The Witzard

It's really a wonder how Future Islands frontman Sam Herring came to be the highly-scrutinized then "unnamed emcee" behind Madlib 's latest masterpiece, Trouble Knows Me EP ; unlike his fellow Hip-Hop -loving Indie Rock brethren Paul Banks and Peter Bjorn & John , Herring is front and center with some surprisingly sharp-tongued rhyming skills. Sam Herring has quietly been playing Baltimore club gigs under his Hemlock Ernst rapping alter ego between Future Islands album cycles since around June 2013, in addition to "waxing poetic" wordplay alongside the likes of Gangrene & Earl Sweatshirt , Scallops Hotel, Du Blonde , and Rapdragons. " Madlib x Hemlock Ernst project Trouble Knows Me officially dropped today [September 1st]. The Master & The Student. Double Dragon," @futureislands ecstatically Tweeted Tuesday afternoon upon the release of Herring's first widely-available "solo" project. Trouble Knows Me EP , wh...

"I'm the epitome of all fly sh*t — jacket to the shoe sole / Two shooters, Flanagan, Caruso / Fly girl stuffed the drug in her caboose-o / "I see Bronson in the chartreuse coupe mo" / My eyes sparkle like a diva's mirror," charismatic sharp-tongued emcee Action Bronson effortlessly rhymes atop producer Tommy Mas' thumping James Bond -esque "Driving Gloves" beat; similar to a Jaylib -style double rapper-producer Underground Hip-Hop pairing, The Alchemist & Oh No are currently preparing to release their third full-length Gangrene album since initially forming back in 2007. " You Disgust Me begins where Vodka & Ayahuasca [2012] left off, with Al and Oh lyrically vandalizing the minds of the masses over gritty, Psychedelic Jazz, Rock , and Fusion -tinged beats," reads a recent Mass Appeal Records press release, which effectively describes Mas' brooding, Surfaris "Wipe Out" -leaning production work. Est...

"HOW DO YOU DO? HI MATT. SORRY FOR [BEING] LATE. I AM MAIKO . MUNGUNI 'S AGENT. THE VINYL I WANT WAS DECIDED. WHICH PICTURE OF MUNGUNI 'S DO YOU WISH FOR?" read a rather interesting hand-drawn Instagram message I received from Japanese artist @munguni's agent early Friday morning. "I WANT MADLIB 'S NEW EP. 'THE UNNAMED' OUT JULY 18 ON RAPPCATS' POP UP STORE," Maiko specifically requested in exchange for a custom-designed piece of original artwork. Miraculously, I was somehow able to score two screen-printed copies of Trouble Knows Me EP from Rappcats' first limited small batch pressing, which reportedly sold out in just under an hour. Egon & Rappcats then hosted a special one night only live screen-printing pop-up event with Hit & Run following Madlib 's Friday night show at Chicago 's own The Mid ; a second similar event was additionally held yesterday (Saturday, July 18th) at a Los Angeles Rappcats pop-...

"Fresh off the heels of compiling a musically diverse compilation for GTAV 's Welcome to Los Santos , The Alchemist and Oh No are back, bringing their Gangrene noise on a whole other level with the release of their long-awaited third full-length record You Disgust Me ," Gangrene 's Nas -fronted label, Mass Appeal Records described in the Hip-Hop duo's latest Soundcloud press release. " You Disgust Me begins where Vodka & Ayahuasca left off, with Al and Oh lyrically vandalizing the minds of the masses over gritty, Psychedelic Jazz , Rock and Fusion -tinged beats;" not limited to, but including samples of Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention and 1960-70's Dutch Blues-Rock band, Shocking Blue . Frequent collaborators Action Bronson and Evidence appear alongside Gangrene new-comers Sean Price , veteran emcee Havoc of Mobb Deep, Your Old Droog , Fashawn, and Chuck Stranglers ... although we still have yet to hear that long-rum...

Almost effortlessly cruisin' down the same nautical, boatshoed lane as Yacht Rock pioneers like Christopher Cross , Steely Dan, Beach Boys , and Hall & Oates, The Alchemist quietly released one long 12-minute track [EP] appropriately dubbed "YACHT ROCK (Side A-B)" late Wednesday afternoon. It's pretty much the perfect soundtrack for throwing back a few boat-side brews, which might've been partially inspired by The Alchemist 's fruitful shades/readers partnership with 9FIVE Eyewear ; Hypebeast eloquently describes the glasses as " 9FIVE Watson frames [with] a custom black and grey pattern added to the outer portions with red leather wrapped around the temple tips. The sunglasses variant receives polarized black lenses, while the reader model features clear CR-39 lenses." Now, while that all sounds pretty TIGHT, $150's a little steep for 2 pairs of glasses, a fancy striped box, and a RARE 7-inch record... So, The Alchemist has libera...