The Witzard

"Me & my friend @quellechrist got one for @mellomusicgroup compilation called Bushido. Animation by Quelle [Chris] 🔮" Alchemist (@alanthechemist) posted on Instagram Wednesday afternoon. Alchemist has been on quite a roll lately, having produced the entirety of billy woods & E L U C I D's latest beloved album, Haram, as Armand Hammer and his own Carry The Fire EP this year. Last year alone, The Alchemist released full-length projects with Boldy James, Freddie Gibbs, and Conway The Machine, as well as his own The Food Villain and A Doctor, A Painter & An Alchemist Walk Into A Bar all on his own ALC Records . While they have yet to release a full-length project together (but fingers crossed!) it appears as though Quelle Chris & The Alchemist have been friends or, at least, acquaintances since about 2013. Alchemist appears on Quelle Chris-produced "PRX" alongside Guilty Simpson from 2013 album, Ghost At The Finish Line. Being You Is Great,...

"Homeboy Sandman's favorite song is "Knocks Me Off My Feet" by Stevie Wonder. His second favorite song is "I Know You, I Live You" by Chaka Khan. His favorite Michael Jackson song is "Lady In My Life." He prefers [A Tribe Called Quest's] Low End Theory to Midnight Marauders, but adores both," details Sandman's Bandcamp page. Homeboy Sandman's two most recent albums—Dusty produced by long-time collaborator Mono En Stereo (formerly rthentic RTNC) and Don't Feed The Monster entirely produced by Quelle Chris—were released by Mello Music Group. Prior to those aforementioned 2019-20 releases, Sandman had long been signed to Stones Throw Records, who issued his albums First of A Living Breed, Hallways, Kindness for Weakness, and Veins between 2012-17. Stones Throw additionally released a handful of Homeboy Sandman EP's including Chimera, Subject: Matter, All That I Hold Dear, Kool Herc: Fertile Crescent, White Sands, hi...

Just in time for Hanukkah, Your Old Droog AKA YOD has returned with his third full-length album of 2019. Jewelry was surprise-released on Monday, December 23, 2019—the first full day of Hanukkah—along with a special holiday blessing from Droog : "A Chanukah Celebration." Jewelry is the proper follow-up to both It Wasn't Even Close & Transportation , which were surprise-released in succession in a very similar fashion earlier this year. Jewelry is a sonic celebration of Your Old Droog 's own Jewish heritage, which he is now officially revealing publicly for the first time. For Jewelry , YOD recruited Tha God Fahim , Quelle Chris, Preservation , Edan, and CohenBeats on the production end of things with frequent collaborator Mach-Hommy as Executive Producer. Droog receives lyrical assists from the likes of Mach-Hommy , fellow Jewish emcee Matisyahu, The Metal Face Villain himself, MF DOOM , and Tha God Fahim. Jewelry 's companion cover artwork was desi...

Mike "Duncecap" Petrow is a Brooklyn, New York-based director, editor, cinematographer, emcee, and we are the karma kids affiliate. As a director, Petrow has directed music videos for karma kids signees/affiliates BALD AFRO , BIG BREAKFAST, Blastmaster Baker , GooGiE, Gruff Lion , Impervious Machine, Lt Headtrip , MC Eleven, and OLD SELF . Mike Petrow has, also, directed music videos for artists such as ELUCID , The Front Bottoms, Mega Ran , PremRock, Quelle Chris , Tanya Morgan, and Uncommon Nasa . As an emcee, Duncecap has self-released two EP's and two full-length projects since 2011; as of Friday, December 6, 2019, Duncecap has returned with his next project before year's end. miserable then is a 5-track EP entirely produced by ELUCID (Armand Hammer, CULT FAVORITE, Nostrum Grocers, The Lessondary) and recorded, mixed, and mastered by Willie Green at The GreenHouse Recording Co. miserable then opener "Waste of Money" features scratches thro...

