The Witzard

Tanya Morgan is a Hip-Hop group hailing from Concinnati, Ohio and Brooklyn, New York. Its current line-up includes emcee, producer, and DJ William Donald "Donwill" Freeman (Don) and emcee and producer Devon "Von Pea" Callender (Von.) Tanya Morgan has remotely recorded and released four full-length albums, an online mixtape, and countless EP's and singles since their formation in 2003. Now, Don & Von are back with their fifth full-length album, simply titled Don & Von. This time, the duo steps out from behind the odd moniker to show listeners that they exist in a world that's all their own. The 12-track album tackles a wide range of topics, including their tenure in the Hip-Hop game, police brutality, and being Black in America. For Don & Von, Tanya Morgan recruited a handful of their old collaborators from back in the day when they first met in the okayplayer Forums. Don & Von features guest vocals from Miss Jack Davey (J*DaVeY,) Kooley ...

Toronto, Ontario, Canada's own Jazz-Fusion trio BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG) returned this morning with a previously unannounced YouTube PREMIERE for "Signal from The Noise." BBNG got their start around 2010-11 covering popular Hip-Hop artists, such as A Tribe Called Quest, Gucci Mane, MF DOOM, Nas, Odd Future, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Slum Village, Tyler, The Creator, Wacka Flocka Flame, and Kanye West in their soon-trademark Hip-Hop, Jazz, Funk-melding stylings. In addition to the aforementioned artists they've covered, BBNG have either recorded original music or played live with the likes of Black Milk, Mary J. Blige, Danny Brown, Daniel Caesar, Bootsy Collins, Denzel Curry, Frank Dukes, Elzhi, Future Islands, Ghostface Killah, Freddie Gibbs, Samuel T. Herring, Brittany Howard, Idle Warship (Talib Kweli,) Mick Jenkins, JJ DOOM, KAYTRANADA, Kendrick Lamar, Little Dragon, MF DOOM, Snoop Dogg, Colin Stenson, Earl Sweatshirt, Thundercat, Tyler, The Creator, Kali Uchis, and Wu...

A Common Wonder - The Sixth Superstition by A Common Wonder " Stevie Wonder 's early use of synthesizers, drum machines, and samplers, in a lot of ways, paved the way for Hip-Hop and sampling. Part of my motivation for this project was to highlight those contributions," Nashville -based producer Amerigo Gazaway proclaimed within a recent press release. Gazaway is, of course, the genre-bending producer and remixer behind critically-acclaimed mash-up albums—are people still calling them "mash-ups?"—such as Yasiin Gaye: The Departure and The Return (Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def & Marvin Gaye,) Fela Soul (Fela Kuti & De La Soul,) B​.​B. & The Underground Kingz: The Trill Is Gone (B.B. King & UGK,) Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to The Pharcyde , and more like-minded projects. It would appear as though Amerigo Gazaway is likely referring to Stevie Wonder 's beloved and world-renown string of seven "classic period" albums released between 197...

Chicago-bred writer Ronnie Reese has had the unique opportunity to pen a number of Stones Throw on-site press releases – including Mayer Hawthorne, WHITE BOIZ, Myron & E, and Tony Cook – J Dilla's online biography, countless pieces for Wax Poetics, a number of Blue Note re-issues, and Dilla's posthumous 2007 Ruff Draft EP re-issue; although, Reese very well may have just written the single most important pieces of his career... the expansive liner notes for Now-Again's recently assembled compilation of Dilla's long-lost "MCA album," now re-titled THE DIARY . J Dilla's nixed MCA album, otherwise formerly known as "Pay Jay," would have featured outsourced production work from the likes of House Shoes, Nottz, Karriem Riggins, Hi-Tek, Madlib, and Pete Rock and is arguable, as coveted by Hip-Hop heads as a beat-laden version of The Beach Boys' long-fabled and heavily bootlegged SMiLE. I've recently been in contact with Ronnie Reese, whose...

" Dilla spent the better part of 2002 working on an album for MCA that featured his rapping over contributions from other producers with whom he had connected and whose music he respected. At the time, he was known primarily for his beats, yet reviled for his [emceeing] by mist anyone not from his hometown of Detroit . The project was to be an intentional freak of the industry," Chicago writer and film-maker Ronnie Reese wrote within his liner notes accompanying Stones Throw 's 2007 expanded re-issue of Ruff Draft EP . J Dilla 's ultimately scrapped and indefinitely shelved '02 MCA Album , or "Pay Jay," as it's long been referred, was recorded between his widely underrated BBE solo debut Welcome 2 Detroit and adventurous stylistic shift that materialized across Ruff Draft EP during his relocation from Detroit to LA . " Dilla had agreed to a one-year contract on MCA with an option for a second, provided he produced two accepted releas...

