The Witzard

"Before, I used to make records when I made music... then, I decided to make culture. And as I got older, I decided I'm going to make fashion. Ladies and gentlemen, listen and watch some fashion," rapper-producer and mogul Sean Combs aka Puff Daddy preached to an audience full of industry insiders, rappers, producers, record execs, and socialites Tuesday night at an impromptu listening party. The matter at hand: Puffy 's first project since Last Train to Paris (2010), MMM – short for Money Makin' Mitch , a self-described "sonic motion picture." Puff Daddy & The Family 's long-rumored proper return-to-form, MMM appears to be a precursor to Combs' apparent final album, No Way Out II . Diddy 's initial hustler's ambition-leaning concept behind MMM was first brainstormed during an evening of " Netflix and Ciroc & lemonade," in which he and his lady finally got around to watching Dame Dash 's cult classic Shakesp...

"Once in a while, a pop songwriter is not a songwriter, but a discoverer – some kind of celestial [archaeologist], uncovering the bones of songs that already exist somewhere, perfectly. D.A. exhibits such exploration here, his discoveries beautifully intact in their sparest, most potent forms. Some daringly plain wizardry," Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes frontman Alex Ebert said in high praise of close friend D.A. Wallach's long-awaited Harvest Records debut, Time Machine . Along with former Chester French partner-in-crime Max Drummey, Wallach was initially discovered by Hip-Hop heavyweights Kanye West and Pharrell, while he was studying as an undergrad at Harvard. Chester French released three full-length albums during their brief tenure together and somehow, managed to ignite a three-way bidding war between Kanye, Pharrell, and Jermaine Dupri with their infectious debut single, "She Loves Everybody." On the heels of Chester French's final album, ...

Editor's Note: I'm very proud to announce that I finally decided to purchase "thewitzard.com" last night. While the new site is currently under construction, thewitzard.blogspot.com and thewitzard.com are essentially one in the same. So, in a certain respect, this is my "inaugural" Action Bronson post ha... But make no mistake, Bronson is hands down one of my favourite rising emcees and Blue Chips (March 2012) is quite easily his most readily accessible project. "Practice" is the latest leak from his upcoming Blue Chips 2 mixtape with buddy Party Supplies , which is set to hit The Internet this upcoming Friday, November 1st. "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE FRANCHISE PLAYER, AND WE TALKIN' BOUT PRACTICE!?" beckons the voice of former Sixers all-star Allen Iverson (circa 2002) during the track's intro; and then, before you know it, "Practice" effortlessly morphs into a horn-laden Smooth Jazz in-debited BANGER! ...

It's pretty damn awesome that Kanye & Joaquin Phoenix even hang out, let alone co-produced a track for Pusha T together; "King Push" is most likely culled from Phoenix's I'm Still Here era (2009-10), when he may or may not have quit acting to become a Hip-Hop producer/rapper. Pusha T previously lamented to Pitchfork back in August, "as soon as I heard it, I was like, 'Listen. I hope you're not playing this for me just to show me how good this beat is [Kanye] !'" It's a surprisingly Boom-Bap -rooted, Clipse -ready rattling beat, which it seems is now being pushed slightly ahead of My Name Is My Name 's previous semi-questionable Chris Brown -featuring "Sweet Salvation" single. Taking some much needed time off from Kanye 's recent "I Don't Like" ranting spree(s), G.O.O.D. Music & DONDA unleashed "King Push'" companion music video mid-Friday afternoon. Directed by Nathanie...

It seems like Miley Cyrus has somehow become some sort of weird Ellen DeGeneres or Justin Bieber -like punchline-inducing phenomenon for 4 out of 5 of your favourite rappers; Recently referenced by everyone from Jay Z to Rick Ross , who eloquently rapped, "I got a bad bitch in my Chevy / Selling Miley Cyrus in my brand new Monte Carlo ..." on Meek Mill 's recent Dreams & Nightmares track, "Believe It." All of this likely originated from Cyrus' own generally off-the-wall BONKERS Hip-Hop -infused "We Can't Stop" video-single. G.O.O.D. Music emcee Big Sean kinda took it to a whole 'nother level Friday upon unleashing his latest Hall of Fame single, "Fire." Leading up to the album's August 27th release date, Sean has leaked 3 additional teaser singles: "Guap," "Switch Up" [-feat. Common ], and "Beware" with Lil' Wayne & Jhené Aiko . DONDA director Matthew Williams mor...

