The Witzard

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 ...

Full disclosure here: "Shake Your Body (Down to The Ground)" is quite easily amongst my favourite Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 tracks; thanks to my wonderful parents (married 29 years today!) who exposed me to Jackson, Billy Joel , Elton John, Stevie Wonder , etc. records at a very young, impressionable age. While Justin Timberlake is currently ramping up to unleash the second part of his first album in nearly 6 years, The 20/20 Experience , he stopped by BBC1 Live Lounge over the weekend, just days after debuting new material at iHeart Radio Music Fest (Vegas). Along with familiar hits new and old, Timberlake and The Tennessee Kids ripped through a pretty spot-on, Funk -laden version of "Shake Your Body." Random coincidence or not, Justin Timberlake was very recently awarded the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at this year's MTV VMA's , where Timberlake briefly reunited with his wildly popular and now-defunct "boy band," N...

Frank Ocean is by far the most restrained [musically talented, for that matter] and commercially accessible member of Odd Future . While his overall subject matter is still pretty messed up, it's more in that suave D'Angelo - Teddy Pendergrass type of way. It has yet to be seen if Ocean's public affiliation with the crude and rowdy OF sect will help or hurt his musical career. Frank Ocean is more like Redman anyways; Who was never really a legitimate Wu-Tang member, but without a doubt always considered a pivotal element of the group. A true vigilante of a "businessman," Ocean self-released his debut album Nostalgia, ULTRA online back in mid-Feb. (2011), while Def Jam continued to slack. Needless to say, the label execs. and [female] fans alike are now latching onto his every word. Frank Ocean is currently holed up in the studio, putting the finishing touches on his premier major label release. @ press time, Ocean has played roughly 3-5 live shows and is ...