The Witzard

"The wait is over, Return to The 37th Chamber is El Michels Affair's (EMA's) highly anticipated follow-up to 2009's underground cult classic Enter: The 37th Chamber . Churning out classic records since then for the likes of Lee Fields, The Arcs, Chicano Batman, The Shacks, and tons more, it is clear that EMA's signature sound is stronger & sharper than ever. El Michels Affair will release Return to The 37th Chamber on April 14th, via Big Crown Records. This time, in addition to re-interpreting the Wu compositions for a live band, EMA pays homage to the production and sonic fog that makes a RZA beat so recognizable. Producer and bandleader Leon Michels recorded the album completely analog, sometimes hitting six generations of tape before it was ready for mixing, giving the Return to The 37th Chamber it’s own hazy sound. Adding to the unique fidelity, the record is laced with Psychedelic flourishes, "John Carpenter" synths, Heavy Metal guitars, tri...

"I don't know how y'all see it, but when it comes to the children... Wu-Tang is for the children! We teach the children! You know what I mean? Puffy is good, but WU-TANG IS THE BEST!" sharp-tongued Shaolin prince Ol' Dirty Bastard (ODB) once proclaimed during an impromptu 1998 GRAMMY's acceptance "speech" during Shawn Colvin & John Leventhal 's "Sunny Came Home" Song of The Year win. It also appears that Wu-Tang is for aging 40-something suburban Hip-Hop heads that can still hang; as is the case with El Michels Affair 's forthcoming Jazz/Funk/Soul -tinged Wu-Tang Clan covers collection, Return to The 37th Chamber —otherwise known as the pseudo-follow-up to their critically-acclaimed Enter: The 37th Chamber (2009). El Michels Affair is fronted by multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, founder of newly-formed Big Crown Records , and former alumni of Soul Fire , Misty/Daptone Records , and now-defunct Truth & Soul , ...

Okinato Black by BLKrKRT " Okinato Black is a reference to Yasuke , or Sakanouye no [Tamuramaro] , the legendary African Shogun of early Japanese civilization. He was known to be the paragon of military virtues and regarded as one of the most distinguished Black warriors of antiquity, yet still, he is largely unknown. The project is a response to the resurgence of Chamber Rap beats, popularized by Wu-Tang [Clan] , the proliferation of Experimental Hip-Hop producers using the legendary Roland SP-404 , and my own fascination with the anime Samurai Champloo . The intention was to never limit the source or genre of samples, but through the usage, obtain a cohesion in sound," Texas -based Experimental Hip-Hop producer Phil Ford aka BLKrKRT (Blacker Karat) wrote within a recent emailed statement. Ford has fittingly self-described his unique sound as "Post-Dilla Hip-Hop Instrumental" and lists J Dilla , Madlib, KAN KICK , No I.D. Public Enemy , Prefuse 73, S1, a...

" SADEVILLAIN came about when I made two remixes back to back consisting of MF DOOM and Sade ( "Air" & "Silver Spoon" ). After posting it on the /r/MFDOOM subreddit, I got some pretty good feedback, and one user suggested I should make a full mixtape involving only MF DOOM and Sade , and I thought that was a great idea, so I laced some more samples with some of my production and went to work," mysterious 18-year-old British producer Sean Harrison aka Seanh2k11 wrote within an emailed conversation just two nights ago. Harrison quietly uploaded his 8-track SADEVILLAIN EP to DatPiff Monday afternoon with the intent to generate "maybe 1,000 views max," which quickly garnered critical acclaim from okayplayer , FACT, Highsnobiety , rapper Lupe Fiasco, and a number of additional online publications; in an attempt to distance and set myself apart from my peers, I reached out to Seanh2k11 via his YouTube channel in hopes to line up a SADE...

