The Witzard

CREDIT: Shades of Blue Prints (@fcarteron) Honestly, it doesn't even feel like there's a proper way to elegize an eccentric and extremely talented artist such as MF DOOM, who meant so much to so many of us for so many years for so many different reasons as truly unique as DOOM himself. So, what better way to pay tribute to The Man, The Myth, THE MASK himself than by speaking to those closest to him? With a heavy heart, I proudly present Shadows of Tomorrow; a new recurring column in tribute to DOOM in an effort to re-tell the tall tales, strange stories, and lesser-known tidbits of The Metal Face Villain himself. R.I.P. Daniel "MF DOOM" Dumile Thompson. "MADVILLAINY is one of our favorite albums and we've been fans of Madlib & MF DOOM for ages. We, normally, don't see musicians covering Madlib & DOOM stuff as much as the [J] Dilla catalogue, so we thought we would try it out [...] His rhythm was super-inspiring and not a lot of other rappers i...

"The new Wu-Tang EP is kind of boring. So, in response, I made my own "Wu-Tang EP" with all of their collabs/remixes with Madlib, who has surpassed RZA ten-fold: Wu-Tang Clan x Madlib - The Wu Digger ... Madlib is what you get, if RZA just keep sitting in a room full of records from '95 until today. "And Madlib is who RZA would have been, if he could just learn instruments when he felt like it," Small Professor (@smallpro)... On some real sh*t, Madlib's remix of "Black Boy" by [Cappadonna] is better than almost any [Wu-Tang Clan] track this decade by any Wu member. These guys have access to any producer on the planet and act like Madlib or Alchemist don't exist." - Zilla Rocca (@ZillaRocca) Wu-Tang Clan & Madlib - The Wu Digger Playlist/EP (Tracklist) 01. Cappadonna - "Black Boy" (Madlib Remix) from Madlib Medicine Show #12: Raw Medicine [2011] 02. Method Man - "Uh Huh" (Madlib Remix) from MIND FUSION ...

Flaunt Edwards is a long-standing alias of J.Rocc The Funky President . Jason "J.Rocc" Jackson has, over the years, become one of the most world-renown and sought-after Hip-Hop DJ's, turntablists, and producers. One of the founding members of The Beat Junkies , J.Rocc has spent time either playing with or recording alongside artists such as Axel F. with M.E.D. Bumrush Bros. D-Styles Sextet , DJ Spinna, Dirty Fingered B-Boys , J Dilla, Jurassic 5 , Madlib, and PSK , as well as being the honorary "third member" of Jaylib . The Witzard , actually, has a very special relationship with J.Rocc , as I've been patiently waiting to hear Jay 's long-rumored J Dilla & Michael Jackson mash-up/blend album, SHARE MY BED , for about 10 years now. Although, miraculously, earlier this year, J.Rocc surprise released an 8-track version of SHARE MY BED on his Bandcamp page; along with it, was this quote, seemingly, paraphrased from Dilla himself: " J D...

"Hailing from Akasha, Los Angeles, California , the label , focusing on physical limited releases, got it start back in 2015. From Hip-Hop to R&B and now, House . There's a bit of everything for everyone here. The likes of Mndsgn , The Koreatown Oddity (Vivians,) Joyce Wrice , Nanna B, and B. Cool-Aid , to name a few, have contributed releases on this label. There's a sense of a DIY execution here; the sounds and cover art of the releases show it, but don't let that fool you. Nothing subpar here. Now, on their thirteenth release, at the time of this writing. Be sure to follow this eclectic label, for which they never disappoint." - Jerry Z. (@niceguyjerry) convalescence pt 2 by guerrer@ guerrer@ (@wristgameonchalant) is a Brooklyn -based Experimental artist and producer, who was formerly known as Cloud. or CLOUD. BEATS. Cloud. self-released an assortment of nine projects between 2008-12 and how now signed with Akashik Records & Tapes ; a label ...

Bar for bar, Homeboy Sandman is easily, one of the most talented and somehow still, criminally under-rated emcees in all of Hip-Hop ! I've personally been a Sandman fan since his 2012 Stones Throw debut, First of a Living Breed and since, he's worked with the likes of Blu , Jonwayne, Paul White , Jake One, L'Orange , 2 Hungry Bros. RJD2 , Mono En Stereo FKA El RTNC, 88-Keys , and maybe, most notably, Aesop Rock ; between 2015-17, Aesop & Sand infested the masses with Lice , Lice 2: Still Buggin' and Triple Fat Lice to wide-spread critical and fan acclaim. While we're still waiting for a proper Lice full-length, Homeboy Sandman has teamed up with kindred spirit, Brooklyn -based DJ, producer, and emcee, Edan , for a brand spankin' new collaborative effort. Edan is arguably, one of the greatest and most eclectic artists in all of Hip-Hop and while he hasn't released a proper album since 2005's Beauty & The Beat , he's been moderately a...

