The Witzard

"GOING INTO THE SPACE... I GIVE SO MUCH OF MY HEART... OPENING MYSELF UP TO THE WORLD... AS MY SOUL BECOMES PUBLIC DOMAIN, [WHICH IS] A BEAUTIFUL THING... BUT WITH THAT ALSO COMES [YOU KNOW] HATRED [AND SH*T]... I'VE HAD TO GROW THIS CALLUS [AROUND MYSELF] TO PROTECT MY HEART," vocalist, producer, DJ, and yoga teacher Sumach "Gonjasufi" Valentine warbled within a crackly, baren Warp Records message dubbed Callus (Introduction) , which additionally included a fragment of his as-yet-unreleased song, "Surfinfinity." For those who may be largely unfamiliar, Sumach 's biggest claim to fame would likely be working alongside Jay Z and producer Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshu on his genre-eschewing Magna Carta... Holy Grail (which samples "Nikels and Dimes" ) and was once described by Pitchfork Senior Editor Ryan Dombal as "a scraggly, scary, smoked-out croak that creeps like the spiritual offspring of George Clinton and Leadbe...

Art Hip-Hop enthusiast and criminally under-rated California -by-way-of- Chicago emcee Open Mike Eagle has recently linked up with Beats, Frames & Life and producer, Alwayz Prolific (Taco Neck) to release "Qualiifiers." A Hellfyre Club member and Busdriver affiliate, Eagle set up a make-shift stage/studio in a 24-hour laundromat and Giovanni Solis just so happened to film it. okayplayer quite appropriately describes Beats, Frames & Life 's video series The Show as "where they take artists they fux with and have them perform in the most random places." It's great because you can genuinely tell that no one's in on the joke; a bunch of people washing and folding their clothes were just treated to an impromptu Open Mike Eagle & Alwayz Prolific mini-show! "Qualifiers" is simply down and dirty Hip-Hop @ it's best, part of which includes ferocious bars like: "Sick days, I got two left / So, I take five, Dave Brubec...