The Witzard

earlytwothousands by Drew Scott Baltimore -based producer and beat-maker Drew Scott had quite a big year in 2018: first and foremost, he got married to his long-time partner and frequent collaborator, Pale Spring . Congrats to Drew & Emily ! Musically, Drew unleashed CRITTER from his "Basement" Pop alter-ego, Giddeon Gallows , as well as remixes from Butch Dawson , HI$TO, and Infinity Knives . Now, Drew Scott has effectively returned with his first proper release of 2019—something I've been hearing about for a while now— earlytwothousands ; just as it sounds, is an 8-track collection of early 2000's Hip-Hop remixes "featuring" Snoop Dogg , 50 Cent, Juelz Santana , Clipse & Pharrell, Ghostface Killah , T.I. Lil' Wayne , and JAY-Z. "It was just something I've been wanting to do. I was a teenager when these songs came out, which was around the same time I first started making beats," Drew Scott told The Witzard , via email. ...

Although he doesn't even make an appearance until about 2:35 into "Shame The Devil," No Malice 's new track marks the long-awaited reunion with his brother and former Clipse partner in crime, Pusha T ; It's the first unofficial Clipse track since Gene & Terrence Thornton parted ways some 3-4 years ago to embark on separate solo careers. Since signing to Kanye 's sprawling G.O.O.D. Music (DONDA) label/art-haus, Pusha T has largely kept in the same Coke Rap lane that Clipse pioneered back in the mid-90's; while Malice reportedly found religious solace, became a slightly more socially-conscious rapper, and for whatever reason, changed his emcee handle to "No Malice." These inner-band issues or creative differences are dually addressed on "Shame The Devil:" " Gene [Malice] found God, they thinking we at odds / Must ain't know my father, he ain't never spared a rod / Yuugh! It's two sides to a card / Just ...

Released just a few mere hours after "Open Letter" [below] and Tweeted along with a Kanye -fied message, "Our family HOV brought that real Hip-Hop shit this morning, so me and Pusha T wanna keep that feeling going." G.O.O.D. Music approved, Kanye/Don Cannon co-produced, and DONDA -commissioned artwork... "Numbers on The Boards" pulls a Jay-Z vocal sample from "Intro/A Million & One Questions/Rhyme No More" (1997). I'm pretty white and I still caught the whole "Ballers, I put numbers on the boards" basketball reference utilized on the track's hook. "Numbers on The Boards" is Pusha T 's first major release since his critically-acclaimed Wrath of Caine mixtape @ the top of the year; It might re-appear on My Name Is My Name , his long-rumored solo debut, which should be out sometime this upcoming May. Not unlike "Open Letter," from a sonic perspective, "Numbers on The Boards" ...

Pusha T is 1/2 of Clipse , which was basically 2 drug fiends-turned-rappers poetically bragging about their assorted exploits over The Neptunes' glitched out production work. Malice changed his name to No Malice last year, found religion, published a book called "Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind & Naked," and decided to peruse a solo career... Right around the same time that his brother, Pusha T inked a deal with G.O.O.D. Music (2010-11). Under Kanye 's frantic direction, he soon released Fear of God [mixtape] and it's re-packaged companion EP, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray . I must admit, while I had a Neptunes phase and really got into Hell Hath No Fury/Til The Casket Drops , I haven't delved too far into Pusha T 's solo material. He's also been featured prominently on Kanye's recent projects, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and label comp. Cruel Summer (2012). Serving as an audio palate cleanser/teaser for his upcoming d...