The Witzard

The Clash - Combat Rock "Punk Note" Cover By: John Yates for Stealworks (@stealworks) I've, admittedly, been on a Clash kick lately during quarantine... well, pretty much all things even remotely Clash-related: I've recently re-visited 1977's The Clash, as well as Combat Rock, Big Audio Dynamite/Big Audio Dynamite II's sample-laden discography, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros' early 2000's Hellcat Records albums, 2018 career-spanning comp. Joe Strummer 001, and, of course, Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer's "Redemption Song" cover/duet from CASH UNEARTHED. It's pretty amazing to me, while primarily Punk Rock/New Wave-based, how much sampling exists within The Clash and its members related projects' music. For example: "Rock The Casbah" features an electronic sound effect beginning at the 1:52-minute point of the song. This noise is a monophonic version of the song "Dixie." The sound effect source was generat...

"I'm writing all the time, but recently I got the bug back. When it comes, it comes, and I can't force it, but... I got it back with "Hotline Bling" and all the other things I've been experimenting with," Erykah Badu recently told Noisey concerning her five-year gap between New Amerykah Part 2 (Return of The Ankh) and just-released But You Caint Use My Phone ; a clever allusion to Badu's own widely-acclaimed 1997 Live single "Tyrone," in which she famously laments, "you need to call Tyrone... but ya can't use my phone." "HOT LINE BLING BUT U CAINT USE MY PHONE MIX" (now re-titled "Cell U Lar Device" ) was initially conceived as an impromptu birthday present for a friend of Erykah Badu 's with assistance from Dallas -area producer Zach Witness , better known locally as one White Chocolate . "When I thought about doing the "Hotline Bling" remix, I thought about him. And the same ...

"Remember one night, I went to Erykah [Badu 's] house, she made tea for me. We talked about love and what life could really be for me. She said, "when that sh*t is real, you just know," Canada 's #1 Rap-Singer Drake crooned of an apparent tea-date with Miss Badu on "Days In The East." While it may or may not actually be a fictionalized re-telling, Drake and Erykah Badu 's mutual admiration doesn't seem to end with "Days In The East;" without any prior warning, Erykah-She ILL-Badu suddenly uploaded her slightly wordy "HOTLINE BLING BUT U CAINT USE MY PHONE MIX" to her newly-minted Soundcloud page Friday evening. ANALOUGE GIRL {IN A DGITAL WORLD} aka THE MIGHTY AFRO DIGHTY herself plays bells, in addition to providing original vocal accompaniment, on "HOTLINE BLING" along with her cast of highly skilled players: producer/keyboardist Zach Witness , guitarist Ben Hixon , and Ethan Worland on "brushes...

Aside from his pseudo-brother-in-law Kanye West , I've never really heard tell of a rapper readily associating himself with Kardashian -bred entrepreneur Scott Disick ; until the red bearded charmer himself, Action Bronson effortlessly proclaimed, "Yo, it's the rap Scott Disick / Come through the f*ckin' block with some hot lizards." Bronson's long-time friend and Well Done collaborator Statik Selektah recruited him for the introductory verse on his latest single, "The Imperial." While it's only been out for a few days, AllHipHop has already dubbed Selektah's recent efforts "the unofficial Make-a-Wish foundation for dream rap collaborations," presumably for pairing Bronson up with Slaughterhouse member Royce Da 5'9" and veteran Roots emcee Black Thought . Now, try to stay with me here, but Action Bronson really seems to be the missing link between everyone involved here: he previously worked with Statik Selekt...

"It's one of our favourite songs ever, I think," Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker lamented before launching into a pretty spot-on cover of OutKast 's "Prototype" from André 3000 's 1/2 of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003). Guitar/keyboardist Nick "Paisley Adams" Allbrook effectively handles André 3000 's echoing double-tracked vocals, crooning: "Today must be my lucky day... Do something outta the ordinary, like catch a matinee, baby." Tame Impala's 5-piece touring band -- which also includes Jay "Gumby" Watson, Dominic Simper , and Julien Barbagallo -- really do one Hell of a job @ channeling OutKast 's psuedo-70's Soul-Funk vibe that's smoothly spread across the original. The band's spirited cover was essentially recorded, tracked, and broadcast on-the-fly during a recent stop by hometown [Australian] radio station, Triple J for their infamous Like a Version segment. Tame Impala EP ...

