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. ...

Wu-Tang Clan emcee Ghostface Killah and Internet personality Big Ghost Ltd AKA Cocaine Biceps AKA The Illustrious Thor Molecules AKA The Infamous Galaxy Knuckles AKA Shampoo Bracelets The Panty-melter AKA The Mighty Hands of Zeus , believe it or not, have a long, strange history together. In his earliest aughts as a sh*t-talking writer/music critic around 2010-11, Big Ghost (then- Big Ghostface ) was actually, widely believed to be Ghostface Killah ; due in part to his 2011 Ayo The Top 10 Softest N****s In The Game! AKA GHOSTFACE KILLAH: TOP 10 SOFTEST RAPPERS IN THE GAME list. Ghostface Killah AKA Tony Starks AKA Ironman AKA Pretty Toney AKA Starky Love AKA The Wallabee Champ AKA Ghost Deini/Ghostdini AKA Sun God has continually released strong solo efforts and has been my personal favorite Wu-Tang swordsmen for the last 15+ years. Ghost was one of the first Wu-Tang/Killa Beez emcees to work with outside producers and in recent years, has worked with Apollo Bro...

"I'm available to edit all sorts of videos and create all sorts of content. I'm also available for interviews, shenanigans, or if you just need a friend - Adam@hiddentracktv.com ," reads part of the YouTube description for OutKast | "Ms. Jackson" | Muppets Version . Needless to say, after witnessing the sheer greatness that is Beastie Boys | "Sabotage" | Sesame Street Mashup on both Stereogum and NPR Music late last week, I quickly reached out to Mylo The Cat AKA isthishowyougoviral AKA Adam Schleichkorn just for sh*ts and giggles, thinking he most likely, wouldn't write back... but before day's end, Adam had already responded back to my email thanking me for contacting him and adding that "most websites just crank out articles" and generally, don't bother to reach out. From what I can piece together from the shattered shards scattered across The Internet , Adam Schleichkorn 's storied history with "going viral...

"I'd like to think of this album as more of a home-made mixtape you could burn to CD and give to Trick-or-Treaters . It's what I've been working on the past few months; music is a labor of love. I love releasing albums and sharing them with my friends and I intend to never stop. Put Down The Candy & Let The Little Boy Go! furthers that narrative. Maybe one day, I'll embrace my outer-adult to the fullest and find a real job. Til then, this is all I have," Evan Souza , better known as Darko The Super or Doc Heller , wrote within a message included along with his Trick-or-Treat -ready Haloween -themed mixtape. The Witzard previously premiered the mixtape's Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg -inspired title track , which Souza says was dually inspired by Slaves' recent Mike D (Beastie Boys) -produced album, Take Control . Darko The Super clever re-appropriated a line pulled from Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg 's Eazy-E dissing "F*ck wit Dre Day (and E...

"I made the beat [last week]. It's the first beat I made actually playing everything through my MIDI keyboard. I usually never do that. It felt good to have something completely mine in a way. I was listening to the new Slaves album [Take Control] produced by Mike D of Beastie Boys , before I made the beat; maybe that inspired the sound," Darko The Super (Evan Souza) wrote within a recent statement to accompany his latest single and music video, "Put Down The Candy & Let The Little Boy Go!," which he was kind enough to let me premier right here at The Witzard ! "Not too sure what the verses are about, but the chorus describes envying a friend and being dissatisfied with yourself because you're not in a better position like they are, but at least you know them. I wrote the lyrics while taking out the trash, getting a shower, and doing the dishes. I get most of my writing done doing daily tasks," Souza continued. Darko The Super addition...

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...