"There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or fame... but if you just focus on the work and you don't let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going, you'll look back and know that it was you," Taylor Swift passionately proclaimed Monday night whilst accepting her Album of The Year GRAMMY ; an apparent rebuttal to long-time frenemy Kanye West's exceedingly distasteful claims that he "made that b*tch famous" and that "[he] and Taylor might still have sex," lines which he previously proclaimed to be Kim & Taylor -approved. Let me first, preface this by saying that I've been a Kanye fan ever since "Through The Wire" and The College Dropout , although, I don't exactly agree with his latest burst of social media over-activity and apparent mental breakdown ... relentlessly bashing poor Taylor Swift , begging Mark Zuc...

" Share My Bed = MJ & Dilla 1st track, "Player Has Butterflies" ...wait [for] the rest," read a vague 2009 Stones Throw post. Beat Junkies co-founder and former Black Star & Jaylib DJ J. Rocc has seemingly been working on some sort of unspecified J Dilla/Michael Jackson mash-up project for the past 5+ years. Dilla was a known Jackson (5) super-fan and even sampled "Dancing Machine" for Q-Tip 's solo track "Move" (2008), originally appearing on his Beat CD '05 #3 web-bootleg. I can vaguely remember downloading a copy of my first J Dilla album, Champion Sound with Madlib (2003). It falls right between what I would consider his two greatest works, Ruff Draft EP and his magnum opus, Donuts . Little did I know, at the time, that Dilla's health was slowly failing because of lupus complications and a rare blood disorder; he ultimately passed away on February 10th, 2006. I didn't realize til a few years later, bu...

While they've released 2 quick-strike 12" EP's together, there's always been an underlying promise of a larger Madlib & Freddie Gibbs project: "Cocaine Piñata." Even though it still has a "due later this year" loose release date, we now have a tentative guest list: Raekwon , Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown , Domo Genesis, Joey Bada$$ , Ab-Soul, BJ The Chicago Kid , Meech (Flatbush Zombies), Casey Veggies , Mac Miller, Polyester The Saint , and G-Wiz. Adult Swim 's own Williams Street Records imprint has unleashed a non-album (or possible Cocaine Piñata ) track, "City" with Karriem Riggins , which they uploaded to Soundcloud earlier today, slightly ahead of it's Monday Internet -wide release. For what it's worth, "City" also kinda duals as an unofficial Supreme Team reunion; Madlib & Karriem Riggins' long-defunct golden era Hip-Hop revival crew that's only ever put out a few stellar hard-to...

Pay Jay , quite arguably the "Holy Grail" of unreleased J Dilla material, briefly leaked online a few years ago; The infamous MCA -commissioned vocal album that Dilla recorded with friends-producers ?uestlove & Karriem Riggins , Nottz, Kanye , Pete Rock, Supa Dave West , Hi-Tek, and Bink! [Dawg] . From what I can remember, it featured a pre- "Takeover" Doors ("Five to One") sample flip, a Funky Vanity 6 "Drive Me Wild" cover, and just one previously released track - " Fuck The Police." Thankfully, Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey recently re-gained the rights to a storage locker full of old DAT and 2-inch tape masters, which were obviously used to re-mix/master the 11+ tracks. Pay Jay Productions plans to release The Diary sometime during 2013-14 and it's material represents the unknown period in-between J Dilla 's self-produced Rap albums, Welcome 2 Detroit and Ruff Draft EP (2001-02). Standout track ...

Having laid down drumwork for everyone from Paul McCartney to Madlib , Karriem Riggins is finally ready to unleash his proper solo debut full-length. Alone Together is being pressed up through Stones Throw and is slated for an October 23rd release date; While members of their "Digital Subscription Club" will supposedly get an early pre-release sometime this Summer in 2 separate parts - Alone/Together . Even though it's still nearly 3-4 months away, Peanut Butter Wolf decided to premier the first taste of Riggins' Hip-Hop Beat CD a couple days ago, "Moogy Foog It." Fresh off the heels of "The Brick," Alone Together plays out like a Hip-Hip Beat CD-R ... Karriem Riggins himself labeling it as the "right intersection of Hip-Hop and Jazz ." In addition, Stones Throw also labels it as a "34-track instrumental odyssey" that's ultimately influenced by nearly every aspect of Riggins' musical career thus far. Sel...

Ma Dukes is prepping to release her son J Dilla 's long-awaited third posthumous album, Rebirth of Detroit this coming June 12th. Following Dilla 's sudden 2006 passing, 2 other incomplete records were eventually finished and released: The Shining (2006) and Jay Stay Paid (2009) at the hands of producers, Karriem Riggins/Pete Rock . Throughout his short career, J Dilla supposedly recorded troves of music that only his inner circle had ever heard; But now that his estate has gained back the rights to most of these "lost recordings," I'm hoping to see a few more proper releases like this fairly soon! Danny Brown , Guilty Simpson, Amp Fiddler , Illa J, Frank Nitt , Chuck Inglish, and Phat Kat are set to appear over 25 unreleased J Dilla donuts on Rebirth of Detroit . In preparation for the album, "Jay-Dee's Revenge" & "Birthright" will be issued as a limited edition 10-12" single on May 25th. So, don't forget: Rebirth of...