The Witzard

Make no mistake, party people—'round these parts, one-time Canadian Poet Laureate and former Pitchfork staff writer Roland (Rollie) "Cadence Weapon" Pemberton is often regarded as one of the finest, funnest, and most-talented emcees in all of the land; just think, an extremely more talented, painfully under-rated, waaaayyy less corny, lyrically verbose version of Canadian export Drake . Cadence Weapon recently re-emerged from a self-imposed nearly 5-year-long sabbatical from the music industry following his critically-acclaimed 2012 album. Hope In Dirt City , as well as a brief period wherein he appeared to be going by simply "Rollie." A re-weaponized and tactfully word-sharpened Cadence Weapon triumphantly returned to the spotlight not long after the top of the year with KAYTRANADA -produced "My Crew (Woooo)" and not long after, seemingly only Spotify Canada -released "Connor McDavid" (which soon pooped up on his Soundcloud. ) Whi...

"Part of my goal in writing "Moon Pulls" was to simply just be more honest. I've always been cryptic in my writing; instead of saying what really happened, I would use a metaphor or some type of simile to get the point across. With this track, I wasn't afraid to talk about the intense feelings of lust, love, and confusion I was experiencing. I feel like " Moon Pulls" is a drama condensed into a four-minute, Pop -structured song because it has movements that represent certain moments in time for me and it builds to a climax of myself bluntly asking, "what did I do to deserve you?" When I perform the song live, I always find myself screaming that part—it's such a human experience, being both grateful to have someone, while simultaneously feeling afraid to lose them," Brooklyn -based singer-songwriter and producer Sam Friedman (professionally known as Nerve Leak ) wrote within a recent emailed statement exclusive to The Witzard . W...

" Edan had the ill beat and was like, 'Yo, this sounds kinda like when people talk mad sh*t, you should speak on that.' I was like word. The onslaught of people talking mad copious amounts of sh*t is the ongoing barrage. That's what the video is about," Queens -bred emcee Homeboy Sandman recently revealed to The FADER , who premiered said video, "Talking (Bleep)." Sandman 's Edan -produced sh*t-talker lamenting creation stems from his upcoming Stones Throw album, Kindness for Weakness and is instantly evocative, to me at least, of The Peanuts' often used droning "WOOT WOOT WOOT" adult talking voice. Its companion Jay Brown -directed visual treatment is vaguely reminiscent of The Avengers: Age of Ultron meets let's say, Pierce Brosnan -helmed 1990's James Bond flick GoldenEye , but instead of your friendly neighborhood chiseled caped crusaders, starring sharp-tongued emcee Homeboy Sand-Man !!! For whatever reasons, it...

"I was in my hotel room in Paris , and we were just chillin' and I just f*cked around and was like, 'We need to do the video while we're in Paris,'" G.O.O.D. Music -affiliated Grand Hustle emcee Travi$ Scott recently told Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe during a phone interview while boarding a plane Friday afternoon. "Piss On Your Grave" is anchored by a fuzzed out guitar riff lifted from Jimi Hendrix -fronted Band of Gypsys' blistering Vietnam War protest jam "Machine Gun," which feels like it could have easily been a left-over from Kanye 's 2013 Aggro-Rap magnum opus, Yeezus ; funnily enough, Scott is amongst the gaggle of greenhorn beatsmiths who collectively helped produce frantic album tracks "New Slaves," "I Am a God," and "Guilt Trip." Long-time Kanye -affiliated director and photographer Nabil Elderkin was recruited to helm "Piss On Your Grave"' s ghoulish pre- Halloween visua...

"Last year on the Yeezus tour, someone gave Kanye West a single to listen to: It was "Experience," by Kacy Hill , a 20-year-old singer who happened to be one of his back-up dancers. Kanye met with Hill after his Atlantic City show, and immediately signed her to his label, G.O.O.D. Music ," NY Mag eloquently transcribed within their 'Top 10 New Female Musicians to See This Summer' featurette. While, as DJ Booth adversely points out, "Experience" was initially released back in December 2013 to little fanfare, only to be re-released on G.O.O.D. Music nearly a year later; "Experience" still remains Hill's lone Futuristic Indie Pop/R&B -reminiscent piece of work, although, now it's set to be included within her forthcoming proper debut, Bloo EP . Kacy Hill 's G.O.O.D. Music/Very G.O.O.D. Beats label-mates and arsenal of possible collaborators now includes the likes of talented industry-worn artists and producers su...

Despite, or maybe even because of, the fact that critically-acclaimed Queens emcee Despot has yet to release his oft-delayed, nearly 10 years in-the-making debut, We're All Excited , he's somehow still able to "rub shoulders" and get a casual Sunday brunch with industry heavyweights like Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig and 21-22 Jump Street leading man, Jonah Hill . Fresh on the heels of his recent Evan "E*VAX" Mast -produced lead single lifted from his seemingly soon forthcoming album, Despot has unleashed his "first" proper music video for "House of Bricks;" although, he's previously appeared on film alongside Mr. Muthaf**kin' eXquire , Das Racist, Vampire Weekend , a pre- Run The Jewels El-P & Killer Mike , Sky Ferreira, Chromeo , and Santigold. "Me and Evan [Mast] have been talking about this album since I met him, so we have hypothetically been working on this album for close to 10 years... Most of th...

