The Witzard

"WE ARE NOW AT OUR BEST AND SO DEATH GRIPS IS OVER. WE HAVE OFFICIALLY STOPPED. ALL CURRENTLY SCHEDULED LIVE DATES ARE [CANCELLED]. OUR UPCOMING DOUBLE ALBUM THE POWERS THAT B WILL BE DELIVERED WORLDWIDE LATER THIS YEAR VIA HARVEST/THIRDWORLD RECORDS . DEATH GRIPS WAS ALWAYS HAS BEEN A CONCEPTUAL ART EXHIBITION ANCHORED BY SOUND [AND] VISION. ABOVE AND BEYOND A "BAND." TO OUR TRUEST FANS PLEASE STAY [LEGEND]," Death Grips wrote within a seemingly haphazard napkin-scrawled band break-up note uploaded to their Facebook page back in July 2014. Although, it now seems as though said disbandment was nothing more than an elaborately planned rouse, as founding members MC Ride, Zach Hill & Flatlander are amidst a full-fledged band reunion; having already circled the world once around, booked a number of festival dates for this upcoming summer, and are currently recording a proper follow-up to their reported "last" album, The Powers That B , tentativel...

Action Bronson 's almost effortlessly able to cram a bunch of misplaced syllables into "Shit on my chest, shoot colors like a Care Bear / All year see me tan, hopping out the van... Eat steaks off a cold plate, stoned listening to Coldplay ," a few of the introductory rapid-fire lines of "Strictly 4 My Jeeps" sounding like a high school English teacher on Speed ; It's more or less, the lead single from an upcoming joint mixtape with rising Brooklyn producer, Harry Fraud that's been quite ingeniously dubbed Saab Stories . Noisey , sister site of Bronson's new-found major label home (VICE Records) premiered the Jason Goldwatch -directed music video mid-Monday afternoon, which was preceded by a collection of equally EPIC behind-the-scenes footage. Fraud has previously produced a number of scattered beats for Action Bronson including: "Jar of Drugs" (2011), "Muslim Wedding," "Mean," and tracks from Adrift/High ...

Ancient Egypt was quite the area of interest for this guy right here was back in grade school... pyramids, King Tut , mummies, scarabs, The Nile, Spinx , etc. Frank Ocean really seems to share the same mutual admiration for Egypt , as his new 10-minute opus is affectionately titled "Pyramids." Friday [June 9th] was a BIG day for Mr. Ocean! It was later revealed that a mysterious trailer which was leaked in the early morning hours in fact contained both a new track and proper album release date; channel ORANGE , Frank Ocean 's long-awaited debut LP, is finally slated to be unveiled on Def Jam July 17th. John Mayer supposedly managed to string together a guitar solo for "Pyramids'" mid-song tempo/stylistic shift. Fresh off the heels of some Coldplay support dates, Frank Ocean announced his first full-fledged solo tour: Seattle-Chicago , running from July-early August. I guess it's pretty safe to assume that "Thinking About You" will re-...

Contrary to popular belief, Das Racist 's version of "The Recipe" (Gwyneth Paltrow) actually pre-dates Kendrick Lamar & Dr. Dre 's single version, which was released first. Since "Meet The Frownies" [sample] was only issued in 2010, this all had to happen over the past 2 years... Scoop DeVille gave a rough version of the beat to Das Racist before ever even meeting Kendrick Lamar & Dr. Dre . But because Aftermath somehow managed to release "The Recipe" first, it may seem like Kool A.D. & Heems are beat-jacking, which is entirely off point. Anyways, here's Das Racist's final take, "Gwyneth Paltrow," now accompanied by some sort of found footage of 2 weird-ass 1970's "putty face" re-molding performance artists. Victor Vazquez directs or something...

I was pretty bummed out yesterday afternoon when I first heard about the sudden passing of Adam "MCA" Yauch , after three years of fighting cancer. Growing up with four older cousins (I was born in 1987), I've been a huge Beastie Boys fan since I was 10-12... enjoying their music for as long as I can remember! They were the first to do a lot of things: NYC Punk , massive sampling on Paul's Boutique , being the first white Jewish rappers, intricate Pop Culture -referencing rhyme schemes, making music for both frat dudes and Punks , etc. Those of you who just know "Brass Monkey" and "Fight for Your Right" —now, come on, let's get real; The Beastie Boys were so much more than that and those radio hits are merely just the tip of the iceberg! All the teenage debauchery aside, gruff-voiced MCA really seemed to grow into a fine young man, post- License to Ill . Earnestly standing up for what his heart believed in: women's rights, Tibetan ...

Frank Ocean uploaded his latest track, "Whip Appeal" to his personal Tumblr account earlier this evening. Like many of his other recent "releases," the track was pulled from the bulk of Internet servers just a few hours later [presumably by Def Jam ]. Soon after "Whip Appeal" was yanked, Ocean hopped back on Tumblr to clarify that the track probably won't be appearing on Nostalgia, ULTRA 's major label re-release, which might never even see the light of day. Frank Ocean has logged studio time and penned hits for the likes of Nas, Justin Bieber , Kanye & Jay-Z , John Legend, Beyoncé, Bridget Kelly, Pharrell , and Brandy . Since he self-released what would have been his debut project on his own back in February 2011, Frank Ocean and Def Jam have been on not so good terms... But his currently untitled premier release is expected sometime during 2012. "Whip Appeal" is roughly 5-minutes long and features Ocean lamenting about ...

