The Witzard

Freddie Gibbs , to the best of my knowledge, has never released a proper mixtape in the typical fashion of Hip-Hop culture; a cohesive collection of re-appropriated beats borrowed from popular artists and "freestyled" over, which are given away for FREE or next to nothing. However, it would appear as though that very notion might change soon enough, as Rappcats/Madlib Invazion have unveiled plans to release a limited run silk-screened 12-inch containing "Cocaine Parties In LA" and its sparse instrumental on Side B. Gibbs previously unleashed a cocaine-laden remix of Kanye & Kendrick Lamar 's Madlib -produced G.O.O.D. Fridays (Vol. 2) submission and eventual The Life of Pablo bonus track, "No More Parties In LA." It's reportedly a track left on the cutting room floor, for whatever reasons, during the recording of Kanye 's sprawling 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy , just one composition from six CD-R's-worth of hazy...

"'Disaster" was the last song I wrote for Time Machine and it's one of my favorites. Noah Kistler directed the video, and I gave him full creative control in doing so; he imagined an 80's motion-graphics bonanza, and it was a lot of fun to shoot!" singer-songwriter D.A. Wallach wrote within an emailed statement exclusive to The Witzard , concerning his just-released Sci-Fi -leaning "Disaster" music video treatment. Wallach's post-Chester French Harvest Records debut, Time Machine was hands down one of my absolute favorite albums of 2015, however, it still has yet to see a proper physical CD-LP release, aside from digital download; although, D.A. told me as recently as Sunday that he's still "trying to work on something for vinyl though, at some point." I, myself, previously described Time Machine as "a phenomenal "debut" record delivered in the vein of a modern day Hip-Hop -influenced James Taylor or Bill...

I'm almost positive that I myself, like many unknowing listeners, first heard the ferocious rhyming talents of Sugar Tongue Slim (STS) on The Roots' "Auto-Tune Baby"-borrowing How I Got Over (2010) bonus track, "Hustla;" an intriguing concoction produce by ?uestlove & Diplo, which was formerly inter-woven amidst an early M.I.A. & Prince Zimboo-assisted Major Lazer composition befittingly titled "Baby" (Switch Remix) . STS would self-release three volumes of his critically-acclaimed GOLD Rush freestyles series and later go on to join Black Thought-fronted Money Makin' Jam Boys alongside fellow Roots affiliates Dice Raw, Truck North, and Greg Porn. It would appear as though MMJB's post-Prestige indefinite hiatus has seemingly inspired STS to go ahead and form his own genre-blending Roots-esque Hip-Hop band, NAC; "Cultivated in Philly and created in LA, NAC is a unique band that have written music for artist such as John Legend,...

It appears as though reclusive early 2000's rapper, producer, and cold-cuttin' DJ Edan has finally decided to re-emerge from his self-imposed sabbatical and unleash his first batch of new material since 2009's "Echo Party" mixtape; Edan recently contributed production work to old sharp-tongued friend Mr. Lif 's long-awaited comeback single of sorts, "Whizdom," as well as Homeboy Sandman 's newly unveiled Kindness for Weakness album teaser, "Talking (Bleep)." Sandman 's latest Stones Throw Drip can likely best be described as a Hip-Hop -laden amalgamation of pop culture's beloved, often over-used "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH" filler phrasing for drab, long-winded, unnecessary, etc. conversation we're often subjected to throughout our every day lives – be it Ke$ha 's chart-topping No.1 single, Charlie Brown & The Peanuts' "WAH, WAH, WAH" diction substituted for adults talking, or Seinfeld prota...

"We recorded "Letting Off Steam" here in [Australia] in 2014. We both dug that joint, but it didn't make the album for various reasons; so, good to let the peeps hear it. Written and recorded in the same day. Just a dope vibe, really. Guilty killed that beat. Mad flow on that... "Love" is a joint we also had to leave off the album due to the album length. Neither of us like long records. It's a dope jam and Guilty's message/ lyrics are amazing. I really wanted peeps to hear that joint. Its deep. I mixed it again and got a much better mix, which is the one you [hear] released a couple of days back. That's all I can tell you." – Detroit's Son and Detroit & Extras producer Katalyst "Right now, all I'm listening to is beats. DETROIT'S SON is my favorite album. And I'm in a time capsule, bro – I'm still listening to The Commodores ha! I'm really into my own wave right now. I mostly listen to Jazz , when I...

"I did bring a couple bottles of wine to the studio and then, started writing my part and went from there," Beastie Boys founding member Mike "D" Diamond recently told Pitchfork during a brief yet informative interview surrounding French Electronic duo Cassius' frantic Mike D & Cat Power -featuring apparent as-yet-unannounced album single, "Action." "The song came with this world liberation theme and then, I came with a modern-day relationship theme, and somehow the two went together. It's kind of like toast and Vegemite go together only in Australia ," Diamond characteristically continued. Philippe Zdar & Boom Bass had only scheduled studio time with Cat Power frontwoman Chan Marshall during a recent visit to New York , although, after meeting up with Mike D for lunch, the "Action" -packed collaboration progressed from there like a snowball rolling downhill; "suddenly, we were having a coffee and we s...

Full disclosure: Lions producer-guitarist and founding member Dan Ubick and I are friends, frequent collaborators, and mutual fans of each others' collected bodies of work (or at least, I would like to think so). With that said, it's really a no-brainer that nearly any given time Ubick and his number of creative outlets decide to unleash genre-blending music upon the unsuspecting world, I'm ecstatic to have the opportunity to write a piece centered around it; I've previously had the wonderful opportunity to interview Dan twice before, coinciding with the releases of The Lions' This Generation and Soul Riot, as well as having the coveted honor to premier their Ross Harris-directed Clash re-interpretation, "The Magnificent Dance." In addition to The Lions and former Stones Throw-signed Funk/Breakbeat group Breakestra, Ubick has been fortunate enough to work with everyone from Snoop Lion to storied emcee Big Daddy Kane and even formed his own The Beatles/S...

"It was an action-packed few days, Sandman was so patient with the whole thing, it was amazing... The effect in ["Life Support"] is stop-animation; basically, every time anything moved in those sections of the video, we'd move something [and] take a picture. So, that meant pulling apart flowers, petal by petal, in some cases... It was a blast to make... Homeboy Sandman and I have built a body of visuals together and we have a lot of trust in each other. He pushes limits musically and I try to match his intensity with the visuals, while keeping an eye on his humorous side," director @pacerivers told me in a series of recent Twitter direct messages sent on the eve of his latest sun-drenched creation, "Life Support." Homeboy Sandman 's just released Hugo XL -produced self-reflective cut is reportedly "a new track, not on any album release, strictly for the video," according to Los Angeles -based imprint Stones Throw Records . Rivers a...

"You see, all these performances on these late night shows – I got a chamber of material from the album that I was in love [with] where sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album. But I think probably close to ten songs that I'm in love with that I'll still play and still perform that didn’t make the cut," Kendrick Lamar told 2dopeboyz during a GRAMMY.com interview following his recent five- GRAMMY win; almost immediately after which Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James Tweeted, "Yo @dangerookipawaa after that @kendricklamar Grammy performance, you have to release those untitled tracks asap!!! What's up? Talk to me," directed at TDE CEO Anthony "Top Dwg" Tiffith . While I must admit, I'm not much of a sports fan, I've become a supporter of James' off-court endeavors in recent months: first, his side-splitting supporting role in Trainwreck alongside Amy Schumer and Bill Hader and now...

" 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...