Aside from co-headlining Budweiser 's second annual Made In America Festival , Mrs. Carter recorded an interesting new track for what's poised to be one of Summer 2013's biggest blockbusters, The Great Gatsby . While Bryan Ferry Emile Sandé contributed a "Crazy In Love" cover, Beyoncé & André 3000 managed to conjure up their own unique re-make, "Back to Black" (2007). Needless to say, Bey & Dre have TOTALLY flipped Amy Winehouse 's breakout Neo-Soul hit; and from the sounds of this just-released 90-second snippet, "Back to Black" has been effectively turned into a modern day Electro-Funk jam. But with that said, it's pretty damn hard to judge an entire track off a brief 90-second preview! Almost every time André 3000 randomly spits a few sub-par bars like this, it just makes me want that long-rumored OutKast reunion album even more, which I'm beginning to question will ever really see the light of day. Beyo...

"Wild for The Night" is a pretty vain take on Hip-Hop 's own version of the infamous "sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll" lifestyle, that's quickly become a crusin' around/weekend ramp up kinda jam for my friends and I amongst countless 20-something Middle Americans . A$AP Rocky released it's debauchery-filled music video a couple days ago, which stars A$AP Mob, Skrillex , and Birdy Nam Nam rippin' it up throughout the Dominican Republic . Looks like Rocky & friends pissed away RCA/Polo Grounds' big budget allotted towards "Wild for The Night" and director Chris Robinson just happened to tag along and film all the hi-jinx that ensued. We're talkin' about everyday/above-average shit like hanging out on rooftops, gun-toting children, practicing karate kicks with friends, seducing hunnies on the beach, motorcycle burn-outs, a late night club gig, etc. The always fashionable A$AP Rocky sports a number of DKNY...

"Apple of My Eye" was one of those songs that when I first heard Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors , almost instantly made me say to myself, "Why the fuck isn't this a single!?" It's a weirdly AWESOME blend of Southern -fried Hip-Hop , smooth Pop -driven melodies, and mid-80's Jazz horn-assisted The Cure , kinda like "Lovecats" or "The 13th." While on indefinite hiatus from OutKast (2007-presnt), Big Boi has really established himself as a viable solo artist and released the second of 2 albums in just 2 short years; Fresh off an 18-month tour, he's supposedly already 9-10 tracks into writing-recording his currently untitled third studio album with long-time production team, Organized Noize . "Apple of My Eye" kicks off with an innuendo-filled skit starring Big Boi , a cornrowed buddy, and an Epic Meal Time [food truck]. During the final pre-scene, Big Boi 's handed a shiny red apple, which smoothly t...

While Speakerboxx/The Love Below (2003) was a great album, it kinda seems more like 2 re-packaged solo albums, rather than a cohesive collection of Southern Hip-Hop . In my eyes, OutKast effectively "broke up" after the release of Idlewild [film-soundtrack] around 2006 and they've just been fucking with us all these years since, making empty promises of a long-delayed new album. That was most likely the original post- Speakerboxxx/Love Below plan: Big Boi solo album, followed by an André 3000 record, and then finally, an album full of new OutKast tunes. Now, Big Boi has whole-heartedly kept his promise unleashing Purple Ribbon All-Stars , Sir Lucious Left Foot, and Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors back-to-back since about 2005! Meanwhile, André 3000 has kept busy doing pretty much everything BUT rapping... cartoon shows, selling Gillette razors, acting roles , random left-field remixes, etc. But André 3000 was in fact featured on "Royal Flush" ...

