The Witzard

"The AntiMatter Suite is a "photon torpedo" of creativity during these tumultuous times. While the songs come from the same quadrant as Eddie Romero , the urgency of how they materialized are, no question, a response to how a lot of folks are feeling these days. Leave it to Sulu to turn this energy into beautiful music that, not only moves the spirit, but the body. Although, there are a few more guest contributions to this chapter, what you hear is the artist's vision undiluted. Let's not downplay the fact that this ENTIRE work was written, produced, played, arranged, recorded, edited, and mixed by Sulu. Check out any of the BTS [behind-the-scenes] videos on YouTube for a glimpse of the process. Early transmissions of the songs were already potent, when shared with The Bridge Crew. When Sulu sent me the demo and backstory for "Spacesuit," I was able to hear the scratches I wanted to add to the song very clearly. Tracking was finished in an hour or so...

"It's hard to pinpoint the moment I wanted to become a producer. I do remember contemplating at a young age the elements of Hip-Hop, wondering where I fit in. My older brother wrote [graffiti]. My other brother's friends were DJ's and emcees. To 12-year-old me, it was logical to take a craft up in one of these cornerstones. I, actually, wanted to break, but having no actual training available to me, that didn't last long. Around this time, I recognized my affinity for beats and beat-making. The part that interested me the most was seeing people come up with something from nothing. You didn't need to know how to play an instrument. The process intrigued and excited me. The rapping was cool, but what moved me the most was the music. I could get down with an average emcee, so as long as the sh*t he was rhyming on was tight; vice-versa, if a fire emcee had wack beats, it felt wasted to me." Four Albums of Note (Honorable Mentions) 1. De La Soul - 3 Feet...

As any well-rounded Hip-Hop head should already know, we recently celebrated the 25th anniversaries of two of Hip-Hop 's most revered and widely-loved albums: Wu-Tang Clan 's monumental debut, Enter: The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and A Tribe Called Quest 's third album, Midnight Marauders both originally released on November 9th, 1993. Wu-Tang 's 9 surviving clansmen, as well as ODB 's son, Young Dirty Bastard (@DirtyBastardJr) have recently been making the rounds in celebration of their 25th anniversary; making recent appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live , Good Morning America , and in Staten Island AKA "Shaolin" in honor of Wu-Tang Clan Day . Wu-Tang also, dropped a career-spanning documentary called For The Children: 25 Years of Enter: The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers.) A Tribe Called Quest 's surviving members— Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Jarobi White —on the other hand, have remained a bit more silent since their 2016 "final" album with...

"My name is Lang Vo. I'm one half of WORDS HURT with Def Jux alum ALASKA and the other half of the group REINFORCED STEEL with my friend and sage, Kwamizzle. I've been producing and making beats for the last 20+ years. Back in the heyday, before I had kids, I used to work the Columbus, Ohio scene and did shows with Camu Tao and opened for his group, S.A. Smash. I've opened for Atmosphere, Mr. Lif [& Akrobatik AKA] The Perceptionists, Blueprint with Soul Position [RJD2], etc. Although, I never hit "The Big Time," I had a great time back then. My last show was a show with Killah Priest in 2009. Once I started having kids, I still made music and did a few shows here and there in Austin, Texas, but staying out late and having drunk people dump beer on my equipment didn't seem as fun anymore. I didn't pick it back up again seriously, until I started working with Alim Wade, a rapper in Atlanta. He started sending my beats out to people like Kool A.D. ...

"Hi people, my name is Cryptic One, a producer from Brooklyn, NY and I have been making beats since 1989. Yes, you read that correctly, I am THAT old. With that said, when asked to write about a few albums that had an influence on my production, I was initially overwhelmed with a seemingly infinite number of important works to mention. After long deliberation, I narrowed it down to these five; keep in mind that on any given day, I could easily pick five different picks that were just as important to me. So, with no further ado, here is my Beat-maker Bedrock:" I AM by IT I. Jungle Brothers - Straight Out The Jungle (1988) "This was the record that helped me understand how sample-based beats were made. The whole album was great and a big influence on me, but specifically, there is one song from the album that really set things off for me: "[Because] I Got It Like That." But first, a little background/history: In the 80's, Hip-Hop wasn't th...

