The Witzard

SUNDAY NO. 1 by defprez First time I had heard Defcee rhyme was on "Angel Dust (Leak Brothers 2)" from Zilla Rocca & Small Professor 's 2017 URBNET debut, Good Luck With That , as Career Crooks . I've since delved deep into Adam Levin —no, not Maroon 5 's shirtless frontman!—AKA Defcee 's catalog, which now spans six albums and EP's dating as far back as 2007's One Eye Open . We recently featured Defcee 's December 2018 project, A Mixtape As God Intended, Vol. 1 right here, across the pages of The Witzard . It's my first newly-released album-length exposure to Defcee 's music, as released on Chicago -based Machine Wash Music ; a phenomenal 20-minute display of what Defcee has to offer displayed across one single track, which features an array of well-known beats originally used by Drake , Rick Ross, Nipsey Hussle , 6LACK, The Alchemist , Goodie Mob, Group Home , and Nasty Nas. A Mixtape As God Intended, Vol. 1 , also, feature...

"I first met Zilla, barely out of college, downing bottles of malt liquor and idiotically, drunkenly throwing them into darkened stairwells at his old Catholic high school in South Philly. He was aligned his former crew then, one half of a Rap group called Clean Guns , attempting to start a fledgling label in an underground climate that seemed inhospitable and rebarbative to anyone trying to figure out what Boom-Bap would sound like 20 years in the future. Zilla could always rap and produce, but he hadn't found a voice or character that allowed him to channel what eventually reached its (27-inch) zenith on Future Former Rapper—believe it! Starting with the 5 O'Clock Shadowboxers project, he's refined an aesthetic akin to Raymond Chandler raised on Raekwon, splitting the difference between James Ellroy and Guru sneering at rivals that they're paranoid because they're sons like Elroy. One of the reasons why I started POW was to offer a wayward station for the ...

Boogieman Dela - Hustler (Rolled Gold Remix) by Rolled Gold Rolled Gold is the production alias of Philly -based beat-maker, multi-instrumentalist, and charismatic remixer Harry Metz . Over the course of the past year or so, Rolled Gold has become something of a mainstay and frequent collaborator, as you may have already noticed, here at The Witzard . It's been great to personally see Harry's whole sound, style, and musical approach grow and progress since his 2016 EP, The Great Fallback , with fellow Philadelphian , Uncle Crimson . What I have noticed, however, is Rolled Gold 's tendency to continually construct and release easily-digestible "bite"-sized projects, which are generally, very short and concise, yet extremely enjoyable and exceedingly well-orchestrated. For an example of what I'm talking about, I would strongly suggest checking out Rolled Gold 's SALTY (3P) EP, "The Field" Feat. No Headliner, "Nite Owl's Theme" ...

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...

"Rolled Gold is a soulful Hip-Hop producer from Philadelphia, who has a versatile, life-long musical resume, ranging from Jazz to Punk Rock bands, Trap beats to live Neo-Soul groups, and more. His style has influence from Hip-Hop producers, such as J Dilla, RZA, and MF DOOM, as well as the timeless catalogs of Motown, Stax & [Philadelphia International Records]. While he has been sampling for most of his production, so far, this past year has been spent composing and recording friends and family to use as sample material. His next releases will be instrumental/remix EP's and a compilation album, all constructed from these original samples and compositions... These albums, in no specific order, are the first that come to his mind in his influence and evolution as a musician over the years." Rolled Gold's Healthy Ass Breakfast by Rolled Gold A. Madlib - Beat Konducta: Movie Scenes, Vol. 1-2 (2006) "This is the first album I heard, at age 13, that really ...

Rolled Gold's Healthy Ass Breakfast by Rolled Gold Rolled Gold's Healthy A$$ Breakfast is the latest release from Philly 's finest producer, multi-instrumentalist, and beat-maker Harry Metz AKA Rolled Gold . It's equal parts salty and sweet and although, it's a concise one-track beat tape with "a quick 8-minutes of #flysh*t," Metz delivers an everything pretzel-esque blend of Old School Hip-Hop , Boom-Bap, Trap , 808 drum fills, and Soulful R&B . Stylistically, falling somewhere in-between an instrumental EP and a re-mixtape/blends album, Rolled Gold's Healthy A$$ Breakfast consists of 100% original material made up of assorted song scraps, unfinished takes, left-over, acapellas, remix snippets, etc; "each beat is made from live recordings of instruments played by Rolled Gold 's friends, family, and himself, of course, and they all run into the next in a cohesive, somewhat "day in the life" [field recordings] manner," a...

