The Witzard

Jazz-Funk pianist Herbie Hancock is quite arguably the Godfather of Hip-Hop ; his 1983 Electro-Funk composition "Rockit" is oftentimes cited as an early sonic blueprint for the then budding genre. I can still vividly remember the first time I heard Hancock's music, on an RS 500 [Greatest Songs of All Time] sampler CD around the age of 12-15. It was "Watermelon Man" from his sprawling four-track Head Hunters album (1973) assisted by back-up The Headhunters ; more or less a progressive and slowly deconstructing re-make of Herbie Hancock 's own 1962 composition, which was originally inspired by "the cry of the watermelon man making the rounds through the back streets and alleys of Chicago . The wheels of his wagon beat out the rhythm on the cobble stones." President Obama & The First Lady amongst DC 's finest inducted Herbie Hancock , Martina Arroyo, Billy Joel , Shirley MacLaine, and Carlos Santana at the 36th annual Kennedy Center ...

Snoop Dogg [or Snoop Lion ] has somehow become such an instantly recognizable public figure, that even my 80-something-year-old grandparents are familiar with him. Long before his Reggae-Rap rebirth or Wiz Khalifia -assisted film soundtrack, Snoop Doggy Dogg was one of the earliest pioneers of 1980-90's West Coast "G-Funk;" It's essentially, a long-forgotten trunk-rattling Parliment-Funkadelic -sampling sub-genre of Hip-Hop that was largely produced by either Dr. Dre , Too $hort, or DJ Quik . After a few months of vague social media rumblings, Stones Throw revealed that Snoop Dogg secretly teamed up with Pasadena mega-producer and Funk revivalist Dâm-Funk to recorded an album under the group name 7 Days of Funk . It's kinda mind-boggling that NO ONE has already used that as a nom de plume [title] for something until now!? Stones Throw quietly uploaded "Faden Away" along with the semi-cryptic Facebook message: "NEW MUSIC: Two of ou...

Diplo has been a very busy man lately; a full-length with Snoop Lion , that new Major Lazer record, produced a track for Mac Miller , formed an audio-video channel with Skrillex & A-Trak , etc. Sometimes it's pretty easy to forget that Thomas Wesley "Diplo" Pentz is a former Philly teacher who just so happened to single-handedly pioneer Hip-Hop/Dancehall/Moombahton/Dubstep . Fully employing his Major Lazer alter-ego, Diplo 's latest creation is a remix of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' recent mega-hit single, "Can't Hold Us." Diplo then recruited 1st Klase to re-work to Hip-Pop beat into an Island riddim, which Trinidad -based rapper Swappi 4D proceeds to lyrically shred to pieces! Essentially, all that remains from the original are that Microsoft Outlook piano lick and Ray Dalton 's smooth "Can we go back, this is the moment. Tonight is the night" central hook. Macklemore 's verses seem a little haphazardly sprea...

Jah artist formerly know as Snoop Dogg has finally decided to unveil that he has plans to release a Reggae record, sometime within the next few months. Diplo & "Snoop Lion" somehow managed to record a batch of 18 tracks for the long-rumored album, which has now been dubbed Reincarnated , over @ Major Lazer's TOP SECRET Jamaican headquarters/studio. Ariel Rechtshaid also assisted in producing the first single, "La La La," which dually showcases a pretty solid Roots Rock Reggae sound and Jovi Rockwell on backing vocals. It's all actually built around a simple Ken Boothe riddim [sample] that Diplo pulled from "Artibella;" Mad Decent and Vice Records plan to co-release Snoop Lion 's album in a few months' time. Below the break is a nifty little quote from Diplo (MTV) about recording with Snoop... along with Snoop Dogg / Diplo & Kid Cudi 's previous Weed Rap -tinged collaborative track, "That Tree" (2010). ...