Collection of Work by The Station Signal Steven "Unsung" Miller is a rapper, producer, and musician hailing from Morgantown, West Virginia/Pittsburgh . Since initially bursting onto the map in 2001, Unsung has self-released 21 projects of varying lengths on his Bandcamp page, as well as Mugwampers -championed Young Man (2016) on Already Dead Tapes & Records and mini-album Mount St. Helens just this past May on BearTooth Collective . However, Miller's latest project isn't exactly credited to "Unsung" and honestly, it isn't exactly "new" either; Collection of Work is attributed to The Station Signal AKA Brandt Dykstra & Steven Miller . Nearly 10 years ago, between 2006-08, Unsung & Brandt wrote, recorded, and produced almost 60 songs together, which were very recently re-discovered and painstakingly whittled down to a concise 9-track Collection of Work . Not only did Unsung recently uncover a plethora of Station Signal ...

First and foremost, shout-out to John Memorex at Beat Tape Co-Op for initially (unknowingly) peeping me to this fantastic audio-visual remix. Gorilla Glock AKA Gorilla Glockenstein AKA Calhoun AKA Mac Dough is a " French DJ, beat-maker, radio host, crate digger, and Hip-Hop activist," according to Discogs . He's also, the founder of Sergent Records , as well as a self-described "distributor, vinyl broker, and artist management" agent. While the details are still a bit fuzzy and likely, intentionally mysterious, Gorilla Glock has been releasing music since about 2012; first as Calhoun AKA Mac Dough and since roughly 2014, as Gorilla Glock exclusively. Gorilla Glock is a member of Saskwatch Iron with emcees Magnetic & Tofu , as well as Chat Noir , his crew with Odweeyne & Jeremie ILL . Sergent Records' latest release, Operation: Chat Noir - Mixed By - Gorilla Glock is a 32-track remix project compiled and released by Sergent Records i...

Last month, Stones Throw (@stonesthrow) mysteriously posted " @edanexists & @homeboysandman are working on some music together, which will debut at our SXSW showcase this Friday" on their Instagram page, which has since garnered 2,667+ Likes. As should be expect, for anyone interested in Indie/Underground Hip-Hop , a few of my writer friends and I went nuts on Rap Twitter . About for weeks have passed with no additional mention of Sandman & Edan 's rumored collaborative efforts from Stones Throw . Just this morning, on a whim, I decided to check Stones Throw 's home page and BAM! there it was: "Homeboy Sandman & Edan #NeverUseTheInternetAgain" —right there in the middle column of the front page. It seems as though no one (aside from RAW DRIVE ) had noticed or even checked Stones Throw 's site for the past 7 hours or so, this including myself! While on a roll about the downsides of The Internet , Sandman jokingly(?) rhymes: "Inter...

J Dilla + Michael Jackson = Share My Bed by J.Rocc It's safe to say, I've been patiently awaiting J.Rocc 's J Dilla & Michael Jackson -blending mash-up project ever since Stones Throw posted: " Share My Bed=M.J. & Dilla 1st track "Player Has Butterflies" ... wait 4 the rest" nearly 10 years ago back in November 2009. Over the years, a handful of tracks have been sporadically leaked out from the project—alternatively, referred to as "Dil Jackson" —but every year, as Dilla Month (February) comes and goes, I've always wondered, if we would ever hear the entirety of J.Rocc 's Share My Bed . Even this year, J Dilla 's birthday, Feb. 7th (same as my dad's!) passed, as well as Feb. 10th, the 12th anniversary of his passing, and still, no signs of J.Rocc 's anxiously-awaited Dil Jackson project. However, just a few days ago, on Valentine's Day , J.Rocc quietly dropped Share My Bed on his Bandcamp , without any pr...

"I have a She's So Rad EP I am working on, dreamy Shoegaze stuff. I have a Leonard Charles Modern Funk [album] with a Lo-Fi Disco tint full-length record that is nearly complete, a Basement Funk record that will feature Wildchild , Guilty Simpson, Declaime AKA Dudley Perkins , Team Dynamite, and Georgia Anne Muldrow , and then, I still have a few things up my sleeve... but I gotta stay focused on these records, for now. I am easily distracted by amazing music and stupid plans!" Jeremy Toy AKA Leonard Charles replied when asked what he had planned following Basement Donuts . Basement Donuts is, of course, Toy's 2016 album-length debut as alter-ego " Leonard Charles ;" a Basement/Modern Funk album recorded in his basement as a 31-track tribute to Stones Throw /Instrumental Hip-Hop pioneer, producer, and rapper James "J Dilla" Yancey . During the interview prep leading up to our November 2016 The Witzard interview, Leonard Charles casually ...