Transportation by Your Old Droog Your Old Droog 's newly-minted Bandcamp page lacks much in lieu of a typical Artist Bio/Release Description and only contains a simple proclamation: " Y.O.D. is the best." Droog has come a long way from his early days as a Ukrainian-American immigrant, whom most people initially thought was an alter-ego of Nas; early on in his career, Your Old Droog received stamps-of-approval from both Sean Price & Prodigy (Mobb Deep,) as well as Sascha Jenkins, Edan, Homeboy Sandman, and countless others. I can recall the mass amounts of hype, mystery, and sheer confusion surrounding 2014's self-released Your Old Droog EP/LP , but my personal favorite Droog release was 2015's KINISON EP with its Rock "N" Roll & Stand Up Comedy-indebted edge. Your Old Droog 's second proper studio full-length, PACKS , was released in early 2017 and boasts collaborations with Heems AKA Himanshu (Swet Shop Boys,) Danny Brown, Chris Crac...

"Ever since our fortiutious connecting at Comic-Con in 2008, we have been teaming up to drop fresh rhymes and play concerts for our fans and friends. It's been a wild ride and it feels like we are just getting started. For the last three years, we have been working on an album and are glad to say that it is 90% finished! In other words, this will be in your hands this year! We know some Kickstarters have taken longer than expected, but this project is super-close to being complete... Simply put, this album will contain Rap songs about some of our favorite literary works (works of Fiction, short stories, poems, and even graphic novels) transforming them into bangin' and joyful Hip-Hop jams with help from some of the hottest beat-makers and guest rappers in the game. We rap about Shelley's Ozymandias, Moore's Watchmen, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Poe's Masque of The Red Death, and so much more. This album features guest appearances by MC Frontalot,...

Death By Misadventure by Conway X Sonnyjim Conway is a Buffalo -bred emcee, Wrestle-Rap enthusiast, and one half of Hall N' Nash with his rapping brother Westside Gunn . Last year, both Conway FKA Conway The Machine & Westside Gunn and their Griselda Records (GxFR) imprint/roster signed an exclusive deal with Eminem 's Shady Records/Universal Music Group . Following a string of critically-acclaimed releases and Wrestle/Rap -inflected guest appearances, Westside Gunn & Conway have temporarily "split" to issue a number of solo and collaborative releases: most recently, Westside Gunn 's March-released, Mr. Green -produced FLYGOD Is God... All The Time EP and Conway 's just-released, SONNYJIM -helmed Death By Misadventure EP . SONNYJIM is, of course, a UK -based emcee and producer whose name you may very well recognize from his recent collaborative outing with Chicago sharp-spitter Vic Spencer , Spencer FOR HIGHER . " Death By Misadventur...

"Two emcees: one from Chicago’s gritty East Side and the other, from Birmingham, UK. I became a fan of Chicago’s Vic Spencer around 2015, soon after his The Cost of Victory album dropped. I heard his unique voice, delivery, and wit and I knew this guy was special. In 2016, his album The Ghost of Living , produced by one of my all-time favorite producers, BIG GHOST, dropped and was Vic’s best album yet and one of my Top 5 favorite albums of 2016. I became a casual fan of the UK’s SonnyJim a few years ago, soon after his How to Tame Lions? (2014) album dropped, but it was his Mud In My Malbec album that made me a big fan of the emcee-producer and was also, one of my Top 5 favorite albums of 2016. Now, two years later, the two artists—who both put out two of the best albums of 2016—decided to collaborate on an album titled Spencer FOR HIGHER, based off a Mystery TV series from the 1980's called Spenser: For Hire. Maybe it was fate that these two talented artists separated by th...

"Nice Rhymes. Leather Bull Mask," is how Torito fittingly describes his musical approach within his Facebook About Me section; a full-time baker by day and masked emcee by night, Torito harnesses the ferocity of "a bull in a china shop." His latest single, "Glowing Clothes" is the third teaser from his upcoming self-produced album, Fabric Scraps , which will likely be released on rapper-producer Darko The Super 's label imprint, U DONT DESERVE THIS BEAUTIFUL ART , at the top of 2018. "The beat is a little sample from "This Is Sally Hatchet" by Father John Misty , plus, me playing guitar and keys. It starts with a news [report] of a wild story about a bull that escaped from a Philadelphia slaughterhouse," Torito wrote via email, describing "Glowing Clothes." His frequent collaborator and Philly -based producer Johann Sebastian helped "beef up the drums a bit and offered some production guidance" and is...

