The Witzard

When we last spoke with Phoenix-based/Philly born and raised rapper, producer, wrestling super-fan, and former teacher Raheem Jarbo AKA Mega Ran, he was preparing to unleash his DJ DN3 & Fresh Kils-produced Biggie tribute, Notorious R.A.N: Ready to Live. Ran's since "[taken] on a rigorous touring schedule, [hosted] a wrestling podcast Mat Mania , and [made] high-profile appearances on WWE television" and "returns to release the introspective and enlightening album, EXTRA CREDIT." His latest collection, EXTRA CREDIT—which even I had absolutely NO IDEA about until about 2-3 weeks prior to its release—is effectively a "greatest hits" collection made up of equal parts new tracks, old tracks, and re-imagined versions. Anchored by a few RNDM left-overs, EXTRA CREDIT features production work from K-Murdock (mixing & mastering,) The Rockit Scientist, Charlie Mumbles, ECID, Kaito Kobayashi, RandomBeats & Middle East Modern, DIBIA$E, Wann Sklobi, Y...

Strange Talk is a Melbourne -based Australian Synth-Pop duo consisting of Stephen Docker and Gerard Sindu . Their music has been likened to contemporary Indie-Pop acts such as Passion Pit , MGMT, Phoenix , Cut Copy, and Yeasayer . Strange Talk released one full-length album, Cast Away (2014) on Wind-up Records and two EP's for both Wind-up and Neon Gold Records , as well as a number of singles and commissioned remixes . However, "after working on nothing but Strange Talk for the last seven years, the duo decided to take a break from the Indie-Pop world to pursue their other love... French Electro/House ," reads a recent press statement. Now, Gerard Sindu & Stephen Docker are actively readying their Electro/House -inspired EP-length re-birth as KNIGHTFALL , VOLUME 1 . Following this year's previous two singles, "Speed Machine" and "Exodus," as well as "Motostop" (KNIGHTFALL vs. Q-Tip ) KNIGHTFALL have unleashed the l...

"What's goodie!? My name is iLL-Omega . I'm a beat-maker from Trenton, NJ . This is my column [for] Beat-maker Bedrock ! Here's three albums that inspired me to start making music. Salute to John "Jumbled" Bachman and The Witzard for letting me be a part of this!" - Darnell "iLL-Omega" Storey I. Wu-Tang Clan - "Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) "This album is one of the first Hip-Hop albums that made me want to start doing music. The RZA delivers a cinematic feel with the Kung-Fu samples and crazy chopped-up samples. The hard-hitting drums shake your car and pound your chest on each track. I remember first listening to Wu-Tang in intermediate school. When I first played this tape, it felt like a movie that I didn't want to end. The contributions from all nine members of the Wu-Tang seemed like a big Kung-Fu fight scene with each line that punches you in the face." II. Redman - Muddy Waters (1996) ...

Hello world 101 - Vinyl Recording (96Khz-24Bit) by Elektrostal "We started out asking ourselves the question, 'if Daft Punk didn’t originate from France , but rather a dank dystopian nightmare of a Moscow suburb, what would that sound like?'" reads the brief, slightly tongue-in-cheek, description included on Amsterdam -based Retro-Future Elecrtonic a band Elektrostal 's Soundcloud page. Elektrostal consists of self-described "song-writer, agitator & synth whizz" Justin Billinger and "floppy label writer, Atari [engineer], vocals & synth [programmer]" Ferry Ridderhof . Billinger & Ridderhof unleashed their appropriately-titled 7-track debut EP, Hello world 101 on vinyl record and high-quality MP3, FLAC, etc. download as recently as November 11th, 2016; a mere six days later, Elektrostal uploaded a digitized vinyl copy of Hello world 101 , which consists of "a 96 Khz 24-bit recording of the vinyl album with a classic Te...

"It's still hard to believe I found an out-take [with] my original band @CHICorg #IllBeThere ," @nilerodgers exuberantly Tweeted late Saturday night; Rodgers, who's essentially the sole founding member of Disco-Funk originators, Chic (now, somewhat confusingly billed as "CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers" ), has been pain-stakingly compiling a collection of recently unearthed 1970-80's era Chic tracks along with contemporary producers like Avicii , David Guetta, and The Martinez Brothers . Chic 's newly-surfaced material, tentatively titled It's About Time , seems to have been oddly enough reverse "influenced" by modern-day Disco-Funk acts like Chromeo , Dâm-Funk, Tuxedo , Mark Ronson & The Dap-Kings, and even quite ironically, buddies Daft Punk & Pharrell , who were all very likely initially influenced by Chic 's genre-shaping output in the first place. " ["I'll Be There"] is a moving concept for me abo...

