The Witzard

By now, it's fairly widely known that Hemlock Ernst is the rapping alter-ego of Future Islands erratically-dancing frontman, Samuel "Sam" T. Herring. Herring is/was, also, a member of The Snails (as Sammy Snail,) Art Lord & The Self-Portraits, and Trouble Knows Me with Otis Jackson, Jr. AKA Madlib. Sam Herring has been an active member of Baltimore, Maryland-based Future Islands since 2006, but has, supposedly been emceeing for decades prior to joining the beloved Indie Rock/Synth-Pop quartet. Herring has been doing guest verses on other Hip-Hop/Rap artists and producers tracks as Hemlock Ernst for quite a few years now and has appeared alongside everyone from Height Keech to Busdriver. Ernst first came in contact with LA-based producer Kenny Segal while working on "Souvenir" from R.A.P. Ferreira FKA milo/scallops hotel's 2015 album, So The Flies Don't Come. It appears as though Ernst & Segal have secretly been chipping away at completing a ...

Kenosha, Wisconsin emcee Safari Al —AKA S.al, S. Al, Emmanuel Fade, Safari Al (Journeyman Hip-Hopper,) @s_afari_al, etc.—is a Ruby Yacht/Ruby Yacht Makers Guild (rbyt) affiliate and frequent milo/scallops hotel collaborator. The man also known as Alexander Kollman is, actually, a visual artist and carpenter by day with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. Safari Al has been consistently recording and releasing Hip-Hop music since about 2014 when he temporarily moved out to Los Angeles with milo; although, S.al has been quietly making music for at least eight years, having released music as part of or alongside Busdriver, The Dilla Gents, milo, Mugwampers, REDWALL , scallops hotel, WC Tank, and short-lived Folk/Hip-Hop group, MANTRAS, as well as Ruby Yacht and now-defunct Hellfyre Club. Since 2012, Safari AL has rapidly recorded, finessed, and self-released nine separate projects on his own personal Bandcamp page. In-between these aforementioned releases, S.al has appeared across m...

Milwaukee -based 91.7 WMSE 's Local Lunchbox segment fittingly describes Sahan Jayasuriya as "a Wisconsin native, who has served as drummer for a variety of Milwaukee bands over the last decade. His latest venture is a foray into sample-based beat-making under the name Cold Lunch , where he pulls from a variety of formats and music styles to create new works." Cold Lunch 's I Feel So Action "Side" of strata... is a bit more Blues/Jazz -based when compared against steel tipped dove 's I Steel of Radiance "Side." Cold Lunch 's production work throughout strata... honestly, reminds me a bit of s.al 's 2011 Soundcloud loosie, "Moanin' "—or "a throwback vibe to help the ladies and fellas start kickin' the jive"—which expertly samples Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' 1959 track of the same name. I Feel So Action fittingly ends with a smile-evoking Cold Lunch -produced track, of course, entitle...

"we wrote it after our homie died. al made a beat tape wit' every beat named after mark . i came to his house and wrote to the first one he played. it sat on a hard drive 'til now," @yomilo AKA milo AKA scallops hotel AKA Rory Ferreira wrote in response to a Tweet inquiring about REDWALL 's "AGONY." As milo referenced within his Tweeted statement, the track's actually, titled "AGONY (for Mark) (II)" and is credited to "REDWALL," which consists of milo and Alexander Kollman of The Dilla Gents AKA Safari Al AKA s.al . milo die-hards will know, Safari Al , actually, appeared on "Super Happy Sunshine Fun Club" from milo 's first mixtape, I wish my brother Rob was here , released on Hellfyre Club in 2011. "AGONY" is, of course, the second release from REDWALL following their 2014 single-track EP, (Boyle) and Piles , which featured contributions from Ruby Yacht associates and frequent collab...