The Witzard

Fireside Chats Cassette Tape Art/Prints By: Ethan D'Ercole Chicago-based artist Jason Griff (sometimes, just "Griff") has become a heavyweight in Indie Hip-Hop in recent years. Griff is part of an Underground Hip-Hop network that spans from Chicago to Philly and likely even farther. Griff has produced music for the likes of Zilla Rocca, Scorcese Lorde Jones, Alex Ludovico, My Man Shafe, and Curly Castro. Within recent years, Griff co-founded a label imprint dubbed Insubordinate Records along with Alex Ludovico and Scorces Lorde Jones (may he rest in peace) to release both collabrative and solo efforts from each. Griff's most recent album is a primarily Punk/Hardcore-sampling affair, Fireside Chats, which references iconic Chicago venue, The Fireside Bowl. It features collaborations with emcees Alex Ludovico, Juganaut, ALASKA, defcee, Moecyrus, Scorcese, billy woods, Curly Castro, Zilla Rocca, ialive, PremRock, and SKECH185. Fireside Chats by Jason Griff I. Wh...

Back in 2019, Los Angeles emcee Alex Ludovico continued his ongoing #MedicineMondays weekly singles series and last year, he did something similar with #RewindWednesdays. His Bandcamp page explains, "Drugs, sex, and Hip-Hop. Alex Ludovico, born in Gary, IN and created in Chicago, is the living embodiment of that credo." One of our personal favorite moments from 2019's #MedicineMondays roll-out was Ludovico's collaborative EP with fellow Chicagoan Jason Griff entitled Scarf Tissue. Upon returning from our honeymoon to Italy, we immediately linked up with Griff & Alex Ludovico, via email, to talk about their phenomenal Scarf Tissue EP. They were kind enough to help us assemble a comprehensive track-by-track (All-around) Breakdown for Scarf Tissue. Not long after, following a string of one-off singles, Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff returned with the first proper EP of #RewindWednesdays, THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. For THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. We got a chance to ...

Last year, Los Angeles emcee Alex Ludovico continued his ongoing #MedicineMondays weekly singles series and this year, he's doing something similar with #RewindWednesdays. His Bandcamp page explains, "Drugs, sex, and Hip-Hop. Alex Ludovico, born in Gary, IN and created in Chicago, is the living embodiment of that credo." One of our personal favorite moments from 2019's #MedicineMondays roll-out was Ludovico's collaborative EP with fellow Chicagoan Jason Griff entitled SCARF TISSUE. Upon returning from our honeymoon to Italy, we immediately linked up with Griff & Alex Ludovico, via email, to talk about their phenomenal SCARF TISSUE EP. They were kind enough to help us assemble a comprehensive track-by-track (All-around) Breakdown for SCARF TISSUE. Now, following a string of one-off singles, Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff have returned with the first proper EP of #RewindWednesdays, THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. For THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. Griff & Alex Lu...

I've still been trying to get back on track following our 2-week honeymoon/vacation to Italy back in March, but, at this point, I'm probably not gonna get fully "back on track" until next year. However, with that said, one of my favorite releases since returning home was and still is SCARF TISSUE EP , the first collaborative release from Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff —sometimes, simply, referred to as "Griff" or "Jason/Griff." It's a quick 5-track burst, less than half the length of your standard Extended Play (EP) although, it's an extremely strong offering! While travelling across Italy, I was luck enough to get in touch with both Griff & Alex Ludovico and we were able to set up an track-by-track EP breakdown exclusively for The Witzard . I've very recently been hearing rumblings about a music video for Jimmie "J.J." Walker-referencing "Dy-No-Mite!" as well as a rumored 3-way collaboration between Griff ...