Heralded as a greenhorn rapper-producer project that's "shaping up to be easily the best thing on Stones Throw in [recent] years," despite the fact that they only have a mere two released tracks under their belt; Nxworries (pronounced: No Worries ) have managed to hone in a unique sound that could characteristically be best described as the missing link between George Clinton 's ground-breaking Parliament-Funkadelic and N.W.A. & Snoop Dogg 's G-Funk sub-genre of 1990's West Coast Hip-Hop that Clinton himself unknowingly helped inspire. Once distilled down to its R&B -leaning Hip-Hop core, Nxworries is essentially a sparse Jaylib -indebted "2 turntables and a microphone"-style project consisting of New Jersey -bred beatsmith Knxwledge and Dr. Dre's latest protégé, LA crooner Anderson .Paak . "He was a big part of me finding a sound that I was looking for and a tone that people are more familiar with now... when I started ...

"Ohh, what to do with childhood memories of frequenting overpriced boardwalk shops for gaudy sterling silver chains with dragons? You wait 12 years to flush them out in song form," newly-formed cousin-duo Jake D'Arc & Timmy Miller (Milky 22's) lamented within their Facebook band biography; a sentiment I can all too much relate to, having grown up frequenting "The Jersey Shore" summer after summer as a kid, much like D'Arc & Miller, who spent their summers down in beach-side town Ocean City, NJ along with brother/cousin Mike D'Arc . While on a brief hiatus from full-time band, Peanut Butter Lovesicle formed with D'Arc, Timmy Miller & Jake D'Arc managed to sporadically record some eight tracks in just one week's time at their Ocean City -based live-in studio space, The Ice Box ; five of those eight Summer 2014-recorded tracks have recently been collected, mixed, and mastered by Jake D'Arc & Mike Tarsia as their...

Not trying to brag here whatsoever, but I've been on the Mayer Hawthorne New-Wop "bandwagon" since day one; I can remember seeing him on what I believe was his first tour behind A Strange Arrangement (2009) at First Unitarian Church in South Philly . Mayer Hawthorne & The County (which then, still included Topher Mohr ) essentially played a church basement to a room full of colorfully diverse concert-goers: Hip-Hop heads, "preppy" kids decked out in suits and ties — much like my buddy Brad and I, Indie Rock hipsters, and a handful of displaced Punk Rockers . J Dilla 's right-hand man, DJ Houseshoes opened the night's show with a barrage of white people-friendly Hip-Hop classics including Dilla , A Tribe Called Quest, Jaylib , and "I don't know why the f*ck I'm f*ckin' with you" (which distinctively sticks out ha). After the concert, I immediately bolted back to my car to grab my pseudo-alligator skin A Strange Arrang...

"We always wondered what the original sample was for Snoop [Dogg] 's "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None). " Since we couldn't figure it out, we decided we would make it," Tuxedo gloated in a recent Stones Throw statement coinciding with their first non- Tuxedo Funk EP single, "Number One." Mayer Hawthorne & Jake-One previously unleashed their pre- Tuxedo "inspiration" mixtapes , Shoot The Duck and AR Music , on which they forged the group's underlying Disco-Funk backbone. " Tuxedo' s [material] has been nothing short of top-shelf Boogie for the two-steppers, thus far... the sophisticated strutting is back and in full-effect, as the duo lets loose their latest joint, "Number One,'" okayplayer artistically lamented upon the track's release. It's a smooth synth-laden Disco-Funk track creation that doesn't sound entirely unlike something Snoop Dogg would rap over; ak...

Not entirely unlike the three-volume Art Dealer Chic EP set released leading up to his 2012 commercial break-through, Kaleidoscope Dream , Miguel suddenly uploaded a three-track EP to Soundcloud in the wee hours of Friday morning; seemingly titled either nwa.hollywoodreams.coffee EP or WILD EP , similar to the tattoo scrawled across Miguel 's knuckles on the rather suggestive album cover. It's a painfully brief 10-minute burst of guitar-fueled Soul-Funk/R&B , part of which okayplayer effectively refers to as "a swagged-out Spaghetti Western with Curtis Mayfield wheeling and dealing on the score, driven by fuzzy guitar and total impropriety." EP opener, "NWA" features Snoop Dogg -affiliated Philly rapper Kurupt atop a stuttering 808 drumbeat and slinky guitar-accented quasi-rocker flanked by Miguel 's seductive hook and bridge refrains, "she just wanna ride with a N.W.A... Got you walkin' with a gangsta lean." "NWA" ...

