The Witzard

Biz Markie rendering on cardboard - CREDIT: Andrew "Andy" Katz (@ajkatzart) 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 eve...

Since the start of Nation-wide self-quarantines about a month ago, Bronx, New York producer and multi-instrumentalist Ray West has been steadily recording and self-releasing projects on his imprint, RED APPLES 45 . For Week #1, RED APPLES treated terribly unsuspecting fans/onlookers to West's WALTER PPK EP , an Instrumental Hip-Hop split with fellow producer Giallo Point . A week later, saw the release of STRESS RELIEF , which features Dynamix emcee Junclassic alongside Ray West across a Name-Your-Price 5-track EP. Week #3 marked the surprise-release of Ray West & Eloh Kush 's IMPETUS EP featuring guest emcees Glorious , John Robinson, ID4Windz , and Jahbaton. We've been playing close attention and intently listening to April's RED APPLES 45 releases... although, we have to admit, Week #4's teased drop definitely intrigued us the most: this past Friday, April 16, 2020, saw the release of West's Rowhouse Whispers . For this latest release, Ray West re...

Lunar Beautific by Variations Of Light " Variations of Light . My new group and album with Alnitak Kid & Nate88 . Lunar Beautific drops April 19. 3 releases in 4 months. No slowing up here..." Nelson Dialect (@Dialect.Official) wrote within a Facebook post earlier this month. I believe, the "3 releases in 4 months" Nelson is talking about are, in fact: Nelson Dialect + Architech 's Opera House released on Galant Records , So.Crates / Alnitak Kid / Nelson Dialect's Sunset Cities on Bedroom Suck Records, and, of course, Variations of Light 's Lunar Beautific released a matter of days ago on Bleu Avian Records . Trusty readers of The Witzard will, likely, recognize Nelson Dialect 's name from his eppearances on "Beyond The 10th," "In The Pocket," and "Hold It Down" on Side B of Ray West & The Soul Misfits self-titled "one-off" cassette for Red Apples 45/FatBeats . Alnitak Kid, Nelson Dialect ...

"I first met Zilla, barely out of college, downing bottles of malt liquor and idiotically, drunkenly throwing them into darkened stairwells at his old Catholic high school in South Philly. He was aligned his former crew then, one half of a Rap group called Clean Guns , attempting to start a fledgling label in an underground climate that seemed inhospitable and rebarbative to anyone trying to figure out what Boom-Bap would sound like 20 years in the future. Zilla could always rap and produce, but he hadn't found a voice or character that allowed him to channel what eventually reached its (27-inch) zenith on Future Former Rapper—believe it! Starting with the 5 O'Clock Shadowboxers project, he's refined an aesthetic akin to Raymond Chandler raised on Raekwon, splitting the difference between James Ellroy and Guru sneering at rivals that they're paranoid because they're sons like Elroy. One of the reasons why I started POW was to offer a wayward station for the ...

Hip-Hop super-producer and Red Apples 45 co-founder, along with A.G. of Diggin' In The Crates (D.I.T.C.) Ray West (@RedApples45) recently formed a free-spirited, one-off project—cleverly dubbed "Ray West & The Soul Misfits"—with A.G. of D.I.T.C. AKA Andre The Giant, Dave Dar, L-Fudge, Nelson Dialect, Moonshine, Phil Moffa, John Robinson, and Jay Rivera. Ray West & The Soul Misfits' initial collaborative sessions were held at Butchasound Studio during "a born day gathering" for West's 40th birthday and later, curated, further detailed, and finalized at Red Apples 45's home studio in The Bronx. "We had the MPC3000, John Robinson's SP-404, Phil Moffas's illustrious set-up of vintage drum machines (TR-808/909,) and his various synths," Ray West told The Witzard, via email. "My good bro, Jay Rivera AKA Jay Sidious, came with his vintage guitars. We all just [collaborated on] production and concepts..." West charismat...

South Philly rapper-producer and one half of Career Crooks , Zilla Rocca has returned with his first proper solo release of 2018, "99 Triple 5 Soul Flow." Zilla is not only, part of Career Crooks with producer buddy Small Professor , but also, runs with his own crews, The Shadowboxers —formerly, The 5 O'Clock Shadow Boxers —and Wrecking Crew with fellow emcees Curly Castro & PremRock , along with Small Pro . Zilla Rocca additionally, runs his own Philly -based label, Three Dollar Pistol Music , is co-creator of @rapbooklets' Instagram , and fancies himself a " Noir-Hop originator and corrupt novelist." "99 Triple 5 Soul Flow" is of course, a reference to infamous 1990's Hip-Hop clothing brand Triple 5 Soul and is the sequel to last year's similarly-minded "98 Avirex Flow;" a stand-alone single with sonic ties to Zilla Rocca 's upcoming '96 Mentality , which was produced by Disco Vietnam AKA @SupernovaLox ...