Even though they amicably disbanded back in July, experimental Noise-Rap group, Death Grips still have an as-yet-unreleased double-disc album in their back pocket; part one of the powers that b , eloquently dubbed ni**as on the moon , was released for FREE download online prior to their break-up. " Death Grips just uploaded a video," read a stock YouTube email which suddenly appeared in my Inbox late Tuesday night... " Inanimate Sensation - Disc 2 - Jenny Death from the upcoming double album "The Powers That B,'" it continued. The entirety of "Inanimate Sensation" is strewn across a fallen NBA Jumbo-tron and it was supposedly directed by Death Grips themselves. Its bonkers, unconventional Hip-Hop beat vaguely reminds me of something that could've soundtracked Saturday morning/after school cartoons like The Animaniacs or even Looney Tunes and isn't all that dissimilar from Daft Punk 's now patented brand of Future-Funk ....

While it's largely unclear exactly how Atlanta emcee Rome Fortune and British Electronic producer Four Tet managed to record their recent series of cross-continental collaborations, I'd like to think they followed the Jaylib model; legend has it that J Dilla & Madlib 's lone Stones Throw album, Champion Sound , was painstakingly assembled from dozens of beat/vocal CD-R's that were mailed back-and-forth between Los Angeles and Detroit . Rome Fortune & Four Tet unexpectedly released their second track together, "Lights Low" Thursday afternoon, which Fortune vaguely alluded is "Track 2 of ? between myself and Four Tet ..." For those not exactly familiar with either artists' work, "Lights Low" and "One Time For" don't sound totally dissimilar from Daft Punk 's Electro -tinged Hip-Hop collaborations with Kanye and Jay Z , "Stronger" and "Computerized" (respectively). Four Tet r...

It's pretty awesome how wildly popular something as arguably inaccessible as Daft Punk 's sun-soaked Pharrell & Nile Rodgers -assisted 1970's Soul-Funk revival, "Get Lucky" slowly became one of the break-out hits of last summer; "Getting lucky is not just sleeping with her, but meeting someone for the first time and it just clicking. There's no better fortune in this existence to me," Pharrell explained within a pre-album Creators Project segment. Their Grammy -winning album, Random Access memories featured vocal contributions from the lies of Julian Casablancas , Panda Bear, Paul Williams , Chilly Gonzales, as well as a couple aggro-production credits on Kanye 's latest Industrial-Rap album, Yeezus . While it's true validity has yet to be 100% fully confirmed, a previously unreleased Daft Punk & Jay Z track suddenly materialized on The Internet Monday afternoon. Kanye to The forum user LordLordLord uploaded "Computer...

I guess I've been experiencing somewhat of a writer's block spell for the better part of this past week, maybe I'm just uninspired... or maybe the state of popular music as a whole has seen better days; all week long, I've just wanted to write two solid Punk Rock and Hip-Hop pieces, but nothing worth-while had really piqued my interest(s) thusfar. Although all that immediately changed once I read Noisey editor Dan Ozzi 's latest piece, titled "Kanye West and Crustpunk: Together at Last." It makes completely logical sense, considering Kanye 's recent genre-pulverizing Industrial-Rap monster of an album, Yeezus and I honestly feel that this is something he'd really enjoy listening to. Ozzi further describes the Jake Bowman -orchestrated mash-up album as "sort of an odd pairing, putting Kanye 's pompous rap verses over that crack rock-steady beat." He additionally notes that "most of Kanye 's fans probably wouldn't k...

Pharrell arguably had one of the most successful years of his career last year with the combined mega-success of "Get Lucky," "Blurred Lines," and countless other chart-topping hits. Late Tuesday night, news broke that Pharrell 's long-rumored second solo album, now titled G I R L will see a March 3-4th release. Pharrell himself described the album as "the difference between [age] 30 and 40" during a career-spanning Complex interview and in stark contrast with both In My Mind (2006) and N*E*R*D , G I R L will supposedly feature "no rapping" whatsoever. While I've always thought Pharrell was a pretty impressive rapper-producer, he's a damn awesome singer and hook-man, as well. "Happy," the first single of the album's 10 currently untitled tracks, is a prime example of Skateboard P 's singing chops; it was originally composed for the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack and almost functions as a modern day all-a...