Matt Horowitz: Let's do a little Nardwuar-type intro... who are you?!!!??! Ben Boogz: Have you ever heard of my production duo, The 2 Hungry Bros? I'm Ben Boogz of The 2 Hungry Bros. MH: Yessir, I have! I'm actually talking with Deep about another project for my site. BB: From The Lower East Side (The L.E.S.) Manhattan NYC. MH: You guys have worked with Homeboy Sandman since day one, right? BB: Yes, that's correct. We have worked with Sand for some time. MH: What was the first project 2 Hungry Bros. worked on with Sandman? BB: He first was featured on our second compilation album called Table Manners (2008). Then, the first 2 tracks we did were the "iTunes Song" and the "2 Hungry Bros. Outro" on Actual Factual Pterodactyl (2008). Also, on The Good Sun (2010) we produced "The Essence " and "The Carpenter," the song that got him signed to Stones Throw. MH: Really!? And that very track, "The Carpenter," i...

@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...

Red Dillicious by Free Tillman "This project came together organically. I had just bought some new equipment and wasn't really comfortable with my drum sounds, so I decided to loop someone else's... and who has better drums than J Dilla ? I was looking for samples from my music collection and came across Fiona Apple 's Tidal ," beat-maker, writer, and social media personality Free (Lee) Tillman wrote within a recent email. "Throughout my life, I have been a recording engineer, a journalist, a rapper, a stand-up comedian, and a music video director. And I have had recognizable success in exactly zero of those things," Tillman writes within the Amazon description to his 2016 Kindle book, How to Fail at Everything: A Practical Guide for Coasting Through Life . On his Soundcloud page, Lee Tillman simply proclaims: "I make videos, I take pictures, I write Tweets , I write books," complete with links to his various platforms. Red Dillicious ...

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 ...

"Hello, I'm âtƒ (AKA all these fingers ) and I make beats and play music. There's a lot of dudes who have influenced me as a producer, but these are probably the ones I owe the most to... in particular, these records," Michigan -based producer all these fingers wrote within a recent email. I actually believe I met âtƒ through my buddy and frequent collaborator Darko The Super —they've collaborated on a few albums, as both Darko The Super & all these fingers and Doc Fingers . âtƒ has self-released a whopping 52 albums, mixtapes, cassettes, EP's, beat tapes, and digi-singles on his personal Bandcamp page since 2011. He's collaborated with the likes of Darko The Super , Mr. Muthaf**kin' eXquire, and Future Islands frontman Sam Herring 's rapping alter-ego Hemlock Ernst , as well as creating remixes for Roc Marciano , Sean Price, Beastie Boys , Nas, Raekwon , Biggie, and Slick Rick . all these fingers' latest Super Mario Kart -inspire...

"Around the beginning of 2016, Ernest [Greene AKA Washed Out ] and his management got in touch and sent me a handful of songs to listen to from his forthcoming album, Mister Mellow with the intention of me choosing one to make a video for. I'd really enjoyed his previous albums, so I was definitely into the idea of working on something for him. A bit of time passed and in that time, Ernest decided he wanted me to work on a particular track which turned out to be "Time Off." That was cool with me, as I really loved the laid-back vibe and the YouTube sample of a kid letting the world know that you need to take time off now and again... and sometimes, that involves smoking a huge joint. Ernest gave me a little direction, starting with what work he liked of mine and what kinda vibe he felt the video needed. In fact, he [was] quite specific about the importance of slowing down the pace, as the previous song was quite lively and the one after, too was pretty upbea...

Quills by Vans_Westly I was attending a wedding reception here in South Jersey at The Little Red Schoolhouse this past weekend with my fiancé, when I received a Tweet from @DrewciferScott tagging me in a previous Tweet from @Vans_Westly , which simply read: "Yo, I really want someone to review Quills ." Westly was of course, referring to his latest Quills EP , which was completed and released just in time for his Quills Release Party this past Saturday, June 24th at Baltimore 's The Windup Space with "special guests" Height Keech, Drew Scott, Raymond Strife , and Lt. Headtrip —nearly all of whom I've previously worked with and covered here at The Witzard . Drew Scott , who produced "Spring Sh*t" on Quills , road tested a few new tunes from his upcoming "weirdo Psych-Pop EP," which soon after The Windup Space show, he said "felt real sexy and pathetic;" in addition to Vans_Westly 's Quills EP , Scott also released ...

" Six Rocks is the first full-length from long-time collaborators GB and Yeofi (Gifted & Blessed // A Race of Angels,) known collectively as The Steoples ; with solo careers working across genres, this album stands as a statement and homecoming for the duo," read a brief, yet rather telling description attached to a recent TICKETFLY page for The Stoples' Saturday, May 13th show at Zebulon in LA . Stones Throw 's latest signee, The Steoples —consisting of singer-producer Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker and assumed multi-instrumentalist Yeofi Andoh —played their premier show along with label head and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf , DJ Rani de Leon, and DJ Sonny Abegaze . The Steoples' musical stylings have been previously described as " Electronic , Deep House, Downtempo , and Electro" by Discogs and tagged as " electronic , experimental & post-avant garde, healing & meditation , techno-indigenous studies, and los angeles " on GIFTED ...