Once you're able to get past the semi-absurd notion that Jay-Z decided to employ former- N'sync er Justin Timberlake to re-sing some Nirvana lyrics, "And we all just / entertainers / and we're stupid / and contagious," "Holy Grail" is actually a pretty awesome album opener/lead single contender. While Jay-Z & Beyoncé were spotted at a Grizzly Bear show pre- Blueprint 3 and Empire of The Sun frontman Luke Steele actually sang back-up vocals on that very album, it seems as though Beyoncé 's 27-year-old Indie Rock -loving little sister Solange really has quite the influence on Jay-Z 's varied musical tastes; Not only does Magna Carta Holy Grail (MCHG) feature interpolated Nirvana & R.E.M. lyrics, but it also makes use of M.I.A. and Alternative Hip-Hop weirdo Gonjasufi samples, "Bad Girls" and "Nikels and Dimes" respectively. Thanks to Samsung Galaxies , MCHG has already "sold" 1 million+ cop...

It's about damn time that Jerry Seinfeld (AKA "Jerry Seinfeld" of Seinfeld fame) linked up with DC emcee and self-proclaimed super-fan Wale , who's already released 2 Seinfeld -themed projects, The Mixtape About Nothing and More About Nothing (2008-10). Propelled by Mrs. Seinfeld 's love for Hip-Hop , the comedian-rapper team are supposedly working on a full-length collaboration that's been ingeniously dubbed, "The Album About Nothing." While that one's presumably still in-the-works, Wale 's new Rick Rubin/Maybach Music Group -backed album, The Gifted , is in stores today, June 25th; some footage culled from the recording sessions for it's closing track, "Outro About Nothing," leaked mid-Monday afternoon. Filmed in stark black-and-white, it's essentially just an average conversation between Wale & Jerry Seinfeld recorded between takes, which employs Seinfeld's dry sense of humor. The Gifted houses a wide a...

Let's face it, there's a certain breed of Pop -injected Hip-Hop that's mainly meant for spoiled-rotten suburban white girls, slutty socialites, college co-eds with "daddy issues," etc. We'll just call it "Hip-Pop," for lack of a better term... Not to say that it can't be mildly good/catchy from time to time, but you're not gonna get the street grit of Wu-Tang or social commentary along the lines of Common . Anyways, when it comes to radio-friendly Hip-Pop , I'd say Macklemore & 2 Chainz are quite arguably 2 of the sub-genre's BIGGEST Internet -certified super-stars; each releasing 2 of 2012-13's more popular mainstream Hip-Hop albums, The Heist and Based On a T.R.U. Story , respectively. So, it makes complete and total sense that Boston -based Hip-Pop producer, Clinton Sparks enlisted the 2 rising emcees to appear together on a track for his upcoming album, "Disco Ball & Chain" (Def Jam). Sparks then ...

Released just a few mere hours after "Open Letter" [below] and Tweeted along with a Kanye -fied message, "Our family HOV brought that real Hip-Hop shit this morning, so me and Pusha T wanna keep that feeling going." G.O.O.D. Music approved, Kanye/Don Cannon co-produced, and DONDA -commissioned artwork... "Numbers on The Boards" pulls a Jay-Z vocal sample from "Intro/A Million & One Questions/Rhyme No More" (1997). I'm pretty white and I still caught the whole "Ballers, I put numbers on the boards" basketball reference utilized on the track's hook. "Numbers on The Boards" is Pusha T 's first major release since his critically-acclaimed Wrath of Caine mixtape @ the top of the year; It might re-appear on My Name Is My Name , his long-rumored solo debut, which should be out sometime this upcoming May. Not unlike "Open Letter," from a sonic perspective, "Numbers on The Boards" ...

Anyone remember around like 200-05 when Paris Hilton somehow managed to coin the phrase, "That's HOT!" (loosely meaning crazy, sexy, cool)? Well, I feel like that's kinda how MTV ranks their equally ridiculous annual Hottest MC's list, cause Hip-Hop 's such a hard thing to quantize/generalize; It's more about sheer passion, love/loss, money, girls, heartbreak, shared experience(s), etc. While MTV has yet to reveal a finalized list, here's their partial rankings: Meek Mill , Future, A$AP Rocky , Kanye, Big Sean , Drake, Nas , and Rick Ross (#10-3). Kanye soon called into Hot 97 , basically lampooning MTV VJ Sway and the network's rapper-ranking process, "I mean, I gave Sway his first TV, man... I was living in Newark [NJ] doing beats for Jay-Z and Beans and all them, and I was getting a new TV and I gave Sway his first TV. I didn't really wanna like even call to talk about the [Hottest MC's] list. I just wanna tell every...

