The Witzard

It's been 27 years since the world first heard Beck Hansen's Slacker Rap anthem, "Loser." Although, I would have been six at the time, I can vaguely recall hearing it just a few short years later. To be completely honest, Beck was the first White/Jewish rapper I had ever heard, aside from Beastie Boys Adam "MCA" Yauch, Michael "Mike D" Diamond, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, of course. Beck would eventually recruit The Beasties' Paul's Boutique producers, The Dust Brothers, to helm his own cult classic, Odelay (1996) and a couple albums later, 1999's Midnite Vultures. Beck has always managed to effortlessly teeter the lines between Hip-Hop, Indie Rock, Folk, Alt. Country, Dance-Rock/Pop, etc. and even won Album of The Year GRAMMY for his 2014 effort, Morning Phase. Strangely, in stark contrast to Folk-leaning Morning Phase, Beck's two albums released since, Colors & Hyperspace, have been a bit more Mainstream Dance Roc...

Last Friday was quite the busy day for critically-acclaimed drummer/producer Travis Barker : his remix for rising Pop songstress Maggie Lindemann 's "Friends Go" was released, as well as "F9mily (You and Me)" from Country/Rap emcee Lil Nas X 's latest 7 EP, AND his main gig, Blink-182 released a new song, "Generational Divide." As many of you may know by now, long-time co-vocalist and guitarist, Tom DeLonge , was fired/quit Blink back in 2015. Prior to this, the band had been active with Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge & Travis Barker from 1998-2005, then, the band broke up for about four years, and reunited in 2009 for numerous world-wide tours. FULL DISCLOSURE: Blink-182 was amongst my first favorite Punk/Hardcore bands, so I'm a bit biased! I've always stated, I was happy when Blink returned—although, Mark & Travis' Electro-Rock/Pop-Punk band (+44) formed in the interim, put out one of my all-time favorite albums!—although...

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. ...

Justin Timberlake released his long-awaited fifth studio album, Man of The Woods today, which has taken him "back to his Nashville roots," as well as his pre- Timbaland production partners, The Neptunes . This upcoming Sunday, Timberlake will also make his return to Super Bowl LII , playing his first half-time show since 2004's Super Bowl XXXVIII half-time show controversy, widely regarded as "Nipplegate." "When it was announced JT would return to the Super Bowl , after spectacularly failing to stand by [Janet] Jackson at the height of his career, it started bugging me more," one half of Epic Beard Men , B. Dolan wrote on Soundcloud early Friday morning. "I started out to make a single one of these mash-ups out of curiosity. Then, I kept going because I'm petty and a music nerd and it was stunningly easy," @BDolanSFR continued. B. Dolan is of course, referring to his "dope, highly unofficial 30-minute satirical mix"...

Chefren "Chef The Chef" Gray is a rapper-producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer hailing from Bridgeport, Connecticut . He recently emailed me, after being referred to The Witzard by my past collaborator CURTA , with a link to his latest 10-track project DEMONZZZ . Chef The Chef is playing a CURTA show along with fellow openers Zak G + ECID & PremRock at Connecticut 's own Stella Blues this upcoming Thursday, October 12th at 8:00pm, as part of CURTA 's awesomely-named Circus In a Suitcase 2017 Tour . "I was really influenced by my surroundings. My experiences and just the mental battles I fight everyday. So, I called it DEMONZZZ because I wanted people to instantly be able to see right through me," Chef The Chef wrote within an emailed statement. "I wanted to be very transparent. I feel like being vulnerable is a valuable trait in deciphering who we are as people," he continued. Chefren Gray initially told me he created DEMONZZZ ...

"I got body, no matter what I wear." "Got Body" VIDEO IN BIO! Directed by Julian Branciforte . Celebrate your difference, your individuality, your heritage, your family, your love, your hair, your ancestors, your growth, your skin, your organs, your fat, your bones! We really don't need to look, act, or be the same. It is a distraction. Celebrate life and the changes that come with it. Surround yourself with love!" @lionbabe recently wrote within an exuberant, self-empowering statement accompanying their latest Begin single, "Got Body." LION BABE consists of sultry songstress, dancer, and H&M & Pantene model Jillian Hervey and multi-instrumentalist and record producer Lucas "Astro Raw" Goodman . "Hervey dances in the streets, record stores, and subway train cars, while Goodman purchases and makes a beat on what appears to be a Roland SP-404 sampler; the duo eventually meets up with friends for a chill session,...

