The Witzard

GRAPHIC: @unibrowDuck (Original Photograph By: Veronika Zielinska) 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. DJ Ayres' unearthed 1999 MF DOOM interview origianlly published on January 25, 2021 at DJAyres.com . "MF DOOM, photographed by my wife, Veronika, on Long Beach, Long Island in 1999. He was renting a little room in an old guy's house; just his bed, clothes, and a little bi...

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...

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...

"DEDICATED TO LOVERS OF MAXI-SINGLES AND EVERY JAZZY, ACOUSTIC BASS-DRIVEN HIP-HOP SONG, WHICH PROVIDED THE SOUNDTRACK FOR A PRETENTIOUS, UNNECESSARY ARTSY RAP VIDEO DURING THE EARLY 90'S..." reads the reverse side of Long Beach rapper-producer Andy Cooper's latest "Here Comes Another One" 12-inch. If pressed, I would likely equate Andy Cooper's second solo album, the layered effect to something along the lines of Homeboy Sandman's First of a Living Breed or Beastie Boys' 1989 cult favorite, Paul's Boutique; an increasingly fun, charismatic Golden Age Hip-Hop-reminiscent album chock-full with an insane amount of genre-eschewing samples. the layered effect is entirely self-produced by Andy Cooper himself—particularly, note-worthy for his past work with Ugly Duckling and The Allergies—and plays out like a care-free, fun-loving Hip-Hop album of days past. After seeing Andy's "Here Comes Another One" video on Flea Market Funk ...

Just in case you've been living under a rock for the past few months or recently awoke from a coma—we're terribly sorry for 2017!—Beat-maker Bedrock (BMB) is a new, recurring column here at The Witzard; initially, the brainchild of Baltimore-based beatsmith John "Jumbled" Bachman, BMB simply asks beat-makers and aspiring producers to highlight 3-5 of their personal favorite albums, which, early on, helped shape their overall sound and style. I'm proud to present to you our first Beat-maker Bedrock column 2018 and 14th overall features a playlist selected and meticulously arranged by New York-based rapper-producer and We Are The Karma Kids founder Lt Headtrip—or just "Headtrip" for production work. Following his critically-acclaimed 2017 album, Comedy of The Filtbeast , Lt Headtrip teamed up with The GreenHouse Studio/Backwoodz Studioz producer and engineer to curate LNYCHPIN; described on Bandcamp as "a full-length collaborative album featuring 16 ...

foolHearty by TOYFRiEND TOYFRiEND is the latest Avant-Garde Indie-Pop project from Hip-Hoppers Jason "ECID" Mckenzie and Louis Dorley AKA louis logic . ECID & Louis Dorley readily liken their inaugural release, fullHearty EP to Indie/Dream-Pop staples Blonde Redhead , Blood Orange, Elliot Smith , Little Dragon, Unknown Mortal Orchestra , Beach House, Purity Ring , and Animal Collective/Panda Bear. fullHearty features Louis Dorley on vocals and keys and ECID helming both drums and production duties. Amidst six original Indie-Pop -minded TOYFRiEND compositions, fullHearty additionally features two heavily re-worked cover tunes: Howard Jones' "No One Is to Blame" and "You're The Best (Around)" as performed by Joe Esposito , most recognizably from The Karate Kid (1984.) Prior to TOYFRiEND , ECID self-released his latest critically-acclaimed album, HowToFakeYourOwnDeath and contributed production work to Mega Ran 's Ceschi ...