Pusha T is 1/2 of Clipse , which was basically 2 drug fiends-turned-rappers poetically bragging about their assorted exploits over The Neptunes' glitched out production work. Malice changed his name to No Malice last year, found religion, published a book called "Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind & Naked," and decided to peruse a solo career... Right around the same time that his brother, Pusha T inked a deal with G.O.O.D. Music (2010-11). Under Kanye 's frantic direction, he soon released Fear of God [mixtape] and it's re-packaged companion EP, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray . I must admit, while I had a Neptunes phase and really got into Hell Hath No Fury/Til The Casket Drops , I haven't delved too far into Pusha T 's solo material. He's also been featured prominently on Kanye's recent projects, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and label comp. Cruel Summer (2012). Serving as an audio palate cleanser/teaser for his upcoming d...

Actor-turned-musician Jamie Foxx described a track he recently produced during a Django Unchained/Success Secrets interview as "more or less, an Ennio Morricore Spaghetti Western theme, except with Rick Ross rapping on it." Tom Breihan's article was published in Men's Health last month and now the track in question, "100 Black Coffins," was finally released to the masses late Friday afternoon. It's a pretty interesting juxtaposition overall because for a good chunk of his bars, Ross raps from the perspective of Foxx's character - Django , a la ODB 's CLASSIC delivery on "Ghetto Superstar;" Django Unchained follows the story of a freed slave who ends up morphing into a ruthless bounty hunter @ the hand of Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and seeks out revenge and his long-lost love, Broomhilda. Quentin Tarantino additionally cast Leonardo DiCaprio , Samuel L. Jackson, Jonah Hill , Kerry Washington, and Don Johnson [Miam...

Action Bronson is kinda like the weirdly AWESOME love-child of Beastie Boys, Ghostface Killah , and Rick Ross . The Albanian-American rapper hails from Flushing, Queens and cut his teeth as a Top Chef before converting over to rhymin' roughly 2 years ago. In a true testament to his sheer prolific brilliance, Bronson has linked up with one sole producer @ a time for each project: Dr. Lecter/Tommy Mas , Well-Done/Statik Selektah, and Blue Chips/Party Supplies - Plus Mr. Wonderful, Saab Stories , "Blue Chips 2," and his VICE Records debut are ALL expected to materialize fairly soon, too. Action Bronson has already had a chance to work with everyone from Asher Roth to Wu-Tang Clan and was the undoubted MVP of Meyhem Lauren 's hotel suite-recorded mixtape, Respect The Fly Shit . Bronson inked a deal with Warner Bros. back in mid-August and it seems like he has their full support to "spread his wings" a little bit on Rare Chandeliers , which was releas...

It's been one Hell of a year for the re-emergence of posse cut-wielding albums; First off, Rick Ross assembled "Maybach Music Group" for Self Made #1-2 , then Kanye 's House of G.O.O.D. Music produced Cruel Summer , and A$AP Rocky even manged to release Lords Never Worry with his A$AP Mob comrades. While it's still unclear if LONGLIVEA$AP will see a rumored Halloween [Oct. 31st] release or not, "Fuckin' Problems" seems like a pretty solid ramp-up single. Most likely recorded during A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar 's stint on Drake 's recent Club Paradise Tour (2011-12) ... "Fuckin' Problems" also features 2 Chainz on a [thankfully] brief, simple hook. October's Very Own (OVO) in-house producer, Noah "40" Shebib provided the track's central beat, which Andy Bustard went on to quite accurately describe as a "minimalistic, yet no less THUMPING soundbed!" I guess only time will tell if...

During the height of his mid-90's heyday, Fiend chalked up studio time with both No Limit Records (Master P) and Ruff Ryders Ent. (DMX) . But the man AKA Ricky "International" Jones now calls Curren$y 's micro-label, Jet Life Recordings homebase. I was first turned onto Fiend about a year or 2 ago with Tom Breihan 's Stereogum entrance post; Breihan's future posts would chronicle Fiend 's cleverly-executed sample flips of The Specials and Washed Out originals. While Fiend somehow managed to record and release roughly 6 mixtapes between 2011-12, he's remained un-characteristically silent throughout the latter 1/2 of this year. "Wonderful" was quietly released Tuesday afternoon and features a Funky RJ2 beat and a guest verse from Jet Life labelhead, Curren$y . I'm not really sure where this one'll eventually end up, but let's hope that a Fiend/Jet Life mixtape materializes "sooner than later!"