Depending on who you ask, Ron Burgundy is quite arguably actor-comedian Will Ferrell 's coveted career-defining role and in recent weeks, he's somehow managed to supersede the confines of a mere film role; appearing alongside Daft Punk on an MTV EMA's promo, partnering up with Dodge to sell some 2014 Durangos , manning real-life news broadcasts, interviewing football mega-star Peyton Manning , getting his very own Ben & Jerry 's flavor, etc. Tuesday afternoon amidst the impending East Coast snow storm, "Ron Burgundy" teamed up with Blue-Eyed Soul crooner Robin Thicke for a buttery smooth cover of "Ride Like The Wind." The original Christopher Cross version was released way back in 1979-80, and his self-titled Soft Rock magnum opus it appears within famously beat out Pink Floyd 's equally great The Wall for an Album of The Year Grammy later that year. Christopher Cross' track, as well as Robin Thick & Ron Burgundy 's...

Pharrell has long surpassed anyone's expectations who previously pigeon-holed him as a Snoop Dogg & Jay-Z- affiliated Neptunes producer, on-and-off Funk-Rock N*E*R*D frontman, or mere smooth-voiced hookman; he single-handedly co-fronted 2 of the summer's biggest mega-hits, "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines" (but you already know that much). Pharrell has recently started flexing his original soundtrack/composer chops as well, working on the original Despicable Me , it's sequel Despicable Me 2 , and a rumored Amazing Spider-Man 2 super-score with composer Hans Zimmer , Mike Einzinger (Incubus), former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr , and Dave Stewart (Eurythmics). Fresh on the heels of Bob Dylan 's inter-active "Like a Rolling Stone" video, Pharrell and directing team We Are from LA unleashed the world's very first 24-hour music video for Despicable Me 2 single, "Happy" online Thursday-Friday. It reportedly feature...

Light years before unveiling his nearly flawless magnum opus, My Name Is My Name , Pusha T unleashed his unofficial 2-part G.O.O.D. Music debut, Fear of God and it's companion commercial re-boot, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray (2011). Not long after, LuckyMe & Decon Records commissioned Rustie , S-Type, Machinedrum , Lunice, and Hudson Mohawk [TNGHT] to produce a lost remix project dubbed "Lucky-T." Although LuckyMe further specified that "it never surfaced though, as Hud Mo started working with G.O.O.D. Music in an official capacity;" likely referring to his production contract, signed with Kanye 's in-house Very G.O.O.D. Beats micro-label in January 2013. While Lucky-T never really managed to fully materialize, Rustie quietly uploaded his "Trouble On My Mind" remix to Soundcloud late Tuesday afternoon. It's a terribly awesome glitched-out re-work that upon an initial trunk-rattling listen, kinda reminds me of a Trap -heavy ...

Rising comedian Kyle Mooney is one of the latest additions to a recently-gutted SNL , after a few long-time cast members made their final departure(s) last season; Director Henry Demaio recently pre-cast Mooney in his latest music video creation, "Moving Pictures," which itself is pulled from The Stepkids' second album recorded for Stones Throw , Troubadour (Sept. 9-10th). It's a mildly trippy affair, fittingly outfitted with plenty of real-life moving pictures, as the cameraman slowly pans across various scenarios. The Stepkids seemingly used green screens to their full advantage and were able yo "travel" to sun-soaked beaches, an awkward house-party with a kiddie pool, various city streets and sidewalks, an ever-changing trendy beach/desert party, and a giant-joint rolling super-science lab. Now, on a purely sonic level, "Moving Pictures" is really what we've grown to expect from The Stepkids : a seamless hybrid of cheesy Yacht Rock...

Pharrell was quite arguably the undisputed hit-making champion of Summer 2013; having his hand in chart-topping mega-hits like "Blurred Lines," "Get Lucky," and "Burgundy." Over the past 10-12 years, Pharrell has effortlessly transformed from a relatively in-demand producer/ N*E*R*D frontman to a viable Hip-Hop-R&B hookman and he's most recently become Daft Punk 's pseudo-lead singer, more or less. "Lose Yourself to Dance" has been slowing picking up steam since it's radio/online release back in August. It's one of 2 devilishly smooth Funk -based Random Access Memories (RAM) cuts that feature Pharrell and Chic bassist Nile Rodgers , along with founding members Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo & Thomas Bangalter , of course. Pharrell stated in a recent interview that the track "makes [him] feel like waking down the street in the middle of the night in London and it's 1984, 1985," elaborating that ...