Dan's House by Shark Tank Not only is Shark Tank a Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary -helmed dream-crushing ABC reality show, it's also a dream-crushing Kingston, Ontario/Pittsburgh, PA/Baltimore, MD -based Hip-Hop posse. Shark Tank AKA The Fun Youngs —fronted by "John" Height and backed by lyrical assassins "John" Lord Grunge , "John" B.Rich , and sometimes, "John" Mickey Free —are currently prepping their fourth Height -produced album, fittingly titled Dan's House for a summertime release on Cold Rhymes Records . "This is the video for "Dan's House" filmed by Ben O'Brien and edited by B.Rich . Naturally, this was filmed in my house. We were originally supposed to play ourselves in the video, but when a wrench got thrown [into] our travel plans, we got Emily Slaughter , Jones , and Mickey Free to stand-in. All three of them are fire emcees and beat-makers and of course, Mickey Free is the J...

"It was an action-packed few days, Sandman was so patient with the whole thing, it was amazing... The effect in ["Life Support"] is stop-animation; basically, every time anything moved in those sections of the video, we'd move something [and] take a picture. So, that meant pulling apart flowers, petal by petal, in some cases... It was a blast to make... Homeboy Sandman and I have built a body of visuals together and we have a lot of trust in each other. He pushes limits musically and I try to match his intensity with the visuals, while keeping an eye on his humorous side," director @pacerivers told me in a series of recent Twitter direct messages sent on the eve of his latest sun-drenched creation, "Life Support." Homeboy Sandman 's just released Hugo XL -produced self-reflective cut is reportedly "a new track, not on any album release, strictly for the video," according to Los Angeles -based imprint Stones Throw Records . Rivers a...

" Tom & Ed met in history class at Manchester University in 1988. They started off as DJ's known as "The 237 Turbo Nutters" (named after the number of their house on Dickenson Road in Manchester and a reference to their Blackburn raving days). They then opted for "The Dust Brothers," which they nicked from the L.A. producers of Paul's Boutique (as they thought they would never be famous). In 1995, they changed their name to "The Chemical Brothers" after the real Dust Brothers threatened to sue," reads The Chemical Brothers' eerily cryptic abridged Discogs profile description. Electro-House pioneers Tom Rowlands & Ed Simmons are effectively back with their first album in nearly five years after taking a self-imposed hiatus following their seventh studio album, Further . All the while, The Chemical Brothers haven't remained entirely inactive during this gestation period: Rowlands & Simmons prepared a han...

Sharp-tongued Los Angeles by-way-of Chicago emcee Open Mike Eagle has been self-described as an underground "Art-Rap" hero; recently having signed a purported three-album deal with Indie Hip-Hop imprint Mello Music Group . Noisey premiered the second single from Eagle's upcoming fourth album, Dark Comedy , which is currently set for a June 10th release, Tuesday afternoon. "Dark Comedy Morning Show" was supposedly the second to last song recorded for the new album... "It took me a long time to write because I kept wanting to sing this Stereolab song on it that was way out of my range," Open Mike Eagle revealed on Twitter. "Dark Comedy Morning Show" was seemingly influenced by Open Mike Eagle 's recent stint with traveling comedian Paul F. Tompkins and additionally features production work/vocal accompaniment from rising multi-instrumentalist Toy Light . Sonically, it's very emotive of 90's Indie Pop , something not t...

Following a steady stream of FREE-releases and countless Hip-Hop covers, Canadian Jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG ) are finally gearing up to release their first label-backed album, III for Innovative Leisure . I think it's pretty safe to say that Chester Hansen, Alex Sowinski & Matt Tavares have progressed leaps and bounds since their early days of covering Odd Future and Waka Flocka Flame album tracks; instead, now penning their own original tracks with a definitive Hip-Hop -like edge. BADBADNOTGOOD 's most recently released track, "CS60," seemingly pronounced "sexy," is a slightly darker 7-minute Jazz piece, which Complex vaguely confirms will indeed appear within III . Wu-Tang Clan -affiliated producer Frank Dukes and multi-instrumentalist River Tiber (cello) lent some additional recording assistance, perhaps outside of BBNG 's typical cannon of knowledge. "CS60" seems to mark a new Jazzier and dare I say, more "adult...