While they may be a little out of my typical wheelhouse of head-nodding Hip-Hop or fist-clenching Punk Rock , I've always been a casual fan and long-time admirer of Radiohead 's rather unique aesthetic and business tactics... name-your-price In Rainbows , Kid A, OK Computer , I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, The King of Limbs , Amnesiac, and COM LAG (2plus2isfive) . Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and his band mates have seemingly always attempted to employ an underlying Hip-Hop feel and have a mutual respect for the genre as a whole; Philly -bred Tonight Show band The Roots sampled them on Game Theory stand-out "Atonement," as did Kanye, Pharrell & Lupe Fiasco 's short-lived super-group Child Rebel Soldier (CRS) , and even Portishead founder Geoff Barrow & Katalyst went as far as to revamp "Fitter Happier" on a Guilty Simpson & MED -asssisted Quakers cut. Yorke has even managed to work alongside the mysterious masked villain h...

"How many times, Pusha T , did producers say to you, "come to the studio right now or we're gonna give this beat to Jay Z ?" Nardwuar The Human Serviette politely asked Pusha T during a 2013 post- Canadian show interview. "Well, one time.. and that was for the "Grindin'" beat and that was Pharrell Williams ... and he's supposed to be my best friend. Right? But this guy actually threatened to give the "Grindin'" beat to Jay Z , if I did not come to the studio right then and right there. I actually came, and I'm glad he did because that record was groundbreakin' for me, Pusha T exuberantly quipped. One 1/2 of early 2000's Virginia Beach -bred Coke Rap phenoms, Clipse , Pusha T – otherwise known as the newly-elected President of Kanye 's re-launched label, G.O.O.D. Music – is gearing up to unleash his long-rumored 2-part King Push album; part one, titled Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude features productio...

"That image just came to me as a bit of a non [sequitur]. I was imagining being camping with a girl who had underestimated the amount of kerosene to bring. Just a sliver of the sort of forgiveness and empathy one must have in a relationship," prolific singer-songwriter D.A. Wallach recently explained during an emailed interview for this very publication on the eve of his proper debut record, Time Machine ; with the specific song fragment in question being "Long Way Down'" s poetically-worded non sequitur, "girl, if we run outta kerosene, don't say I never told ya... might be embarrassing, but I'm still here to hold ya." Time Machine is, quite frankly, without a shadow of doubt, amongst the most note-worthy albums released throughout 2015, alongside a rather unlikely cast of characters including Detroit -bred emcee Guilty Simpson , Action Bronson, Run The Jewels , Mark Ronson, and Stones Throw 's premier Reggae act, The Lions . Nearly ...

"I'm the poster child for alleged drug dealers. These n***as mention my name with their little rumors and their little jewelers. That's no threat, that's no sweat," former Virginia Beach drug dealer and Clipse emcee Pusha T ferociously rhymes on his latest solo single; a Dr. Dre -sanctioned freestyle over Meek Mill 's "R.I.C.O," which notoriously kick-started Mill and Drake 's ghostwriter allegation-slinging beef. For the record, whether he in fact endorses and makes use of ghostwriters or not, Drake 's rapid-released double-header "Back to Back" and "Charged Up" absolutely slayed and effectively obliterated Meek Mill 's abysmal retaliation diss, "Wanna Know." "Real money ain't shy. No, lay it out... get a tan on it. They say numbers don't lie. Well, dope boy, put your bands on it," Kanye 's "Runaway" protégé poignantly rhymes elsewhere on "R.I.C.O," whic...