"We reached out to DOOM to see if he was interested in giving us a track, and were told that the DOOMSTARKS project was close to completion and there was a song we could have... we jumped on it! I mean, it's [Ghostface Killah] and DOOM rapping together. It's pretty much my rap nerd dreams coming true. I think they bring something out in each other that's very exciting for me as a rap listener," Adult Swim 's own glorified fan-boy Jason DeMarco recently gushed to Uproxx , concerning of course, the cartoon network's acquisition of DOOMSTARKS' unofficial return-to-form, "Lively Hood." While his official title may be Vice President/Creative Director of Adult Swim On-Air , DeMarco himself simply managed to distill his responsibilities down to "basically, if it's on Adult Swim and it's NOT a show, it's my group's responsibility to make;" this including, but not limited to promo campaigns, network ID's, anima...

While I thoroughly enjoy nearly any and all permutations of modern day Hip-Hop ... I usually manage to pay even closer attention to interesting, left-field culled samples. Chef Raekwon has always been one of the most consistent rappers around, a favourite of mine since the "36 Chambers" days. After a few minor set-backs, Raekwon finally liberated his latest mixtape, Unexpected Victory @ the brink of 2011-12. The 17-track collection's made up of cold, hard "Boom Bap" Hip-Hop beats produced by Scram Jones , 9th Wonder, The Olympicks, Statik Selektah , and many other rising beatsmiths. Unexpected Victory boasts featured appearances from the like of JD Era, C.L. Smooth , Mobb Deep, L.E.P. Bogus Boys, Busta Rhymes , Capone-N-Noreaga, Altrina Renee , and Styles P throughout. Easily one of the collection's stand-out tracks - "Chinese Marines" showcases Raekwon & Mobb Deep chopping it up over a Scram Jones -crafted beat, which come to find out...

the only one. by exile & blu Late last night ["early morning"] while many of us were sound asleep, Blu quietly posted a mysterious link to his Twitter handle, @HerFavColor . Turns out that very link lead zealous fans to Blu & Exile 's long-awaited, mildly forgotten follow-up to Below The Heavens (2007). give me my flowers while i can smell them was written and recorded soon thereafter, only to be hastily abandoned upon partial completion in 2009 for reasons unknown. With that said, "flowers" is a raw, un-mixed/mastered 15-track album, but since this seems to be a common practice for the man simply known as Blu ... fans should expect to see a proper, fully mixed down version of the album up for wholesale within the next few months. Nature Sounds recently re-issued 2 [rough] Blu albums from 2009 in this very fashion: Open and HerFavoriteColo(u)r . While Blu & Exile have been relatively silent since 2007, they've been far from musically in-...

Amy Winehouse was not unlike the late-great Ol' Dirty Bastard : Wildly talented, mildly deranged - A genuinely tortured soul. Winehouse's last known batch of proper recordings was recently collected and released as Lioness: Hidden Treasures . The Jolly Boys consists of 3 laid-back 70-something gentlemen: Albert Minott, Derrick "Johnny" Henry , and Joseph "Powder" Bennett . Utilizing sparse instrumentation -- acoustic guitar, 'rumba box [bass sub.] and maracas -- The Jolly Boys create a distinct brand of "Mento" music... a centuries-old style of Jamaican Folk not generally known outside of the island region. Legend has it that The Jolly Boys' up-beat riddims were the soundtrack to many of [actor] Errol Flynn 's infamous "never-ending" yacht parties. "Powder" & "Johnny" were 2 of The Jolly Boys founding members, upon it's formation back in The Roaring 50's. Albert Minott seems to be the ...

Completed and released just the other day (Sat-Sun. night), after a Tiger Blood -fueled 11-hour final recording session... Zombie Gang's landmark release: The Hair & The Hather is not unlike Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) . A division of the larger group, Awkward Silence is moderately comparable to Method Man & Redman . To be honest, my opinion is slightly skewed because Dylan A.K.A. "Dolla" and Pauly Patey are a couple of my buddies; But this mixtape is a great introduction to the crew - Housing features from the likes of James Vagabond, Squid , KiD CuDi, and Joe NO Say . Sound-wise, I'm reminded of The Cool Kids, Lil B, Atmosphere , Odd Future, Asher Roth , and early Beastie Boys . After a few complete listens, a few of my early favourites are "Swedish Fish" [UP], "Fer'shur" [DOWN], and "In for The Roux." In a nutshell, the sum of their amassed Greatest Hits can be described as: Cold Hard Hip-Hop, Anti-Auto-Tune ...