All I can think of when I hear something about R. Kelly anymore is "I wanna piss on you... Gimme that pee-pee. Gimme that poo-poo" thanks to Dave Chappelle's CLASSIC scandalous skit. But R. Kelly is actually a really talented, slightly zonked out musician and he's seemingly about to infiltrate a whole new market: Hipsters! Robert Kelly formed a new-found kinship with French Indie Rock band Phoenix at Coachella earlier this summer; performing a few unique mashed-up remixes for the unsuspecting concert-goers, "Ignition" (1901) and "Chloroform" (I'm a Flirt) . It's kinda like that time R. Kelly & Jay Z teamed up for a MASSIVE album and world tour -- Except it's more like if Jay Z was 4 scrawny French guys ha. But with that said, it's not a whole lot unlike Daft Punk & Pharrell 's recent mega-hit, "Get Lucky;" Just a little more Adult Contemporary and a little less Electro -fied. Ina recent inter...

Preceded only by a vague, Bob Dylan -like teaser clip earlier in the week, Justin Timberlake unleashed his BRAND NEW single, "Take Back The Night" late Friday afternoon; oozing Off The Wall era Disco vibes, I guess Timberlake's track shares it's name with an anti-rape organization of some sort (creepy coincidence or not). One particular commenter at Stereogum , michael_ , actually said it perfectly: "What has changed since the release of [The 20/20 Experience] and this upcoming one is Daft Punk 's "Get Lucky" and Robin Thicke 's "Blurred Lines" copping their own shares in this Neo-Disco Pop ..." The 20/20 Experience (Part 2) is slated for a September 30th release, along with the "JT Complete Package," which'll re-collect all 21 tracks from parts 1-2. "I originally recorded a massive amount of material and decided on the 20 tracks that I wanted on the album(s) over a year ago," Justin Timberlake l...

The Stepkids are kinda like a Hip-Hop -infused modern day version of Steely Dan ; equal parts sleaze, cheese, and white-bred Funk-Soul ! In-between The Stepkids (2011) and it's upcoming follow-up, Troubadour the band leaked a string of Jazzed up cover tunes: Daft Punk , Rihanna, and Justin Timberlake . Last year, Stones Throw even teamed them up with sharp-tongued emcees Homeboy Sandman , Percee P, and Pharoahe Monch for an all too short-lived remix project. The Stepkids' latest Funk -drenched concoction is "The Lottery" a freshly tracked video-single preceding Troubadour , which hits shelves nation-wide Sept. 10th. Guitarist Jeff Gitelman described the album's creation as "deep musically, there are whole sides to us [that] we haven't really explored yet." Gitelman further laments that The Stepkids haven't even discovered some of their "most exciting stuff" thusfar. "The Lottery" co-stars trombone dancer Jonathan...

What kind of madman would spend the better part of a year recording and re-recording an anti-commercial mainstream Hip-Hop album (if that's even a thing ha) all while his celebutante girlfriend is carrying their unborn baby and steadily nearing her dude date, only to have mega-producer Rick Rubin come in and re-work the entire 10-track collection mere hours before it's deadline!? - Unsurprisingly, Kanye West . It's almost mind boggling how much steam Yeezus has garnered without a proper single or music video, aside from "New Slaves"' building-side projections across the world, and virtually no album track leakage until the Friday before it's Tuesday June 18th release! Aside from all that, Kanye decided to boldly stray away from any sort of legitimate-looking album artwork/packaging, instead opting for the ghetto bootleg CD-R look: no cover or booklet, empty jewel CD case, sparse tracklist on the reverse side, and only a Yeezus -marked piece of red ta...

THUMP is the newly-launched " Electronic music & culture channel from VICE ," who have now teamed up with Disclosure to produce the gripping visuals for their latest video-single, "When a Fire Starts to Burn." Brothers Guy & Howard Lawrence are prepping their debut full-length, Settle , for a world-wide release June 3-4th through PMR/Island Records ; Over the course of the past 4-6 months, they've managed to produce videos for thumping UK Garage album tracks like "Latch," "White Noise," "You & Me," and leaked countless others online. Supremely Internet -savvy listeners could have reasonably heard up to 7 of Settle 's 14 album tracks by now and ones featuring heavy-weights Jamie Woon , Jessie Ware, and Ed Macfarlane (Friendly Fires) still have yet to be heard. Disclosure have effectively become one of London 's BIGGEST ticket festival acts this year, spear-heading a 90's-tinged House revival, wit...