The Witzard

"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...

"You are the last Colbert Report musical guest. Honored to have you on, but keep in mind: Paul McCartney , R.E.M., Jack White , and Nas were your opening acts," Stephen Colbert cleverly quipped at Kendrick Lamar during their pre-performance interview on last night's show. Lamar premiered a brand new "Untitled" track reportedly produced by French beatsmith Astronote ; its world-premier performance was delivered by a pick-up band consisting of bass virtuoso Thundercat , Terrace Martin on sax, and back-up vocals from Soulquarians affiliate Bilal and Sonnymoon sogstress Anna Wise . In stark contrast to Kendrick Lamar 's previous Isley Brothers -indebted "i," "Untitled" is more of a sparse experimental, Jazz -leaning affair, which seems to be a multi-faceted narrative; "In Lamar's story, an Asian man tells him to worry about his health and not his career, an Indian man recommends he invest in real estate, the black man rev...

The Postal Service are what you could call a "guilty pleasure," a band that represents a certain phase in my life, and about as far as I ever delved into Electro-Pop/Emo , thankfully ha. It's Ben Gibbard 's side-project that released one widely-acclaimed album, Give Up (2003), which most fans, including myself, actually prefer more than Death Cab for Cutie . While swirling rumors about a follow-up and band reunion have always gone unrequited, the only thing to really materialize since Give Up is a recently re-released 10th anniversary 2-CD set. Sub Pop even managed to convince Ben Gibbard and in-house producer Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel) to finally reunite for a lengthy 36-date summer tour, along with sometime(s) members Jenny Lewis and Laura Burhenn on background vocals and additional instruments. "A Tattered Line of String" is one of 2 new, previously unreleased tracks included on Give Up: Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition , which is currently avai...

Much to the delight of zealous fans, Black Star are back for Round 2, after a 10-year [semi-]hiatus. Since issuing Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998), the Boom Bap duo have stayed pretty silent; Excluding the occasional Mos Def feature, Talib Kweli Remix, or vice versa, of course. In honor of Black Friday #blackstarfriday 2011, Yasiin Bey & Talib Kweli released their latest single, "Fix Up" to iTunes' online data-base. Some of you may recall the fact that this very song was performed LIVE @ Colbert Report Studios a few mere weeks ago [Below]. Mind you, that was just Friday morning... Rounding off the day's nation-wide festive shopping excursions, Black Star liberated yet another new track: "You Already Knew" that very evening. Granted, this track isn't from Black Star 's long-rumored triumphant return - Although it will indefinitely appear within Black Star Aretha : a mixtape tribute crafted in honor of legendary songst...

Ladies and gentlemen of This Fine Green Earth, Dizzee Rascal has in fact "made it!" While Rascal has without a doubt experienced a moderate amount of past success(es)... I think we can all agree that being sampled by Madlib and then interpolated as the sole element of a Black Star hook is a whole 'nother level of "industry success." So it seems that the one and only "Beat Konducta" (Madlib) listens to Dizzee Rascal ; For what it's worth, I'm really not all that surprised. "Fix Up, Look Sharp" originally appeared on London 's very own Grime posterchild's 2003 debut, Boy In da Corner . The self-produced beat for Rascal's break-out hit notoriously samples segmented portions of Billy Squier - "The Big Beat" (1980). Following the truly senseless 1996-97 deaths of both Biggie and 2pac , up-and-comers Mos Def and Talib Kweli courageously banded together in an effort to spread a message of "peace and love....