The Witzard

"I was riding in my friend Drew's black Honda Civic down Major Drive , past the soccer fields in Beaumont , and he was playing UGK 's Ridin' Dirty , which I recall as an enlightening moment. It was the first time I had heard the Underground Kingz (UGK) on CD, or any Houston Rap that wasn't on the radio. I experienced a true epiphany, realizing the beauty at the core of Houston Rap music... Not long after that car ride, I bought Best of UGK (2003) at Best Buy . The opening track, "One Day," samples The Isley Brothers' "Ain't Been Good to You." The hook is: "one day you're here and then, you're gone." When it's slow like syrup, it sticks with you." Parquet Courts (sometimes Parkay Quarts and PCPC ) frontman Austin Brown is a "Big Money" Texas native himself, who over the years, has made his love and admiration for Houston Rap pretty apparent; Brown even penned a piece for Talkhouse about ...

It's almost hard to believe that Transplants have already been a band for the better part of 13 years; Initially forged as Tim Armstrong 's experimental Rancid side-project with roadie-turned-rapper and aspiring Punk Rock frontman "Skinhead Rob" Aston , Transplants soon recruited seasoned Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker , rather than continuing to use pre-recorded ProTools drum loops. Their overall sound is a mildly weird hybrid of Hardcore Punk , Hip-Hop, Reggae (Dub), Drum-N-Bass, and an underlying Pop sensibility. During a lengthy 8-year long gap between Haunted Cities (2005) and this year's In a Warzone , Rancid remained fairly active as always, Blink-182 broke up and re-formed, Aston worked with his [other] D-beat Punk band Death March , and Armstrong released an album and singles/covers series as "Tim Timebomb." But with that said, In a Warzone is a pretty straight-forward Hardcore album, sans Bun B and Paul Wall features, of cour...

It's no secret that I stay in quite close contact with Das Racist 's inner [rapper-producer] circle: Victor Vazquez , kechPhrase, Kassa Overall , and Daplib (Pedro) @ Illuminati Zone . Talking with these Brooklyn -based artists as of late, "Fat Tony" is a name that comes up in conversation pretty damn often! Originally based out of Houston , Fat Tony is currently prepping the follow-up to his last effort, RABDARGAB (2010); Double Dragon , which was produced along with Tom Cruz , will be released by newly-formed Indie Hip-Hop imprint, Young One this upcoming June 1st. It's set to feature contributions from 10ille , MURS, TECLA , Main Attrakionz, and Ninjasonik . Fat Tony 's record label roster also includes the likes of Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire , Cities Aviv, Main Attrakionz , and Children of The Night . Along with Young One 's formative announcement and mixtape sampler release, Fat Tony & Tom Cruz debuted Double Dragon 's premier single:...

The good people over @ VICE recently asked Das Racist to host an interview show of "rappers interviewing rappers" for their new music channel, noisey . Himanshu & Kool A.D. will reportedly alternate weeks hosting "RAP SHOW;" Episode #1 was uploaded just this past Friday [The 13th] and features Heems sitting down with Compton 's favourite rapper, Kendrick Lamar . Imagine if Eric Clapton interviewed Jimi Hendrix and they talked about... notepads, lucid dreams, black hippies, "The N word," Home Improvement , 80's babies, and essentially everything BUT music. Well, this is exactly like that. Pretty cool concept nonetheless. I just hope that Das Racist & Kendrick Lamar decide to record and release a track together! Future episode of RAP SHOW will feature Himanshu & Kool A.D. interviewing Wiley, Tyler The Creator , Bun B, Killer Mike , Mystikal , Gunplay, etc. Make sure to go pick up [download] copies of Relax , Nehru Jackets , and...

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a sucker for a good cover. When it comes down to it, the practice of covering songs is the sheer essence of Pop Culture : Taking something vaguely familiar, re-hashing it, and then re-releasing it to [eventual] wild success. One could even go as far to argue that sampling beats in Hip-Hop is a form of "covering." The latest cover to show up on my radar is Mike Posner 's recent version of Oasis - "Wonderwall" (1995). Posner's biggest claim to fame may very well be "Cooler Than Me," a track which was written-produced in his Duke dormroom. A Matter of Time was distributed to the masses through iTunes U with help from friends, Don Cannon & DJ Benzi . One proper album and a couple digital mixtapes later... Mike Posner liberated a BRAND NEW collection around Thanksgiving, The Layover . While "Wonderwall" is easily the stand-out track, the mixtape features a fine assortment of collaborators...