While André 3000 has been busy "recording a solo album," hawking Gillette razors/beard trimmers, and re-covering Hendrix covers ... Big Boi 's somehow managed to record & release 2 solo projects and produce the bulk of an album for Modest Mouse . All of this has collectively happened since OutKast 's long-lost last album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was released (2003) and on the heels of a long-rumored new album from the group, which no one really knows "if or when that will ever happen." Big Boi is currently putting a few final touches on his second solo LP, Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors ; This one's essentially the sequel to Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty and it's currently slated for a Nov. 13th wide release. "She Said OK" is a mega-sized sultry cut that's co-piloted by Big Boi and Brooklyn Hipster R&B rapper Theophilus London , along with background crooner Tre Luce and Soulful producer C...

Frank Ocean is a brave, brave man for coming out as bi-sexual in the [final] weeks leading up to the release of his major label debut... something that could have deeply affected channel ORANGE 's initial sales, which ended up debuting @ #2 on the Billboard 200 chart! Ocean's new-found "preference" really doesn't have any bearing whatsoever on channel ORANGE 's overall song content, quality, etc. Most of the time, Frank Ocean sounds a lot like Usher ; a suave R&B singer who could easily fit in on "Urban Radio" and hang with the music industry's BIGGEST rappers. While there's definitely a great mix of various styles spread out all across channel ORANGE , there's an underlying Soulful Funkiness , mildly reminiscent of Prince . Man, it's almost difficult to describe on "paper" how fucking AWESOME channel ORANGE really is - quite easily the best Hip-Hop/R&B album of 2012 [so far]! Granted each of Frank Ocean ...

Prince supposedly has 500+ written, recorded, fully completed albums and films just sitting locked up inside a giant dusty vault somewhere. Only a certain breed of artist can be that prolific/guarded, while remaining successful all @ once; Lil' Wayne and Bob Dylan also come to mind when taking about insanely fruitful singer-songwriters. But this here post is actually about none of the above... they may be discussed @ a later date. It's simply meant to set up the groundwork for tonight's "Main Attraction(s):" Lil B and local legend, Mr. Moot ! A former member of The Pack , Lil B is still rockin' those same scruffy-looking brown [white?] "Vans" until he banks $1 million. BASEDGOD is essentially so prolific that he releases a new stream-of-conciousness mixtape nearly every week. It's increasingly hard to keep track of his rapidly unveiled output, but Lil B 's full-length album, I'm Gay (2011) was truly LEGENDARY! The track presented ...

I've been a hardcore music fan for about 10-15 years now; An admitted lover of all things Hip-Hop, Indie Rock , and Punk (Pop Culture). OutKast, Gorillaz , and LCD Soundsystem have been atop my list of favourite artists for some time and were quite arguably the 3 most eclectic musicians of the last decade! So, much to my delight it was pretty exciting to hear about Converse 's latest "3 Artists, 1 Song" installment: Damon Albarn , André 3000 , and James Murphy. "DoYaThing" premiered online earlier today, in conjunction with the release of 4 SPECIAL EDITION Jamie Hewlett -designed Gorillaz "Chucks." Pitchfork 's very own Ryan Dombal reports that while in the studio over 3 days back in September, the eclectic trio also recorded a Dirty 12-minute version of "DoYaThing" in addition to the [previously released] Radio Edit. Gorillaz are set to debut a companion music video and the long version online in the coming weeks. "DoYa...

The final scenes of "Swim Good" feature a mysterious panda-masked man, limousine explosion, blood by the ocean... and do little-nothing to help clear up the amassed sense of confusion. Syncopated along with Tricky Stewart 's drumbeat, Frank Ocean does his best to stay true to the overall lyrical theme of said track. Behind the wheel of a vibrant orange Lincoln limo and under the direction of NABIL , Frank Ocean manages to get roped up in a number of hi-jinx. Those including but not limited to: forest-surrounded crusin', ninja sword tricks, passionate love-making [murder?], ocean crest stock footage, a pair of Air Jordans , and FIRE! " Kanye 's 808's & Heartbreak album is more influential than we think... It helped to free other hip hop artists to experiment. Visually speaking, Kanye and André 3000 are the most influential to this generation, whether we want to admit it or not. I don't think it will stop with wearing saggy "jeggings...