The Witzard

Not trying to brag here whatsoever, but I've been on the Mayer Hawthorne New-Wop "bandwagon" since day one; I can remember seeing him on what I believe was his first tour behind A Strange Arrangement (2009) at First Unitarian Church in South Philly . Mayer Hawthorne & The County (which then, still included Topher Mohr ) essentially played a church basement to a room full of colorfully diverse concert-goers: Hip-Hop heads, "preppy" kids decked out in suits and ties — much like my buddy Brad and I, Indie Rock hipsters, and a handful of displaced Punk Rockers . J Dilla 's right-hand man, DJ Houseshoes opened the night's show with a barrage of white people-friendly Hip-Hop classics including Dilla , A Tribe Called Quest, Jaylib , and "I don't know why the f*ck I'm f*ckin' with you" (which distinctively sticks out ha). After the concert, I immediately bolted back to my car to grab my pseudo-alligator skin A Strange Arrang...

"Today is February 7th, 2013, which means it is the birthday of one of the greatest Hip-Hop producers of all time, James Yancey aka J Dilla ; Today, he would've been 39 years old. It's incredible that every month of February for the last 8 years that Dilla 's life & music is celebrated around the whole world. It's also bittersweet because he was taken from us in such an early age when it looked like he was really get ready to take the world by storm. I [was] been very lucky & blessed to be part of his close circle of friends when he moved to Los Angeles . Not only was he was a talented individual and one of the nicest & humble guy I ever met, he was also a private person... You definitely [didn't] want to get on his nerves LOL!! I know there's a lot of Dilla Tribute mixes out there, and me personally, I don't think there's anyone that can out top a Dilla mix that was made by my fellow Beat Junkie & the 3rd member of J...