The Witzard

New-comer Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire reminds me very much of Biz Markie ... wherein @ any given moment in time, you're not entirely sure if he's fucked up, prolific, "mental" [zany], or TOTALLY serious. Last week, Мишка (Mishka) liberated eXquire's debut mixtape, Lost In Translation , to the masses. It's 18 contained tracks channel that raw energy/talent that Tom Breihan & I have [very] recently championed. The mixtape features beats pain-stakingly crafted by Charli Brown Beatz, Necro, El-P (Cannibal Ox), Constrobuz, Jake-One, BoweryBeats, Esoteric , and eXquire himself. Note: The young New York rapper's vocal stylings may remind seasoned fans of Wu-Tang Soldier, Method Man 's notorious rhyming abilities. For all intensive purposes, "Huzzah" is being pushed as Lost In Translation 's lead single. Directed by TKTK Media and filmed entirely in black-and-white, the music video for "Huzzah" (Bonus Remix) features fellow...

Let's face it... It's almost 2012 and by now, most of us have heard of Stargate , weather we're aware of it or not. Since their 1997 inception, the Norwegian production team, consisting of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen , has managed to fine-tune a number of Grammy-winning hit for artists like: Rihanna , Katy Perry , Beyoncé , Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa , and Marina & The Diamonds . I have to admit, I'm a [casual] fan of many of their radio singles - Not even knowing who was behind the creation of these lush, layered tracks. One could even go as far as to say that Stargate was [partially] responsible for honing the genre-bending sounds of Popular albums: Rated R - Loud , Rolling Papers , and Teenage Dream . Kassa Overall , it seems, is a fan of Hermansen & Eriksen 's varied array of works, as well. For all intensive purposes, the Harlem -based drummer/rapper-producer's latest aptly-titled mixtape is based around nothing but Stargate ...

Das Racist - "Michael Jackson" "Below, is a track-by-track commentary on Kanye's [ My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ]. I wrote it on my Blackberry on an airplane 32,000 feet in the air, while listening to the album in its entirety for the first time. Kanye West is the most important rapper of the last 10 years and the most important rapper/producer of all of Hip-Hop.... 1.) "Dark Fantasy" Nicki Minaj's English accent is pretty bad. This is the 2nd most anthemic song on an album of anthems. Subtle anthemic swag. Trumpets. Pianos. Beat is dripping 90's Rap. Songs from the "Runaway" video now can't escape its imagery - which I think is dope. 'bravery in bravado'. Headless horseman motif - here Kanye and oral sex, there convertibles and Pusha T. Celine Dion is ugly. "The plan was to drink until the pain over / But what's worse, the pain or the hangover" - the stuff 90's aol personal profile favorite quotes...