"BIG UPS TO THIS NEW @DRAKE FIRE PROD. BY @FRANKDUKES [AND] @BOI1DA FT. @RIVERTIBER ON THE PART 2 VOCALS #NOTELLIN #6HITZ," @badbadnotgood frantically Tweeted upon the release of Drake 's surprise mixtape/album , IF YOUR READING THIS ITS TOO LATE , late last month. That very track, Tiber aka Tommy Paxon-Beesley 's own original composition, "No Talk" went unreleased... until yesterday afternoon when The FADER premiered it; "I've been working with Frank Dukes for a minute. He made a dope sample with my vocal stem, which Boi-1da put drums on top of, and I guess Drake liked the beat and recorded to it," BBNG -affiliated multi-instrumentalist River Tiber lamented to The FADER . "No Talk" is a glitchy Electro /percussion-aided emotive track, which in its original form, honestly, doesn't sound all that far removed from your typical Emo-Rap Drake beat. While it seems as though they might have sampled "No Talk"...

Das Racist were hands down, one of the greatest post-2000 New York area Hip-Hop groups, who essentially created their own "outsider rap" scene, which would later harbor up-and-coming guys like Lakutis , LE1F, Mr. Muthaf*ckin' eXquire , Antwon, Kassa Overall , KechPhrase, Big Baby Gandhi , etc. Luckily enough, I had a chance to see Das Racist on their then unannounced 2012 "farewell tour" in Philly , a show which additionally featured a mini- Greehead label showcase: Lakutis , LE1F, and Weekend Money as opening acts. Since disbanding, founding members Himanshu "Heems" Suri and Victor "Kool A.D." Vazquez have each released a number of critically-acclaimed solo mixtapes; well, Heems actually uploaded two mixtapes, Nehru Jackets and Wild Water Kingdom , while Das Racist were still actively together. Suri then moved to Bombay, India between 2012-mid-2014 as part of a self-imposed exile, wherein he began recording material for his ...

Brooklyn multi-instrumentalist and rapper-producer Kassa Overall is a close affiliate of Kool A.D. and his now-defunct Hip-Hop crew Das Racist . I believe I first got in touch with Overall after discovering his stellar self-released Stargate mixtape, which featured him ferociously rapping over re-worked Katy Perry , Wiz Khalifia , and modern pop radio tracks, and he generously helped facilitate my 2011-12 interview with Victor Vazquez , otherwise known as Kool A.D. While he was previously signed to Vazquez's Greedhead off-shoot imprint Veehead , but since their disbanding, his current label situation is unknown. After years of preparation and recording, Kassa Overall is finally gearing up to release his first proper solo album consisting of entirely original production, which is tentatively titled Like Life , in the not so distant future; even though he's released countless group albums with PEACEFUL SOLUTIONS , TOOTHPASTE , and as an accomplished Jazz drummer has rec...

Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire (formerly known as Mr. MFN eXquire ), a guy who frequently rhymed about "drunk driving on a Wednesday," frequently hangs out with the self-procliamed Adderall Admiral Danny Brown , and featured a blue-haired drunken stripper on his Lost In Translation mixtape cover. Somehow, he signed a major label deal with Universal Republic last year, released Power & Passion EP , followed by self-released The Man In The High Castle , and then disappeared for the better part of the next 6-8 months. It's been revealed now, after the fact, that Mrs. MFN eXquire [mother] was diagnosed with cervical cancer, which propelled him to take an imminent break from touring, do a "180 and kind of look @ [his] life," and ultimately sober up. Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire is currently prepping a comeback mixtape of sorts, mysteriously titled Kismet . It's rumored to drop "very shortly" and feature a bunch of like-minded young rappers... ...

Rising Brooklyn producer-of-the-moment Harry Fraud wrangled up a crazy/awesome posse of Internet -friendly rappers for his upcoming High Tide EP ; It'll feature frequent collaborator like Action Bronson , French Montana, and Chinx Drugz across 5 contained tracks. Lead single "Yacht Lash" positions JODY HiGHROLLER (RiFF RAFF) alongside Odd Future 's returning prince, Earl Sweatshirt . Harry Fraud successfully melds together a DIRTY Psych-Rock -drenched Hip-Hop beat, which leaves plenty of room for 32+ bars worth of swagged out bravado. Earl Sweatshirt effectively slays the first 1/2 of this track, only his 10-12th recorded appearance since returning home from juvie in Samoa (Feb. 2012). Sweatshirt laments about his triumphant return to prominence, "Nothin' much to my ethics / Bitch, I'm joggin' like I already won the election / Fuck it, shunning protection... Rest assured, I keep the label embarrassed." RiFF RAFF on the other hand...

For argument's sake, I guess I've always been an Usher fan... or @ least an admirer of Mr. Raymond's sheer talent and work ethic. I can vaguely remember nervously asking a few P.Y.T.'s to dance to "U Got It Bad" (2001) @ those painfully cheese-tastic 7-8th grade dances. Paraphrasing Pitchfork staff writer Ryan Dombal , it was an oddly-matched collaboration that no one expected, let alone asked for. But somehow still managed to greatly surpass everyone's non-existent expectations: Friday night @ FADER Fort (SXSW) , Usher wandered on-stage with The Afghan Whigs mid-way through their "Climax" cover. Frontman Greg Dulli & Usher then launched into spirited, guitar-driver renditions of both artists' more well-known tracks, "Somethin' Hot" and scorching set-closer, "OMG." Former- Yeasayer member and solo artist Sinkane (Ahmed Gallab) came on stage to perform a super- Funky version of his own single, ...