The Witzard's Rap EP Wrap-up Feat. Bo Jankans & DJ Ragz, Bully Preston, Creign, Jaubi, Mugwampers & Zilla Rocca (August 2018 Edition)
Over the course of the past month or so, there have been a plethora of solid Hip-Hop EP's released online; a quick, concise 30-minutes or less format that's seemingly, replaced the mixtape/"street album" format of years passed to become your favorite underground rapper/producer's go-to promotional tool. Here, for this second edition of The Witzard's Rap EP Wrap-up, we'll be profiling five EP's released throughout August 2018, as well as one released at the end of July that was honestly, way too dope to not include! Featured below, in no particular order, are EP's from the likes of Bo Jankans & DJ Ragz, Bully Preston (Jumbled & dwell,) Creign AKA Mantis The Miasma, Jaubi, Mugwampers ('i's & SaIGO,) and Zilla Rocca. Along with a brief write-up on each release, you'll find a select track from each EP, as well purchase links to buy or stream online. If this one goes well, we'll plan to publish an edition of The Witzard's Rap EP Wrap-up each month or so. ARTISTS: feel free to submit your current or upcoming EP's to sharpcheddar856@gmail.com for consideration within The Witzard's Rap EP Wrap-up. Also, you may notice, above is The Witzard's new and improved logo, as designed by graphic designer John Wong! Shout-out to Steve "Sulu" Mallorca of Sulu & Excelsior for hooking us up!
Sincerely,
Matt "The Witzard" Horowitz
Founder & Senior Writer/Editor
ORANGE is the first installment in a series of planned color-themed EP's from Virginia-based turntablist/producer Brian "DJ Ragz" Ragonese. On ORANGE, DJ Ragz is joined by fellow Virginian, emcee Bo Jankans, much his last food-themed release, Pasta & Wings with Unown on Common Good Records. Bo Jankans & DJ Ragz explain that "ORANGE is the color of positivity and creativity. We all need a little ORANGE in our lives." ORANGE EP has a very old school Boom-Bap/Golden Age Hip-Hop feel and it's very fun-loving and DJ-centric. It's actually, DJ Ragz's first fully self-produced project, beats-wise. All ORANGE beats and cuts by DJ Ragz, vocals/lyrics by Bo Jankans, features from Trekot, Bones of Sleepy Hollows Studios & Unown. All vocals recorded at Sleepy Hollow Studios. Mixed, Mastered & ORANGE concept brought to you by Unown with ORANGE artwork by Jeremy Gann. It appears as though DJ Ragz is currently working on additional food and color-themed releases, as well as collaborative, 7-inch "scratch," and battle-themed records.
It appears as though Bully Preston's THE INSULT follow-up, Fly Like a Dove Cameron (Summer Singles)' title is a reference to both Steve Miller Band's 1976 smash-hit "Fly Like An Eagle," as well as Liv and Maddie & Descendants 1-3 actress Dove Cameron. Not unlike THE INSULT, Fly Like a Dove Cameron features Jumbled on the beats and dwell on the rhymes. dwell says Fly Like a Dove Cameron (Summer Singles) was originally supposed to be a concise 2-track EP, although, it "just didn't feel "Bully" enough." dwell explains: "I went through some of the older beats Jumbled had sent me and found the one for the last song on the single/EP. It didn't make me wanna rap, but it did get me crooning some stupid fun stuff, which is about as "Bully" as it gets, anyhow." Actually, the entirety of Bully Preston's Fly Like a Dove Cameron (Summer Singles) EP was recorded by dwell between Tuesday and Thursday evenings, before being released to the masses late Thursday/Friday morning. dwell, then, recorded, mixed, and designed three separate covers for each single, created in a just a few short hours, one evening after work, prior to his family vacation.
Mantis The Miasma is a 19-year-old producer, lyricist, and emcee hailing from Los Angeles, who's been championed by Short Fuze, Lt Headtrip, and Elmattic (@thisiselmattic.) Since bursting onto the scene in 2016, Mantis (@Mantis_CA) has released his appropriately-titled MIASMA EP, a number of digital singles, and his 2018 debut full-length, Worth of My Birth. Many of you may recognize his work around these parts, as Mantis The Miasma was the only remixer to submit a 100% completed remix for The Witzard's Cowboys & Frenchmen "COMPANION PLAN" Remix Challenge earlier this year. Now, Mantis The Miasma has returned, although, it's not exactly how you might expect... "allow me to re-introduce myself; my name is Creign (oh) C-to-The-R-E-I-G-N." Mantis simply explains it like this: "as Creign on Forged In Flame, we see a different side of the artist behind Mantis The Miasma, still vulnerable and hurt, but less aggressive and more somber." Essentially, it's a more experimental R&B/Soul-leaning, sing-songy version of Mantis The Miasma, much like Kanye on 808's & Heartbreak or Drew Scott as Giddeon Gallows on CRITTER.