Sugar Tongue Slim (STS) is a criminally under-rated "Atlantadelphia" -bred rapper and honorary Roots Crew member. From what I can tell, his first recorded appearance was on The Roots' Indie Rock -tinged dark/light "concept album," How I Got Over (2010). STS additionally represents 1/5 of Money Making Jam Boys and his solo output [thusfar] includes: Demand More I-II , Sole Music EP , The Illustrious , and a gaggle of assorted Remixes & Indie Rock flips. After slowly leaking out short, weekly music videos over the course of the past few months, Sugar Tongue Slim finally unveiled his latest Starting Line-Up -produced mixtape effort earlier this morning: GOLD RUSH . It's basically a collection of 15 Top 40 flips (2009-11), which are often slightly re-appropriated with STS' unique storytelling and acute Boom-Bap flourishes. STS and his team of certified in-house gold diggers [producers] hand-selected singles from contemporary artists such as B...

I've always really been a sucker for a solid cover or remix. The whole idea of an artist giving their own unique take on someone else's "vision" [admiration] has always intrigued me. I think that the specific Willie Nelson cover presented here is hands down the most compelling/inventive cover I've heard in a pretty long time! It really doesn't even matter that it might have been commissioned by Chipotle for use in a TV commercial; Nelson's rendition of one of Coldplay 's earliest hits is still just as original and heart-felt. And isn't that really the sheer genesis of a "good cover:" When you definitely know that you recognize the lyrics, but just can't seem to place it @ first because the vocals or instrumentation are just slightly tweaked? While it actually debuted online way back in August, "Back to The Start" (Johnny Kelly) made it's nation-wide premier during The Grammy's last week... right after Coldplay...

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...

Contrary to the bulk of Coldplay 's commercial output, the concept @ the center of "Paradise" really is a simple, easily relate-able topic: sense of longing. Mat Whitecross filmed the accompanying music video along with Coldplay , over a last minute 2-day shoot between London and South Africa . Chris Martin stars as a homesick man-elephant; A concept which the frontman himself [fully] thought up and fleshed out. Majority of the time, Mr. Paltrow Chris Martin can be seen taking part in a number of assorted hi-jinx: unicycles, un-rhythmic dancing, panhandling , transportation, melodically-echoed hooks, travel peanuts, and graffiti... All culminating with one glorious, sun-drenched reunion and of course - Coldplay 's ("Elephant Mask") encore in Johannesburg, South Africa . The band's fifth album, Mylo Xyloto is now conveniently available for your listening pleasure.

For nearly as long as I can remember, I've been an aficionado of any and all things Pop Culture : music, fashion, cinema, comic books, food, art, travel, etc. Rihanna has without a doubt been a Pop Culture mainstay since first assaulting the Billboard charts with "Pon de Replay" (2005). Since then, the Barbadian [Bajan] beauty has somehow managed to record and release 5 studio albums, 25 solo singles, and countless chart-topping features. A few of my personal favourites include: "Shut Up and Drive," "Disturbia," "Man Down," "Hard" and "Live Your Life." Gradually evolving and growing with each collection, Rihanna is now a mature Hard Rocking club hopper; She has surely seen her fair share of adversity, but always manages to prevail! With "We Found Love," Rihanna bravely explores the previously untouched genre destinations of Electro-House and Dance-Pop . The simple, Calvin Harris -produced tune is a h...

Affectionately [genre] classified as "House/Club/Gym," We Don't Belong In Pacha is the latest source of musical output for Londoner, Johan Hugo . Very much like the Popular rhythmic stylings of Hugo's primary effort, The Very Best (Radioclit) , Pacha is undoubtedly groove-heavy and without a doubt highly dance-able. Since forming We Don't Belong In Pacha in 2010-11, Johan Hugo has somehow already managed to assemble assorted remixes for the likes of Britney Spears, Lana del Rey , CSS, and Coldplay . The collective release(s) of "Arab Spring" and "Bad Boy †onigh†" mark Hugo's initial foray into the world of originally-composed, proper "solo" material. The latter's primary sample was lifted from "Bad Boy for Life" - The lead single from P. Diddy & The Bad Boy Family 's 2001 joint-crossover album, The Saga Continues... It seems as though Johan Hugo just returned from Malawi; Where he was busy recording...

"After headlining Lollapalooza last weekend, British hit-makers Coldplay have announced a release date and title for their fifth studio album: Mylo Xyloto will arrive October 24-25th. While there's no word as to what the title actually means, graffiti has a major conceptual influence here -- the cover features a collage of various street art -- and it's something they've mentioned in interviews (and espoused in the video for lead single "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall." ) Additionally, a special limited edition [pressing] of the album will include a graffiti-style pop-up book designed by David A. Carter . No tracklisting was revealed, but the band's been playing a handful of new material in live shows this summer, like "Charlie Brown," which they performed on Jimmy Kimmel , "Us Against the World," "Hurts Like Heaven," and "Major Minus," which they rolled out in Germany, and the aforementioned "Waterfa...