The Witzard

Roughneck Jihad (or Jihad, The Roughneck MC) is a Los Angeles-based underground artist and veteran emcee and Awkward is a beat-maker, producer, emcee, and artist hailing from Bristol, UK. Definitely two unlikely collaborators separated by an ocean. Jihad & Awkward first met when Awkward contributed a handful of beats to Jihad's group, Third Sight's then-new album IV (2016.) Awkward & Roughneck Jihad have worked together a number of times since, but always in a fairly limited capacity, including Awkward mastering Jihad's 2018 project, Red Herring Mixtape, and producing the title/opening track for Jihad's 2020 effort, The Red Sentence. All the while, however, it appears as though MC Roughneck Jihad & DJ Awkward have secretly been working on a proper full-length project of their own. It all started to come to light when The MC & DJ released a neck-snapping digital single consisting of two infectious tracks, "RAWK" and "DROMEDARY" bac...

Late last night, I noticed a Tweet from Roughneck Jihad (@roughneckjihad) which read, "Check our this continent-spanning Hip-Hop collaboration with the beat and cuts by @AwkwardUK and the rhyme by yours truly, Roughy Rough ." It included a mysterious YouTube link labelled "MC Roughneck Jihad and DJ Awkward "Dromedary."' Bay Area emcee Roughneck Jihad and Bristol, UK-based producer Awkward have, in fact, collaborated before, but, seemingly, not to this degree. Awkward mastered Jihad 's 2018 Red Herring Mixtape and years prior, produced "Amen" & "Barbarian" from Third Sight 's 2016 album, IV . Within a 2018 All-around Breakdown for his Red Herring Mixtape , Roughneck Jihad told The Witzard, "in addition, [ Awkward ] is remixing a narrative/comic book album, The Red Sentence , for me." Supposedly, according to Awkward , "DROMEDARY" is "just a taster and there will be more to come. Perhaps, so...

THE ADVENTURES OF DR VOODUN by Roughneck Jihad & Solomon Strange As you may have seen last week, we hosted a nearly 12-minute video on our YouTube channel entitled "'The Adventures of DR. VOODUN" Starring: Roughneck Jihad & Solomon Strange (E.S.P. Teaser.)" Honestly, it's been hard to keep this quiet for the past few months... but, back at the top of the year, The Diabolical Doctor Strange AKA Solomon Strange AKA Solomon Caine personally, reached out to me, via emailed transmission. Solomon Caine was, initially, commending us on our recent string of coverage concerning Third Sight emcee, Roughneck Jihad , as both a fan and admirer of Jihad 's sharp-tongued rhymes, as well as The Witzard . As you may well know by now, The Diablocal Doctor Strange is a mysterious, other-worldly producer, label head, and founder of the Guerilla Godz posse. Long story short, Doctor Strange kindly asked, if I might be able to get him in contact with Roughneck J...

It's truly great when The Internet works in mysterious, positive ways... for example, a few months ago, The Diabolical Doctor Strange reached out to me asking if I would be able to help get him in touch with Third Sight emcee, Roughneck Jihad . After checking with Jihad first, I, of course, obliged because, quite honestly, who wouldn't want to hear a collaborative effort from The Diabolical Doctor Strange AND Roughneck Jihad ?!!!??! It's been a couple months now, through which I've been getting regular status updates from The Diabolical Doctor Strange AKA Solomon Strange , via Facebook Messenger ; The Witzard Proudly Presents... "The Adventures of DR. VOODUN" Starring: Roughneck Jihad & Solomon Strange (E.S.P. Teaser.) So, just to be clear, this is a video teaser/preview of Roughneck Jihad & Solomon Strange 's collaborative EP, or E.S.P. AKA "Extra-Sensory Perception," seemingly entitled "The Adventures of DR. VOODUN."...

When we last spoke with Third Sight emcee Roughneck Jihad, he was preparing to release his critically-acclaimed 2017 album, THE WRETCHED OF THE VERSE: A MICROPHONE MURDERER'S EXTENDED-PLAY RESPONSE TO UNABRIDGED WACKNESS IN HIP-HOP MUSIC TODAY. Since our comprehensive interview here at The Witzard, Roughneck hasn't slowed down one bit... releasing his IL Torsolo-produced Disco Sinistro EP, The Tarantula Bros. with Third Sight's "The Chef" DJ Du-Funk, and most recently, The Red Herring Mixtape. Next up for Roughneck Jihad is limited edition Tarantula Bros. vinyl, as well as his third solo album, Juan Sequitur (JS) expected to be released this Fall/Winter. JS will feature appearances from DJ Zuckell, Spex, Jason Lee, Abom, IL Torsolo, Sir Dino, Kwantize, and Teran. Enjoy perusing through Roughneck Jihad's Red Herring Mixtape All-around Breakdown below. "Red Herring is made up of tracks I recorded between 2008-12; production duties are held down by Mr....

While he still might be a relatively unknown "underground emcee," Roughneck Jihad—formerly known as Jihad The Roughneck MC—has been spittin' fresh rhymes since high school, 1988; over the years, he's formed countless Hip-Hop crews including Un Cut Poets, Third Sight with DJ Du Funk, Smooth Tone, and D-Styles, The Incredible Torture Show (T.I.T.S.) with Trailer Trasher & Maestro Gamin, The Language Mechanics with Insomniac & Raggedy Andy, The Tarantula Brothers with DJ Du Funk, Disco Sinisto with Turin, Italy-based producer IL Torsolo, newly-formed Echoes of Oratory Music, The Darc Bros. and currently runs label imprint Disgruntled Sounds. There's also a vinyl and cassette re-release of Third Sight's 2016 Orchids & Corpses compilation album originally recorded to 4-track between 1993-96 scheduled for this upcoming September. Aside from his just-released second solo album, The Wretched of The Verse (A Microphone Murderer's Extended-play Respons...

It would appear as though, after tracing back through a number of rather clumsily chronicled Twitter DM 's, tongue-in-cheek Replies, countless @'s, and emailed transmissions that I first met Third Sight emcee Juan Betts AKA Roughneck Jihad (@roughneckjihad) through Twitter personality and sometimes Rap critic Elmattic (@thisiselmattic.) While he still might be a relatively unknown "underground emcee," Jihad —formerly known as Jihad The Roughneck MC —has been spittin' fresh rhymes since high school, 1988; over the years, he's formed countless Hip-Hop crews including Un Cut Poets , Third Sight with DJ Du Funk, Smooth Tone, and D-Styles, The Incredible Torture Show (T.I.T.S.) with Trailer Trasher & Maestro Gamin , The Language Mechanics with Insomniac & Raggedy Andy, The Tarantula Brothers with Du Funk , Disco Sinisto with Turin, Italy-based producer IL Torsolo, newly-formed Echoes of Oratory Music , The Darc Bros. and currently runs label imp...