie is most well-known for his infectious 1989 break-out single, "Just A Friend," but he was a truly multi-talented artist, as well. Biz Mark's lesser-known talents included beat-boxing, dancing, producing, DJ'ing, acting, singing, and song-writing. It was proven time and time again that "Nobody Beats The Biz," but he surely didn't mind collaborating with just about anyone; racking up genre-defying features with everyone from the Beastie Boys to Spin Doctors. Biz's film and television appearances...

CREDIT: Evan Minis (@mullusk_collage) Honestly, it doesn't even feel like there's a proper way to elegize an eccentric and extremely talented artist such as MF DOOM, who meant so much to so many of us for so many years for so many different reasons as truly unique as DOOM himself. So, what better way to pay tribute to The Man, The Myth, THE MASK himself than by speaking to those closest to him? With a heavy heart, I proudly present Shadows of Tomorrow; a new recurring column in tribute to DOOM in an effort to re-tell the tall tales, strange stories, and lesser-known tidbits of The Metal Face Villain himself. R.I.P. Daniel "MF DOOM" Dumile Thompson. OMEGADOOM by OMEGADOOM "I made the album in 24 [hours] right after I heard he passed. All original beats made [in the] same day, minus an old remix ("2 Stings") on my other remix album, A.O.D. (Age of Destruction.) I've been a fan since one of my best friends told me about him late one night on the...

Madlib & Four Tet at Ed Wilson's Brawn - CREDIT: Egon (@nowagain) Just this year alone, extremely prolific DJ, producer, emcee, and multi-instrumentalist Madlib has self-released Bandana Beats (an instrumental version of his 2019 album with Freddie Gibbs,) The Professionals/The Professionals Instrumentals with his brother, Oh No, a special Piñata '64 variant of his 2014 album with Gibbs, and Pardon My French as The Jahari Massamba Unit with Karriem Riggins. But somewhat unsurprisingly, Madlib isn't done just yet... yesterday afternoon, long-time friend, ex-Stones Throw general manager, Now-Again Records founder and president, and parter in Madlib Invazion Eothen "Egon" Alapatt (@nowagain) made a surprise announcement on Instagram. Within a lengthy post, Egon shared Madlib and like-minded beatsmith Four Tet had been working together on a collaborative release. "Sound Ancestors, arranged by Kieran Hebden, coming January 2021 on Madlib Invazion. First s...