"The Ritual" is the latest released track from mysterious and already infamous rapper, Captain Murphy , who's true identity is still largely unknown - Even with 3 pretty STELLAR tracks nestled under his belt this early! Murphy first appeared with a brief verse on Flying Lotus' second Adult Swim single, "Between Friends;" Since it's July 23rd release, Captain Murphy 's identity has quickly become quite the "hot topic" across Hip-Hop ... He may or may not be a cleverly-crafted alter ego of either Flying Lotus , Earl Sweatshirt , or Tyler, The Creator . This whole mystery ego thing really reminds me of Quasimoto, King Geedorah , and even Humpty Hump [1990]. While "The Ritual" actually swiped it's primary beat from "Dear Moleskine" (Jay Electronica) , his other 2 tracks: "Mighty Morphin' Foreskin" and "Between Friends" seem to be [mostly] original compositions. iTunes' Info section s...

In a crazy cyber-world where "Underground Hip-Hop" is widely accepted across so many Indie music blogs, suburban areas, and rich Hipster kids... I guess, this was really only inevitable with time; Last night @ a FADER/Vitamin Water -funded party in Portland , 2 Indie blog darlings, Kendrick Lamar & Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast) , took the stare together for the first time. They performed a slightly re-tweaked version of "No Make-Up (Her Vice)" with Cosentino subbed in for Colin Munroe on the hook. The understandably surprised Portland biker crowd went NUTS! - Singing along and cheering wildly @ the track's close. "uncapped" is a concert series that heads across college campuses, putting on tandem shows that pair up unlikely acts anywhere from Rick Ross to Passion Pit . "No Make-Up (Her Vice)" originally appeared on Kendrick Lamar 's album-length drug-themed concept mixtape, #Section.80 . He's currently hard @ work on...

In my eyes, John Mayer is pretty much a d*ck, who's last memorable body of work was Try! (2005). Man, I lost a lot of respect for him after that slur-laden Playboy interview detailing his supposed "escapades" with Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston , black women, etc. Plus everything post- John Mayer Trio has been under-whelmingly lackluster and honestly, that's pretty damn sad for such a talented guitar player. But I digress... John Mayer has partially redeemed himself with this recently unveiled cover of "Video Games." Here, Mayer can be heard re-constructing a riff-heavy interpretation of Lana del Rey 's break-out hit. I guess John Mayer lost his voice [twice] and had to cancel some tour dates - Instant Karma! I, personally WILL NOT be picking up a copy of his new album, Born & Raised when it's released this upcoming May 22nd . "Video Games" however, appears on Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die , which is now...

Bon Iver head honcho, Justin Vernon has somehow managed to become quite the "enigma" in the world of Popular music over the past couple years: An independent, New Age Folk artist who's been able to bridge the gap between Indie Rock and Hip-Hop _ commercial obscurity and "mainstream success." On the heels of his feverishly-awaited 2011 "comeback" album - Bon Iver, Bon Iver , Vernon laid down some studio time in Hawaii with Kanye & Friends (Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, John Legend) , which eventually ended up on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . Following generally wide-spread fan and critical acclaim alike, Bon Iver, Bon Iver was nominated for a set of 4 Grammy awards near the close of 2011. Shortly after the announcement, a slightly dated and previously unpublished Justin Vernon interview (The New Yorker) was issued; Included within it's pages were a handful of not-so kind words for the people behind The Grammy's . Vernon w...

Hip-Hop "Beef" is essentially a long-forgotten art form/promotional exercise. Infamous beefs of the per-Internet Golden Boom-Bap Era (1980-90's) include: 2pac-Biggie , Nas-Jay-Z , "The Bridge Wars," LL Cool J-Kool Moe Dee , and "The Roxanne Saga." A carefully designed marketing tool, beef is usually kick-started when one rapper does/says something that the other doesn't exactly agree with. Beefs are usually all in good fun and most times, end in a truce... One exception however, is the tragic deaths of former friends, 2pac & Biggie . Recent Internet -based beefs have included: Kanye-50 Cent , Nicki Minaj-Lil Kim , [The] Game -everyone, Eminem-Canibus (Mariah Carey) . In what may very well be the first size-able Hip-Hop beef of 2012, Common released a diss track aimed @ Drake just yesterday afternoon. Common-Drake 's feud stems back to Nov. 2011 when Common released "Sweet." The third single from The Dreamer/The Believer n...