The Witzard

QUAKERS are a Hip-Hop super-group consisting of three producers: Fuzzface (Geoff Barrow,) Supa K FKA Katalyst (Ashley Anderson,) and 7STU7 (Stuart Matthews.) Barrow is a founding member of Portishead, as well as BEAK>, and a co-founder of Invada Records, along with Ashley Anderson & Fraser Stuart. Anderson appears to have first met Barrow when they worked together on a remix, attributed to "Portishead," of Machine Gun Fell*tio's "H*rny Blonde 40." In addition to QUAKERS, Ashley Anderson is, also, an active member of both Moonrock with Michael Wright and Space Invadas with Steve Spacek. QUAKERS' third producer, Stuart Matthews, is an engineer at Invada Records and has contributed to recordings for Portishead, BEAK>, Anika, Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury, Crippled Black Phoenix, Turbowolf, and more. QUAKERS released their staggering 41-track self-titled debut on Stones Throw Records on 2xCD/LP formats in 2012. It boasted features from a wide...

"We recorded "Letting Off Steam" here in [Australia] in 2014. We both dug that joint, but it didn't make the album for various reasons; so, good to let the peeps hear it. Written and recorded in the same day. Just a dope vibe, really. Guilty killed that beat. Mad flow on that... "Love" is a joint we also had to leave off the album due to the album length. Neither of us like long records. It's a dope jam and Guilty's message/ lyrics are amazing. I really wanted peeps to hear that joint. Its deep. I mixed it again and got a much better mix, which is the one you [hear] released a couple of days back. That's all I can tell you." – Detroit's Son and Detroit & Extras producer Katalyst "Right now, all I'm listening to is beats. DETROIT'S SON is my favorite album. And I'm in a time capsule, bro – I'm still listening to The Commodores ha! I'm really into my own wave right now. I mostly listen to Jazz , when I...

Guilty Simpson is a seasoned Motor City street-worn, hard as nails emcee, yet quite surprisingly, one of the most genuine, nicest artists I've ever encountered during my 5+ years running The Witzard . Simpson has quietly released a number of nearly flawless albums produced by Madlib , Oh No, Apollo Brown , an ill-fated and ultimately, scrapped album co-produced by J Dilla & Mr. Porter , a 6-song EP recorded with Small Professor, and most recently, my absolute favorite album of 2015, Detroit's Son helmed by Australian producer, Katalyst . I would almost personally attest, as a long-time Guilty Simpson fan and Stones Throw supporter, that his collective non-album material is arguably just as strong, if not even stronger, than his crop of full-length albums; throughout the course of his sprawling 25-year career, Guilty has unleashed acclaimed one-offs with the likes of the late great Dilla , who somehow managed to clear samples of James Brown and The Beatles, Jazz-mi...

While they may be a little out of my typical wheelhouse of head-nodding Hip-Hop or fist-clenching Punk Rock , I've always been a casual fan and long-time admirer of Radiohead 's rather unique aesthetic and business tactics... name-your-price In Rainbows , Kid A, OK Computer , I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, The King of Limbs , Amnesiac, and COM LAG (2plus2isfive) . Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and his band mates have seemingly always attempted to employ an underlying Hip-Hop feel and have a mutual respect for the genre as a whole; Philly -bred Tonight Show band The Roots sampled them on Game Theory stand-out "Atonement," as did Kanye, Pharrell & Lupe Fiasco 's short-lived super-group Child Rebel Soldier (CRS) , and even Portishead founder Geoff Barrow & Katalyst went as far as to revamp "Fitter Happier" on a Guilty Simpson & MED -asssisted Quakers cut. Yorke has even managed to work alongside the mysterious masked villain h...

"If my mother knew I was in show business now, she would worry herself just sick... she thinks I'm in Philadelphia sellin' dope," reads a comical Richard Pryor -esque bit from an unknown comic; it acts as the spoken-word intro to Guilty Simpson 's "Blunts In The Air," which dually serves as an unofficial mantra throughout Guilty 's hard-as-nails Katalyst -produced Detroit's Son . Guilty & Katalyst first met during the recording sessions that would ultimately yield Geoff Barrow 's 35-member Hip-Hop collective Quakers' self-titled Stones Throw debut (2012). Detroit's Son 's introductory track, "R.I.P." is actually a vocal version of Katalyst 's "R.I.P." instrumental lifted from Quakers , which seamlessly ties the two projects together right off the bat. Although it was initially billed as a "Guilty Simpson x Quakers" project upon the release of THE SIMPSON TAPE , Detroit's Son was...