"I'm Zilla Rocca. I rap, produce, and write articles. I have my own Indie label, Three Dollar Pistol Music and put out music with my friends Curly Castro, Small Professor, and PremRock as our posse, Wrecking Crew. Me and Small Pro put out a group album as Career Crooks [last] year called Good Luck with That , where he did all of the beats, but I've been a producer, as well for 15 years. So, here's some of the most important albums to me, when I'm "behind the boards.'" I. Handsome Boy Modeling School - So... How's Your Girl? (1999) "I remember buying this album in 1999 and having no clue how any of these songs were made. I didn't start making beats for another three years or so, but this album never left my conciousness. [Dan The] Automator is one of my all-time favorite producers because he bounces between genres effortlessly, from Serge Gainsbourg stuff with Lovage, to Sci-Fi Fantasy Robot sh*t with Deltron [3030], to the first Go...

My Man Shafe (@MyManShafe) is a South Philly Soul magnate, Funk buster, crowd rocker, and self-proclaimed " Street Funk/Soul rapper." Shafe self-released a FREE mixtape/street album entitled "Who's That?!" recorded and mixed by Zilla Rocca and has since unveiled material with Nex Millen , Wrecking Crew on Wu-Tang Pulp, Curly Castro , Zilla Rocca & Has-Lo, Small Professor for World Around Records , Son Raw, and most recently, Career Crooks' "Mike Milligan (Kitchen Brothers)" with Curly Castro & ALASKA . "I make Soul music. Even though I rap and came up as an emcee, my music is Soul . It's Soul because of the place that it comes from," My Man Shafe profoundly writes within his on-site Bio . " Soul music comes from the gut; the bottom, the pit of your stomach. It's a feeling. It's a vibe. It's the notion that we've all been through things and together, we can overcome," he continues. Si...

Billy Batts (prod by Zilla Rocca) by Curly Castro & Zilla Rocca "Zilla Rocca" is, at this point in time, a name even casual readers of the pages here at The Witzard should almost instantly recognize and readily associate with dope output. I think it's safe to say, I've covered nearly every Zilla/Zilla -related release since 2016's Anything I Touch, I Bruise Vol. 2: The Superior Foes of Zilla Rocca , as well as a gaggle of Bandcamp loosies and Soundcloud stand-alone singles. To my knowledge, Zilla Rocca has at least three (announced) projects currently planned to be released throughout 2018: Thieving As Long As I'm Breathing - a Career Crooks Remix EP with S mall Professor , his '90's Hip-Hop -flavored mixtape/"street album" '96 Mentality , and a proper solo album quite cleverly entitled Future Former Rapper ; all of these, featuring a who's-who of friends, affiliates, and fellow Underground Hip-Hop rappers and producers...

South Philly rapper-producer and one half of Career Crooks , Zilla Rocca has returned with his first proper solo release of 2018, "99 Triple 5 Soul Flow." Zilla is not only, part of Career Crooks with producer buddy Small Professor , but also, runs with his own crews, The Shadowboxers —formerly, The 5 O'Clock Shadow Boxers —and Wrecking Crew with fellow emcees Curly Castro & PremRock , along with Small Pro . Zilla Rocca additionally, runs his own Philly -based label, Three Dollar Pistol Music , is co-creator of @rapbooklets' Instagram , and fancies himself a " Noir-Hop originator and corrupt novelist." "99 Triple 5 Soul Flow" is of course, a reference to infamous 1990's Hip-Hop clothing brand Triple 5 Soul and is the sequel to last year's similarly-minded "98 Avirex Flow;" a stand-alone single with sonic ties to Zilla Rocca 's upcoming '96 Mentality , which was produced by Disco Vietnam AKA @SupernovaLox ...

" [Leave In Tact:] The Remix Collection boasts a strong addition to the pair's already robust resume, and as they set their sights on another ambitious tour with contemporaries' billy woods and Henry Canyons , their prospects only continue to grow. If you missed Leave In Tact , due to the avalanche of the election fallout or perhaps, because of the shared release date with a comeback album from the greatest group of all time, you are forgiven, but do take this chance to catch up," reads a Remix Collection -accompanying statement uploaded to PremRock & Fresh Kils' Bandcamp . I recently got a pre-release version of Leave In Tact: The Remix Collection and producer Fresh Kils (@freshkils) told me, he "would love to hear [my] comparative thoughts on the remixes vs. the originals;" with that said, here's a very laxly-structured first impressions review of Leave In Tact: The Remix Collection . PremRock & Fresh Kils' latest 7-track release...