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 ...

Aside from his pseudo-brother-in-law Kanye West , I've never really heard tell of a rapper readily associating himself with Kardashian -bred entrepreneur Scott Disick ; until the red bearded charmer himself, Action Bronson effortlessly proclaimed, "Yo, it's the rap Scott Disick / Come through the f*ckin' block with some hot lizards." Bronson's long-time friend and Well Done collaborator Statik Selektah recruited him for the introductory verse on his latest single, "The Imperial." While it's only been out for a few days, AllHipHop has already dubbed Selektah's recent efforts "the unofficial Make-a-Wish foundation for dream rap collaborations," presumably for pairing Bronson up with Slaughterhouse member Royce Da 5'9" and veteran Roots emcee Black Thought . Now, try to stay with me here, but Action Bronson really seems to be the missing link between everyone involved here: he previously worked with Statik Selekt...

While I was away for the weekend, gallivanting around Lancaster County with my beautiful girlfriend, it looks like West Coast Hip-Hop purists Snoop Dogg & Madlib have unexpectedly teamed up for a collaborative track. Whether or not they actually recorded "Cadillacs" together in one studio, Snoop[zilla] and Madlib 's recent collaboration was more than likely kick-started by 7 Days of Funk producer and fellow Stones Throw labelmate, Dâm-Funk . It's a smooth 1990's reminiscent G-Funk -laden Hip-Hop BANGER that was quietly leaked over the weekend, just mere hours ahead of Snoop Dogg & DJ Drama 's latest That's My Work (3) mixtape series installment; tech-savvy Hip-Hop heads might recognize the beat from Detroit R&B-Funk band One Way 's 1982-released eventual breakbeat classic, "Cutie Pie." While little else is known about the track or any possible future collaborations, judging by Snoop's recently adopted producer/...

Jazz-Funk pianist Herbie Hancock is quite arguably the Godfather of Hip-Hop ; his 1983 Electro-Funk composition "Rockit" is oftentimes cited as an early sonic blueprint for the then budding genre. I can still vividly remember the first time I heard Hancock's music, on an RS 500 [Greatest Songs of All Time] sampler CD around the age of 12-15. It was "Watermelon Man" from his sprawling four-track Head Hunters album (1973) assisted by back-up The Headhunters ; more or less a progressive and slowly deconstructing re-make of Herbie Hancock 's own 1962 composition, which was originally inspired by "the cry of the watermelon man making the rounds through the back streets and alleys of Chicago . The wheels of his wagon beat out the rhythm on the cobble stones." President Obama & The First Lady amongst DC 's finest inducted Herbie Hancock , Martina Arroyo, Billy Joel , Shirley MacLaine, and Carlos Santana at the 36th annual Kennedy Center ...

Pharrell has long surpassed anyone's expectations who previously pigeon-holed him as a Snoop Dogg & Jay-Z- affiliated Neptunes producer, on-and-off Funk-Rock N*E*R*D frontman, or mere smooth-voiced hookman; he single-handedly co-fronted 2 of the summer's biggest mega-hits, "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines" (but you already know that much). Pharrell has recently started flexing his original soundtrack/composer chops as well, working on the original Despicable Me , it's sequel Despicable Me 2 , and a rumored Amazing Spider-Man 2 super-score with composer Hans Zimmer , Mike Einzinger (Incubus), former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr , and Dave Stewart (Eurythmics). Fresh on the heels of Bob Dylan 's inter-active "Like a Rolling Stone" video, Pharrell and directing team We Are from LA unleashed the world's very first 24-hour music video for Despicable Me 2 single, "Happy" online Thursday-Friday. It reportedly feature...