I guess you could say that I'm a modern-day musical "purist" in a sense because I don't usually like to hear a whole bunch of pre-release teaser singles before hearing an artist's entire new album. Take My Name Is My Name , for example: I only heard "Numbers On The Board" and "Who Am I?" before picking up a hard copy of Pusha T 's debut solo album on October 8th. G.O.O.D. Music recruited a handful of completely unnecessary guest features , which are now strewn across Pusha T 's 12-track record including Kendrick Lamar , Big Sean, Rick Ross , Kelly Rowland, and former Drake tour-mate Future . Pusha T & DONDA rapidly unleashed music videos for "King Push," "Sweet Serenade," "Nosetalgia," and "Pain" right around or leading up to My Name Is My Name 's eventual wide-release. Recent BET Cypher all-star Kendrick Lamar appears right alongside Pusha T in the black-and-white NPR -assist...

Garrett "G. Love" Dutton is a Philly-based musician who's been making Blues -infused Hip-Hop for the better part of the past 20+ years. If you ask me, close friend/frequent collaborator Jack Johnson basically aped his whole " Funky [acoustic] surfer dude" style, ran with it, and got commercially successful. But maybe G. Love belongs in the underground music scene; I personally have damn near 100 G. Love & Special Sauce tracks in my iTunes library and 2011's Fixin' to Die was his 12-13th studio album. For those of you who are un-familar with G. Love (WAKE UP!), I'd say he's equal parts rapper and singer-songwriter; almost like a Beastie-Boys -meets- Johnny-Cash kinda guy. Bloodshot & Blue , a 10" EP limited to 2,000 copies, was released this past Saturday for Record Store Day ... and I was lucky enough to score a copy on wax! G. Love recently described the sheer genesis of the EP's creation to Rolling Stone , ...

Almost anybody with a dictionary/thesaurus can rap these days and even your pimply next door neighbor can throw together an average-hard hitting Boom-Bap beat. But sheer personality, genuinely original ideas, SWAG, and top-notch rhythms are what'll really push an aspiring emcee into the limelight [success]. While he just recently inked a record deal with Stones Throw , Queens -based rapper Homeboy Sandman (Angel del Villar II) has been hustling his way towards the top of the Hip-Hop stratosphere for nearly 5-8 years. Since unleashing his full-length debut -- First of a Living Bree d -- for the label back in September, Homeboy Sandman has already released some 5 unique music videos and counting. His latest clip, "VerbalSoulClapMania" actually dates back to 2009 and is a virtually beat-less track; But I'll just go a head and let Mr. Sandman explain this one in his own words... "My boy Photo Rob [Robert Adam Mayer] shot 4 years ago when I was emaciated ra...

1996 was quite the memorable for fans of both Hip-Hop and Pop Culture . Just ask the members of TOOTHPASTE , Kassa Overall & TECLA . The pair are currently readying a mixtape, aptly titled 1996 ; It's poised to be "AN ODE TO THE PAST AND AN ODE TO THE FUTURE" (Kassa Overall ) and will feature raps/hoops over beats culled from various 1996-bred hits... featuring New York 's finest up-and-comers: Big Baby Gandhi , DVS, Chaz Van Queen, Tavi , and K-Bob . TOOTHPASTE 's upcoming mixtape will most likely be composed of beats culled from landmark Hip-Hop albums that were originally released back in 1996: OutKast, Aaliyah, 2pac, Jay-Z, The Roots, Tribe , Busta Rhymes , De La Soul, Nas , and Lil Kim . I really enjoyed Kassa Overall 's latest commercial effort, Stargate . Skillfully apping over top of a size-able amount of current Pop Radio staples... a vein in which I figure 1996 will essentially mirror. From what I hear, TECLA is making some pretty note-wort...

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving just as much as every other warm-blooded American citizen; Gotta love those celebratory, non-present giving holidays! But I must digress a tad but, and admit that the historical roots of said festivities aren't as "cookie-cutter" as we are all generally led to believe. For argument's sake, majority of us were taught back in grade school that the Indians/Pilgrims met, laughed, united, and collaborated to produce the joyous, harmonious feast that was forever immortalized as "The First Thanksgiving." According to various alternative accounts, the settlers at Plymouth Rock were in fact a very cruel, conniving brand of people. "They landed at Plymouth with a smile on their face / They said, "We're your brothers from a far away place" / I know the Indians greeted them with wide open arms / Too simple-minded and trusting to see through the charms / In came the religions, the liquor, and...