"Before, I used to make records when I made music... then, I decided to make culture. And as I got older, I decided I'm going to make fashion. Ladies and gentlemen, listen and watch some fashion," rapper-producer and mogul Sean Combs aka Puff Daddy preached to an audience full of industry insiders, rappers, producers, record execs, and socialites Tuesday night at an impromptu listening party. The matter at hand: Puffy 's first project since Last Train to Paris (2010), MMM – short for Money Makin' Mitch , a self-described "sonic motion picture." Puff Daddy & The Family 's long-rumored proper return-to-form, MMM appears to be a precursor to Combs' apparent final album, No Way Out II . Diddy 's initial hustler's ambition-leaning concept behind MMM was first brainstormed during an evening of " Netflix and Ciroc & lemonade," in which he and his lady finally got around to watching Dame Dash 's cult classic Shakesp...

"We're trying not to think too much in a cartoon sense, but more just like a psychedelic, otherworldly type of thing. If you want to draw a parallel, maybe think of what The Beatles did with Yellow Submarine ," Chad Hugo , one half of hit-making production team The Neptunes , recently told Variety about their forthcoming work on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water . "Squeeze Me," which was released online Friday afternoon, is the first track accredited to N*E*R*D since their 2010 group album, Nothing ; Hugo, Pharrell , and Shay Haley 's critically-acclaimed Funk-Rock fusion side-band has remained largely inactive over the past 4-5 years since its release. While Pharrell seemingly confirmed that N*E*R*D 's "nature-based" fourth album has been in-the-works since around 2013, nothing of any magnitude has yet materialized. But to their credit, "Squeeze Me" is a jangly Caribbean -infused track that's likely comparable to...

"Jesus Christ, #LunchMoney make me wanna sucker-punch 14 Elk in the nose. Might be my fav @PUSHA_T backdrop since #Trill or #RideAroundShinin ," Tonight Show bandleader @questlove exuberantly Tweeted. Former Clipse emcee Pusha T is supposedly holed up in the studio with Pharrell/The Neptunes , Kanye, and rookie producer Hudson Mohawke , earnestly working on the follow-up to his impeccable solo debut, My Name Is My Name (2013), tentatively titled "King Push." Early Tuesday morning without any prior rhyme or reason, a new thumping Kanye -produced track appeared on Google Play all of a sudden, which quickly disappeared; it was later premiered on Funkmaster Flex 's radio show and soon thereafter, spread like wildfire across The Internet. " Kanye 's best for ["Lunch Money"] is a gurgling, lurching soup of confusing, disorienting sounds, but all those sounds are built around a very basic, very funky pulse," Stereogum's very o...

"It's music that's gonna thrive in the club... it's not anything like what you've heard from Kendrick before. It's not like anything else that's out there right now," Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg ambiguously lamented about a fragmented chunk of Kendrick Lamar 's highly anticipated, as-yet-untitled forthcoming third album. Lamar recently told Rolling Stone that he's recorded "a bunch of tracks" with illusive super-producer Dr. Dre , Pharrell, Rahki , and in-house TDE production team Digi+Phonics . While he additionally referred to the album as "aggression and emotion"-filled, lead single "i" is a light-hearted, self-affirming affair. It seems as though Kendrick Lamar even recruited bass virtuosos Thundercat to add an appended Funked up bass intro onto "i" for its recent Alexandre Moors & The Little Homies directed video treatment. "Stop! Stop! We talkin' about peace... a piece of yours...

Flying Lotus' latest Warp Records -released creation, You're Dead! features a wide array of contributions from an unlikely gamut of collaborators including Kendrick Lamar , Snoop Dogg, Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock , Angel Deradoorian, frequent collaborator Thundercat , and even Lotus' own rapping alter-ego Captain Murphy; but according to a flurry of late night Tweets the other night, for whatever reasons, additional tracks recorded with super-star guests Pharrell , Chance The Rapper, Mac Miller , and supplementary Kendrick Lamar material were ultimately scrapped. Aside from dwelling on what could have been... Flying Lotus unleashed the first Lamar-assisted single from You're Dead! , "Never Catch Me" nearly one week prior to the album's release, last Wednesday, October 1st. It's an oddly heartwarming life-affirming, death-defying clip, which only showcases a brief milli-second glimpse of Steven Ellison (Lotus) himself, who's quietly seated ...