"Hathaway comes to the Performance Center after a successful tenure as a manager and a wrestler on the indies. Although, trained for the ring, Hathaway gained a reputation in recent years for wheeling-and-dealing on behalf of other wrestlers. The notoriously outspoken Hathaway has represented clients in several promotions throughout The US, from EVOLVE Wrestling to the New England-based Beyond Wrestling. He hails from New York City," reads a recent WWE Performance Center press statement. They're, of course, talking about Independent wrestler and manager Stokely Hathaway, who recently signed a deal with WWE NXT/Performance Center. Hathaway has previously wrestled and managed talent for EVOLVE Wrestling, Beyond Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and Major League Wrestling (MLW) and has gone by a variety stage names, including Chuck Taylor, Ramon, and most recently, Court Moore for NXT. Stokely is the self-proclaimed 1996 Source Awards Winner & Former Editor of XXL Magazine. ...

As many of you may have noticed, The Witzard was temporarily shut down for about two weeks until just this past Monday. It was a nice little break, as my beautiful wife and I traveled across Italy for our "second" honeymoon and as expected, it was phenomenal! We were with a tour group and made stops in Venice, Florence, Rome, Tuscany, Assisi, Murano, and finally, Naples for Pompeii. We saw some truly gorgeous sites and had some of the best Italian food and wine I've ever had in my life; quite honestly, I think I've, essentially, "ruined" Italian food for myself here in The States for the time being, at least! While in Italy, I took a much needed break from my 'round-the-clock writing schedule here at The Witzard... but I did get a chance to listen to a few then-newly released albums and EP's while in transit. One of those select releases being Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff's collaborative SCARF TISSUE EP . It's a quick 5-track lyrical as...

Last year, we had the pleasure of premiering a Zilla Rocca -produced remix of Alpha x Scorcese 's "Untitled" Feat. Killer Mike & Pastor Troy from their 2018 collaborative effort as Gods Know , A World Only Gods Know . Now, Scorcese (@JihaDScorcese) has returned with his first proper "solo" project of 2019: A Remix Only Gods Know - SIDE A , a cleverly-titled and long-awaited 7-track remix companion EP to Alpha x Scorcese 's A World Only Gods Know . Not only does A Remix Only Gods Know feature the aforementioned "Untitled" Zilla Rocca Remix , it boasts six additional remixes from Scorcese 's Underground/Indie Rap peers, Tony Dark , Disco Vietnam, Jason Griff , Camouflage Monk, and L'Orange . "So, yeah... "THIS. IS. THE. REMIX." ( Puffy voice.) Been a long time coming, but you all can blame L'Orange ! Anyway, this was a selected [seven] remixes based on fan response," Scorcese Lorde Jones explained on Gods ...

The Vivian Maier EP by Alex Ludovico Since we last spoke with Los Angeles -based bartender and A Clockwork Orange -referencing emcee Alex Ludovico , upon our premiere of "Calendar," he has released five more one-off single installments in his ever-evolving #MedicineMondays series. The, suddenly, before year's end, Alex Ludovico unleashed a brand new 10-track full-length entitled pretendtobe , which we previously teased within our "Calendar" premiere. Just this year, as part of his #MedicineMondays2019 series, Ludovico has already unleashed six one-off singles, as well as a fittingly festive 3-track EP entitled New Year's Resolutions . I've heard "through the grapevine" that Alex Ludovico is earnestly at work finishing up an EP with Brooklyn -based producer and fellow Zilla Rocca collaborator, Jason Griff (@iamJasonGriff) which should be properly released within a month or so. It appears as though, in the meantime, Ludovico has still b...

Calendar by Alex Ludovico Alex Ludovico is a bartender/mixologist by night and emcee by day. Currently hailing from Los Angeles , Ludovico was born and raised in The Midwest — Gary, IN & Chicago, IL , specifically—and has spent time in Atlanta , but now, calls LA home. He's been rapping for 12 years, has been going by "Alex Ludovico" for about nine, and took a 6-year long hiatus in-between. Alex Ludovico explains his unique brand of Hip-Hop as " Rap for a new generation: diverse, irreverent, and real without pretention, yet honest and humorous." Ludovico makes music intended to be utilized as "the soundtrack of life, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, always memorable." He's previously worked alongside and collaborated with the likes of Blurry Drones , Gzu​-​Tek, The Dutchmaster, Young Live , and Zilla Rocca, as well as a multitude of Hip-Hop/Electro producers. Alex & Zilla have worked together on a number of occasions, since first...