"It's Katalyst [Ashley Anderson] and Geoff Barrow that produced my album. I met Katalyst in Australia and we had dope studio chemistry. Me & Phat Kat did features for the Quakers album & later, I found out they were on Stones Throw. When I met with Stones Throw, their name came up & it made sense because I really liked their production. Now, here we are," Guilty Simpson exclusively revealed to The Witzard on the inception of his hot-off-the-press new album, Detroit's Son. Anderson runs the Australian-based headquarters of Invada Records along with long-time friend, Portishead founder, and fellow Quakers bandmate Geoff Barrow; he's been releasing music under a number of aliases since launching his music career back in 1998... Moonrock, Katalyst, 35-member Hip-Hop collective Quakers, and Space Invadas with Steve Spacek. Having previously worked with everyone from Gift of Gab to Jack Johnson, Detroit's Son is Katalyst's first full-length proj...

"Worked with Guilty on Quakers through [Stones Throw] . Then we met when he was here in [Australia] on tour. Hung out with [him] and Phat Kat in the studio. Those guys were digging the new beats I had, and when Guilty went to LA to do the video for "Fitta Happier," he mentioned that we were vibing in the studio and he was into the beats and working together," Katalyst recently wrote within an emailed conversation. "We recorded "War Drums" while Phat Kat and Guilty were in town for that tour. Stones Throw thought it could be a great fit for his next album and hit us up and I was into it," Australian -based producer Ashley Anderson then continued, concerning his relationship with collaborator Guilty Simpson . Katalyst produced the entirety of Simpson's Psych-Rock -tinged DETROIT'S SON at Quakers band-mate and Portishead founder Geoff Barrow 's local Invada Studios . Stones Throw unexpectedly dropped DETROIT'S SO...

While tough-as-nails emcees Guilty Simpson & Danny Brown don't seemingly have much in common (aside from mutual collaborator Black Milk ), the two like-minded lyrical wordsmiths are surprisingly cut from the same battle-worn "cloth." Simpson & Brown both just so happen to have unleashed newly-minted material yesterday, August 3rd: "Animal" produced by Quakers beatsmith Katalyst and "Worth It" produced by Lil B affiliate, Clams Casino , respectively. Late Monday afternoon, I curiously Tweeted @guiltysimpson , whom I recently had the opportunity to interview for this very site , inquiring if he and Mr. Brown had ever worked together; to which he quickly replied with a video still of Elzhi 's "Fire" Remix featuring Black Milk , GUILTY SIMPSON, Fatt Father , DANNY BROWN, and Fat Ray . Lest we forget, Guilty & Danny additionally teamed up way back in 2010 on Quelle -produced Detroit State of Mind 4 mixtape cut, "Mu...

Portishead mastermind Geoff Barrow has spent the majority of the last six months to a year of his life tediously constructing Hip-Hop beats along with fellow Quakers producer Katalyst for inclusion on new-found collaborator Guilty Simpson 's forthcoming DETROIT'S SON record, but he's currently readying a quick-strike 4-track EP with his other, other Krautrock -inspired band, BEAK> and their "alter ego," KAEB (or BEAK> backwards). Barrow and Bristol -based bandmates Billy Fuller and Matt Williams have released two full-length albums and a few miscellaneous projects since forming BEAK> back in 2009, but KAEB was just recently "formed" as an outlet to be used specifically for recording collaborations; as such with "There's No One," which was "written and filmed in one take [one day last year] at Invada Studios Bristol as part of the 4-track BEAK-KAEB EP ," reads an Invada Records -sanctioned press release. ...

"For a while now, Guilty Simpson has been working on a new album with Katalyst of Quakers, the 30+ member rap supergroup who came out on Stones Throw a couple years ago. Expect an album soon. Until then, here's one fresh from the lab – "Vanguard Organization,"' reads Stones Throw's latest press release uploaded earlier today; a mere uncanny, perfectly-timed coincidence, Stones Throw have unleashed Guilty Simpson's "Vanguard Organization," which he self-describes as "a throw-away cut [that] isn't on the album," as I've concurrently been piecing together an all-inclusive 15-question interview for this very site. The Detroit native whose actively preparing his second full-length for Stones Throw, DETROIT'S SON, candidly covers everything from his "lost" 2005 album recorded with J Dilla, being mentioned in the same sentence as Radiohead, the current status of OJ Simpson 2 and Random Axe 2, working with elusive emce...