Let's just say, for argument's sake, that Kanye 's recent Aggro-Hip-Hop meltdown of an album Yeezus is a 10 on a scale of mid-career re-defining albums, which would then put Asher Roth 's long-delayed and well-matured second album, RetroHash at a solid five. It's technically a "Hip-Hop" album at it's beat-centric core, but Blended Babies' genre-blending production work ultimately helps Roth effortlessly bob and weave throughout a gaggle of assorted musical styles; "It's a classy little nugget — very unique — a little Prince , little Jazz , all Asher. You should be proud regardless of what happens commercially. You've created something distinctly you. Almost a concept album. Really good," as Asher Roth 's father David wrote in a praise-filled April 22nd text message. It's been a fairly long tumultuous road for RetroHash , which has been about 3-5 years in-the-making and was tentatively titled both The Spaghetti Tree ...

Miguel has unleashed his own unique rendition of Elton John 's classic Glam-Rock romp "Bennie & The Jets," which kinda sounds like a modern day version of Sly & The Family Stone . It's one of nine meticulously re-recorded super deluxe edition covers set to appear on the 40th anniversary edition of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road . Miguel manages to keep John's original piano melody intact, while inter-splicing an Electro-Hip-Hop , almost Space-Funk -leaning backing groove. About half-way through "Bennie & The Jets," you can year Maybach Music Group veteran rapper Wale , who sounds a little bit more displaced than Miguel . Sir Reginald Dwight himself recently told Rolling Stone that Miguel & Wale's updated version "really makes the best of what the song is all about. And it's an unusual song. it's not what I think is a hit record, but then that's probably why it was a hit record, because it didn't sound like anyt...

It's pretty awesome how wildly popular something as arguably inaccessible as Daft Punk 's sun-soaked Pharrell & Nile Rodgers -assisted 1970's Soul-Funk revival, "Get Lucky" slowly became one of the break-out hits of last summer; "Getting lucky is not just sleeping with her, but meeting someone for the first time and it just clicking. There's no better fortune in this existence to me," Pharrell explained within a pre-album Creators Project segment. Their Grammy -winning album, Random Access memories featured vocal contributions from the lies of Julian Casablancas , Panda Bear, Paul Williams , Chilly Gonzales, as well as a couple aggro-production credits on Kanye 's latest Industrial-Rap album, Yeezus . While it's true validity has yet to be 100% fully confirmed, a previously unreleased Daft Punk & Jay Z track suddenly materialized on The Internet Monday afternoon. Kanye to The forum user LordLordLord uploaded "Computer...

Despite the fact, or maybe because, he looks like a modern day hippie burn-out, Asher Roth is easily one of the most talented and criminally under-rated emcees in all of the Boom-Bap land. While I've been a fan since "I Love College," I'll be amongst the first to admit that Roth's mixtapes have always been infinitely stronger than his lone radio-friendly album, Asleep In The Bread Aisle (2009). But with that said, all of Asher Roth 's non-album projects have sufficiently spotlighted his lyrical progression and sense of zen-like calm, cool, and collectiveness during an ill-fated and now severed deal with Def Jam ; Seared Foie Gras with Quince & Cranberry , RAWTH EP, Pabst & Jazz , and The GreenHouse Effect (Vol. 2) are therefore the missing creative links between Asleep In The Bread Aisle and his upcoming sophomore album, RetroHash . Although there's really no way of telling if it's even the same collection of songs, Roth's perpetual...

Pharrell arguably had one of the most successful years of his career last year with the combined mega-success of "Get Lucky," "Blurred Lines," and countless other chart-topping hits. Late Tuesday night, news broke that Pharrell 's long-rumored second solo album, now titled G I R L will see a March 3-4th release. Pharrell himself described the album as "the difference between [age] 30 and 40" during a career-spanning Complex interview and in stark contrast with both In My Mind (2006) and N*E*R*D , G I R L will supposedly feature "no rapping" whatsoever. While I've always thought Pharrell was a pretty impressive rapper-producer, he's a damn awesome singer and hook-man, as well. "Happy," the first single of the album's 10 currently untitled tracks, is a prime example of Skateboard P 's singing chops; it was originally composed for the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack and almost functions as a modern day all-a...