@SharpCheddar856: Hey what's up, M Slago? How's it going? How did get involved with Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman's latest TRIPLE FAT LICE EP, man? I know you produced Sandman's All That I Hold Dear a few years back (phenomenal record, might I add!) @m_slago: Let me get to a laptop and I'll start answering questions to avoid (some) typos lol. SC: No worries, man! I'm gonna go jump in the shower, but I'll be back momentarily... just send whatever you think may be interesting and useful. Thanks! m_s: Much thanks on the [All That I Hold Dear] props. Homeboy Sandman and I met back in '09 and have been doing joints together, since The Good Sun . When Aesop Rock & Boy Sand were touring during the first Lice release, I met Aesop for the first time, here in Dallas, at their show. We talked lightly about future work and other things... and "Panacea" is the result. SC: Oh OK, nice! So, you're one of Homeboy Sandman's initial pr...

Triple Fat Lice by Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman Triple Fat Lice (Poem) By: Homeboy Sandman " Triple Fat Lice is similar to Die Hard with a Vengeance in that it is a part 3 that gets very busy. It's also like A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 3 [Dream Warriors] in that regard the dream warriors kicking Freddy ’s a$$ with all their special powers. Triple Fat Lice is not at all like Halloween III [Season of The Witch] that didn't even have Michael Myers in it and was about roaches or something I don’t even really know. It might have been a great Horror movie, in it's own right, but I was so appalled Michael Myers wasn't even in it. Triple Fat Lice is also nothing at all like Beverly Hills Cop III which to me was almost like sacrilege but no disrespect that’s just my own personal opinion. Even though Back to The Future Part III and Terminator 3 [Rise of The Machines] are not as sensational as Triple Fat Lice (something they share in common with ...

"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 ,...

" The Unseen (A Detroit Beat Tape) explores the soul and roots of Detroit Hip-Hop production, mirroring the sketchpad-style format of a beat tape. Loosely acting as a prequel to the LA -based All Ears documentary, The Unseen provides rare insights into a scene that has remained distant from the public eye, while giving birth to some of the culture's richest and most influential sounds. The film [provides a] glimpse [into] the hidden and elusive characteristics inherent in a city often depicted in a one-dimensional light." The Unseen (A Detroit Beat Tape) is just as it says, a beat tape-stylized documentary directed and edited by Gus Sutherland with a companion Detroit -centric soundtrack composed and arranged by Ta'Raach and produced by his label collective, LOVETURL along with Passerby . " Ta'Raach is a multi-faceted artist, producer, rapper, painter, and more—originally hailing from Detroit, MI and currently based in Pomona, CA ," according ...

Not since Interpol frontman Paul Banks unleashed his semi-awkward Everybody On My D*ck Like They Supposed to Be have I heard a more un- Hip-Hop sounding mixtape; But with that said, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. uploaded their long-rumored PRODUCE (Vol. 1) mixtape mid-Wednesday afternoon. It's an oddly endearing juxtaposition of Weezer -indebted Indie Rock and Underground Hip-Hop with a little help from their friends, Asher Roth , Murs, Chuck Inglish , 112 crooner Slim, King Chip , Quelle Chris, and more. While it's actually a pretty legit-sounding Hip-Hop affair, there are still in fact flavors of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. 's deeply-ingrained Pop tendencies subtly inter-woven through out PRODUCE : a light-hearted Beach Boys/Biggie mash-up, a cover of Nina Simone covering Randy Newman , and even decades-old interpolated P aul Simon lyrics. The 16-track mixtape is flanked by two album tracks remixed by Absofacto and Jon Zott (Goldenboyz), brother of co-frontman Daniel ...