Jaubi (جو بھی) are an instrumental band hailing from Lahore, Pakistan, whose name loosely translates to "whatever;" members Zohaib "Zebi" Hassan Khan, Kashif Ali Dhani, Qammar "Vicky" Abbas & Ali Riaz Baqar often "[create] whatever sounds good and whatever feels good." Jaubi first gained wide-spread critically-acclaim and notoriety with their 2016 cover of "Time: The Donut of The Heart" from J Dilla's magnum opus, Donuts, which received praise from Madlib, Stones Throw, and even The James Dewitt Yancey Foundation. For more on Jaubi's The Deconstructed Ego EP-era, ch-check out The Witzard's comprehensive 2016 interview with guitarist, producer, and beat-maker Ali Riaz Baqar AKA Ila Zair... while Jaubi's long-rumored second EP—tentatively titled The Emancipation of a Statistic—has still yet to materialize, the Pakistani quintet has re-emerged with "Lahore Sate of Mind." Yes, Hip-Hop head: that's an instrumental cover/re-creation of Nas' 1994 DJ Premier-produced Illmatic single, "N.Y. State of Mind." "Lahore State of Mind" is, in my humble opinion, an absolutely breath-taking rendition of Nas & Premier's beloved classic. It's now available on 7-inch vinyl with a remix on Side B provided by London-based producer, Al Dobson, Jr.
Mugwampers' 717 (Part II) is the second installment in a planned 3-part EP series poised to explore different Hip-Hop-adjacent genres and sub-genres. Scotsmen SaIGO & 'i's are currently finishing up a gaggle of releases both solo, collaborative, and with a handful of like-minded affiliates and are still honing in on their own unique sound. When compared against its slightly more Hip-Hop-leaning predecessor, 717 (Part II) is a little less rooted in Hip-Hop and was more so influenced by skull-bashing Heavy Metal/Death Metal. "Influence to me, was just what was going on around me, things I seen outside [and] wanted to capture the same grit with the instrumentals and also, when SaIGO played "God Hates Us All" by Slayer that hit a spark in my head. I'd say, the difference is, this one is more in-your-face and it just doesn't give a f**k what you have to say, gritty," Mugwampers producer and beat-maker 'i's charismatically explained. "I'm a Metalhead! I love Slayer, Anthrax, etc. Before this, I was making music in a Death Metal group haha; so, for this part of 717, I just thought that some of my true roots should shine through," SaIGO continued. For those interested in learning more about Mugwampers unique brand of Scottish Hip-Hop, ch-check out The Witzard's recent interview with founding members, SaIGO & 'i's.
Last, but not least for this installment of The Witzard's Rap EP Wrap-up is Zilla Rocca's Hard Boiled EP. Zilla Rocca, following Career Crooks' Good Luck with That & Thieving As Long As I'm Breathing, has returned with his first proper long-form solo release, 2016's Anything I Touch I Bruise Vol. 2: The Superior Foes of Zilla Rocca; coincidentally, the first of Zilla's projects covered here at The Witzard! Hard Boiled is a collection of seven new and previously released tracks, produced by The Expert, Messiah Musik, and Newstalgia, as well as Zilla Rocca himself, which Zilla fittingly describes as all possessing a common "snubnose pressed to the back feel to them." Hard Boiled collectively harkens back to Zilla Rocca's now-infamous Noir-Hop string of releases—No Vacation for Murder, Party with Villains EP & The Slow Twilight—brimming with True Crime-evocative rhymes and one sharp-tongued guest feature from Henry Canyons, as well as an abridged Iron & Wine cover. Hard Boiled EP serves as a bit of a precursor, as well as the polar opposite, to Zilla Rocca's forthcoming solo album, Future Former Rapper, scheduled to drop on POW Recordings sometime this Fall.
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