Former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page Tweeted "on this day, Biggie Smalls " along with a web-link Friday morning; He's pieced together what kinda sounds like a semi-unfinished mash-up between "Hypnotize" and "Ramble On" that's been dubbed "Ramblize." 90's Hip-Hop heads might recall that this isn't exactly Page's first forre into Hip-Hop , as he previously re-recorded parts of "Kashmir" for Godzilla break-out hit, "Come with Me" with none other than Puff Daddy [included below]. "Ramblize" somehow teeters that fine line, where if it sucked (which it doesn't), it'd still be pretty cool simply because of the sheer fact that Jimmy Page remixed a Biggie track! From what I understand, Page recently uploaded a similar Snoop Dogg/Led Zeppelin mash-up of "Drop It Like It's Hot" (credited to Led Dogg ). Lest we forget, Led Zepplin 's now-deceased mondo-drummer Joh...

While chances are kinda slim that this was recorded all at once (but you never really know with Stones Throw ), Rappcats gave cyber-birth to an amazing-sounding MED, Blu, Mayer Hawthorne & Madlib track, "The Buzz" around 12-1am Tuesday-Wednesday morning. Not unlike The Burgundy EP , MED & Blu share vocal duties, Madlib produced the beat, and Hawthorne's relegated to the buttery smooth hook; an unreleased Dâm-Funk track will also appear on flip Side B. The Buzz 12" EP will include two vocal tracks, bonus beat, instrumentals, and a cappella. It's currently available for pre-order today (November 5th) at either Stones Throw or Fat Beats . Let's talk about the sheer talent Stones Throw managed to wrangle yup for "The Buzz:" prolific underground king Madlib chopped up a beautiful Boom-Bap -infused Soul sample, the label's former Blue-Eyed Soul crooner Mayer Hawthorne on the hook, and MED & Blu , two of the most talented a...

Snoop Dogg [or Snoop Lion ] has somehow become such an instantly recognizable public figure, that even my 80-something-year-old grandparents are familiar with him. Long before his Reggae-Rap rebirth or Wiz Khalifia -assisted film soundtrack, Snoop Doggy Dogg was one of the earliest pioneers of 1980-90's West Coast "G-Funk;" It's essentially, a long-forgotten trunk-rattling Parliment-Funkadelic -sampling sub-genre of Hip-Hop that was largely produced by either Dr. Dre , Too $hort, or DJ Quik . After a few months of vague social media rumblings, Stones Throw revealed that Snoop Dogg secretly teamed up with Pasadena mega-producer and Funk revivalist Dâm-Funk to recorded an album under the group name 7 Days of Funk . It's kinda mind-boggling that NO ONE has already used that as a nom de plume [title] for something until now!? Stones Throw quietly uploaded "Faden Away" along with the semi-cryptic Facebook message: "NEW MUSIC: Two of ou...

Mayer Hawthorne has really progressed leaps and bounds since unveiling his premier limited press heart-shaped "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" 45 for Stones Throw (2008). Hawthorne has toured across America with everyone from John Mayer to Erykah Badu ; I was lucky enough to catch Mayer Hawthorne & The County post- A Strange Arrangement at First Unitarian Church (a legit Philly church rec-room). He's already gotten a chance to collaborate with Kendrick Lamar , Snoop Dogg, Daryl Hall , SebastiAn, Jessie Ware , James Pants, Pharrell , Jake-One, etc. Andrew "Mayer Hawthorne" Cohen has effectively pioneered a sort of Hip-Hop -infused "New-Wop" sound, over the course of 3 albums and some change. But critics and fans alike are saying that Hawthorne's most recent album, Where Does This Door Go? , is swaying in a little more of a mainstream radio Neo-Soul sonic lane. 16-year-old Kiwi [New Zealand] songstress Lorde rocketed to #1 on t...