The Witzard

"After dropping "Trunk of My Computer" video from the #STSxRJD2 album, STS , Black Thought , and Truck North put [their] MMJB twist on RJD2 's classic Mad Men theme song, "Beautiful [Mine]." Produced by The Wurxs for [their] Wurxs of Art project coming soon," Philly emcee Sugar Tongue Slim (STS) wrote Tuesday afternoon on his Soundcloud accompanying "Mad Men Jam Boys." The Wurxs -produced remix of RJD2 's Mad Men theme, "A Beautiful Mine," is the unofficial return to form of Roots affiliated crew, Money Making Jam Boys , which consists of Roots emcee Black Thought , STS , Truck North , Greg P.O.R.N. and Dice Raw (who are noticeably absent here). MMJB 's first and only release thus far was their Denzel Washington -approved 18-track debut, The Prestige: Jam Boy Magic way back in 2010. Its members have remained far from silent in the five years since The Prestige : Black Thought & The Roots have ...

Ladies and gentlemen of The Internet , it looks like The Grand Mufti AKA Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire has risen from the ashes and is finally back with a BRAND NEW 16-track mixtape, Kismet ; For all intensive purposes, it's eXquire 's first project since his critically-acclaimed debut, Lost In Translation (2011) and only his second release for Universal Records (since no one really had a chance to score a copy of The Man In The High Castle ). Mr. MFN eXquire definitely brought in some added muscle for Kismet , recruiting a few of his highly-skilled rapping friends like Danny Brown , Nacho Picasso, Flatbush Zombies [all on one single track], Goldie Glo , and Gorgeous Black. Kismet seems to represent a certain level of personal and spiritual growth for eXquire , who recently took a break from the world of Hip-Hop to tend to his ailing mother and in turn, got sober cold turkey. VICE -employed writer Drew Millard laments that "this is not the same dude you'd asso...

The Roots, Carly Rae Jepsen , and Jimmy Fallon managed to orchestrate a pretty unique/endearing take on "Call Me Maybe." Shot backstage @ Studio 8B before Thursday's taping, it vaguely reminds me of Ben Folds' cover of "Such Great Heights" (Postal Service) that was released just a few years ago. In an un-usually crafty turn of events, Carly Rae Jepsen & Late Night Band somehow re-appropriate "Call Me Maybe"'s central melody and Pop -tinged hook on a gaggle of common classroom instruments: triangle, ukelele, tambourine, xylophone, bongo drums, kazoo, "recorder," afro pick, etc. Jepsen was essentially discovered online by Justin Bieber and now has a #1 hit single for Scooter Braun 's record label, Schoolboy [Interscope] . Grab a copy of Carly Rae Jepsen 's Curiosity EP and stay tuned for a full-length album, while Jimmy Fallon 's new star-studded comedy record, Blow Your Pants Off is out Tuesday (June 12th).

You said you're looking for artists that embody the American spirit. I've got a guy: He's got a beautiful voice and he sings Al Green songs well. The only problem is that he's super-busy and Donald Trump thinks he was born overseas. [Laughs] "Ah, yeah, THAT guy. I'm gonna try. I'm gonna tell you guys right now: I'm gonna give him a call and I'm gonna try to get him to perform - Do a little rendition of Al Green - but I doubt it. I think that opens up the political season. He'll be so far into helping the world that he probably won't have time, but I'm absolutely going to ask him." - Jay-Z (Rolling Stone)