THE SIMPSON TAPE is actually not Guilty Simpson & Oh No 's first collaborative project, contrary to popular belief; "This past year [2010], around the same time Madlib was creating his remix of Guilty Simpson 's Ode to The Ghetto for his Madlib Medicine Show #1 release, we had Oh No remix the tracks as well, using samples from the Now-Again catalog. Oh No 's collection, Ghettodes is not meant as as 'album', but you put [all] 14 tracks together, and you might as well call it that." Stones Throw quietly "leaked" a number of Ghettodes tracks out to savvy crate-diggers between 2008-10 including The Whitefield Brothers -sampling "American Nightmare," "Piglets," "Futuristic," "What to Do," "Y'all Scared," "Dreads," and "Killer." Just the other day, while I was perusing through Now-Again/Stones Throw 's Discogs label pages, I stumbled upon "Stones Thro...

Guilty Simpson , one of Hip-Hop 's most criminally under-rated rappers, has worked with everyone from the late great J Dilla to Geoff Barrow (Portishead), but has somehow only released one full-length solo record, Ode to The Ghetto (2008). Post-Ghetto, Simpson has worked with a brigade of Stones Throw affiliates including Madlib , Oh No, Quakers , Four Tet, MED , Roc "C," Percee P , Apollo Brown , and Philly -based producer Small Professor . Initially linking up for "Spare Razor" (2012), Guilty & Small had so much sonic chemistry that Matt Diamond at Coalmine Records/Diamond Media 360 signed the pair and eventually coaxed them to record a 10-track album, Highway Robbery . It's 7 tracks-worth (and 3 remixes) of relentlessly hard-hitting "Golden Era" -reminiscent Hip-Hop ; including features from Statik Selektah , Boldy James, A.G. (Diggin' In The Crates Crew), DJ Revolution, Elucid , Castle, and a Scooby -crafted remix. Small ...

Following the recent conclusion of his 3-part Cassette series, Jonwayne can now concentrate 100% of his focus on his long-awaited Stones Throw full-length; Formerly titled "Bohemian Rap CD," it's now called Rap Album 1 and cleverly sports a saltine cracker strewn across it's cover (likely a nod to how far "white boys" have come in Hip-Hop ha). While he was actually born Jon[athan] Wayne , the budding emcee kinda swagger-jacked the other, more infamous John Wayne 's birth-right for his latest mixtape, Marion Morrison (Cassette 3). "Reflection" is just one of 11 largely self-produced tracks culled from Rap Album 1 , which drops October 29th and is currently available for pre-order. Stones Throw liberated what Jonwayne later effectively dubbed a non-single mid-Wednesday afternoon; as Wayne perfectly put it, "If you don't like "Reflection," give yourself some time to adjust to new ideas in Hip-Hop and then listen a...

"Seems @theweeknd have said there is no sample used or enough likeness to "Machine Gun" to warrant any infringement... or credit," head Quaker and Portishead mastermind Geoff Barrow angerly Tweeted early Wednesday morning. It sounds like Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) initially asked Barrow and Portishead for permission to use said sample and upon being denied clearance, loosely re-created "Machine Gun"'s ferocious, almost Tribal -sounding drum pattern. But honestly, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense... since The Weeknd and Portishead are both signed to Universal Records , plus Geoff Barrow and Beth Gibbons are self-admitted Hip-Hop supporters. "Belong to The World" is actually The Internet 's second taste of The Weeknd 's upcoming "sophomore" album, Kiss Land . In what seems like an effort to foster more of a prominent public image, Abel Tesfaye granted Complex his first full-fledged earlier in the we...

Even since I've been into Stones Throw (Champion Sound-Donuts Era), the semi-respected Bay Area record label has slowly morphed into the place to go for cool, head-jerking vinyl. Peanut Butter Wolf has hand-picked a wide array of emcees, weirdo producers, Funk/Folk revivalists, solo artists, etc. Stones Throw 's genre-blending " Hip-Hop & more" roster presently includes: Madlib , James Pants, The Stepkids , Matthew Larkin Cassell , deceased mega-producer J Dilla , Steve Arrington, Quakers (Geoff Barrow) , Jonti, The Lions , Dâm-Funk, Jonwayne , and countless others. Announced just last Friday, 2 of the label's most note-worthy musicians have teamed up for a collaborative LP - Steve Arrington & Dâm-Funk ! Arrington, former Slave Funky drummer turned spiritual foot-soldier, has bonded with Dâm-Funk , who's quite arguably G-Funk 's last remaining post-90's producer. Steve Arrington self-released his first album in 20 years, Pure Thin...

Truth Be Told by Apollo Brown & Guilty Simpson Guilty Simpson & Apollo Brown are quite arguably the most downright Funky , brutally honest Detroit natives since Smokey Robinson & The Miracles ! Fresh on the heels of a few solid 2010-11 joint albums , Apollo Brown successfully flipped a smooth crooning [ghostly] sample of "Awe, baby, it's been so-ooo looong" that's perfectly suited for a few introspective Guilty Simpson verses. Generally mis-labelled as an "Underground MC," Simpson has been actively rapping ever since 1991... released his Stones Throw debut, Ode to The Ghetto in 2008, and has worked with everyone from J Dilla to Geoff Barrow (Portishead). "Truth Be Told" is the first taste/lead single to whet our appetites for Dice Game , which is currently slated for a Nov. 13th release. Guilty Simpson & Apollo Brown managed to rope in a set of top-notch feature guest verses from Torae and Planet Asia , too. "S...

I was pretty stoked to finally get a package from Stones Throw in my mailbox just the other day; It contained my Stones Throw "logo splatter" T-shirt and Jonwayne 's new CASSETTE project, which came along with a FREE Walkman since my order was one of the first 60 processed. In theory, it's actually a perfectly great/ludicrous idea... 100% leak-proof , but @ the same time, nearly 3/4's of the market probably has no means to play the tape. Jonwayne & Stones Throw have some serious balls for releasing an "album" that'll very likely never see a digital, CD, or vinyl re-issue package and it's 2012, baby! ha I've been playing CASSETTE while on-the-go over the weekend, took some notes, and here's a rough review of Side A (Raps) . Track #1 ("Gross") - chant-like vocal sample - Stones Throw shout-out(s) - eerily slowed down drums/keys - Pop Culture references - John Lennon, Flintstones - Hook: "Looking like a sperm eati...

Shit man, the name John Wayne is almost instantly BADASS ... Even when it's missing the all-important word-separating space and "h" for extra emphasis, of course. Depending on who you ask, I guess it could be said that Jonwayne is kinda a Hip-Hop Cowboy ; A rebel without a cause, and an un-worldly knack for producing a "darn tootin'" [perfect] beat! All the while, sharpening his Rap skills/chops, Jonwayne recently signed a deal with Stones Throw . Hard @ work compiling his debut LP for the Los Angeles -bred imprint, they've released a handful of FREE and re-packaged material over the past few months: Jonwayne F*cks Disney EP , Oodles of Doodles , This Is False (mixtape), a flexi-disc, and a $7.00 CASSETTE tape. "Night School" was quietly mastered and uploaded to Jonwayne 's personal Soundcloud page late July 30th, just a few days after Stones Throw outlined CASSETTE's rudimentary release. Wayne skillfully assembled a 5-man ...

Numbers-wise, Stones Throw 's Quakers [collective] is just about as MASSIVE as it's earth-shattering name-sake: 41-track album, 35 members, 3 producers. Because of Quakers' sheer size, it's almost ludicrous to try and summarize the wide scope of their self-titled debut... I have a copy, but have yet to listen straight through in one sitting. Guilty Simpson & M.E.D. are 2 of the countless featured rappers that Geoff Barrow (Portishead), Katalyst , and 7-Stu-7 recruited to come in and lay down verses. Quakers and Quakers (Instrumentals) are both now available for purchase over @ Stones Throw on vinyl, 2-CD, or mp3. Temporarily backed by The Quakers All-Star Brass Band , Guilty & M.E.D. abrasively lace up "Fitta Happier." Barrow pulled samples from 2 separate 1997-2000 era Radiohead tracks, "Fitter Happier" and "The National Anthem," now re-interpolated and complete with a horn section. It's companion Eric Coleman -di...