The Witzard

Black Thought and Leon Michels of the El Michels Affair (CREDIT: Sesse Lind) When Leon Michels and his El Michels Affair (EMA) released their first record, Sounding Out The City, in 2005, it was hard to guess what was next for Michels and his then-introduced, now-patented "Cinematic Soul" sound. Now, four EMA studio albums and scores of tribute and remix projects later—all while producing for some of the biggest names in the industry—Michels has trademarked his sound with each project taking audiences somewhere new and pushing the boundaries even further. Michels has racked up both song-writing and production credits with JAY-Z/The Carters, Adele, Kid Cudi, Charles Bradley, Common, Rick Ross, Ludacris, Travi$ Scott, Mark Ronson, Norah Jones, Lizzo, and Mary J. Blige. The man is a river, not a lake, and this time he takes his golden touch into the realm of Hip-Hop laying down a musical bed for one of the greatest to ever rhyme into a microphone: Black Thought of The Legenda...

"After repeatedly being visited by a strange messenger in his dreams while on tour in the islands of Greece , Toby Pazner became consumed with a vision to tell the stories of The Olympians through music. Chosen by the gods as a messenger for not only his musical gifts, but for his unique position at the center of the Daptone family, Toby built a home studio from scratch and employed some of the top Soul musicians in the world to help him breath life into this album," reads a fragmented chunk of The Olympians' on-site Bandcamp press release. Tobias "Toby" Pazner 's musical journey with the Daptone/Truth & Soul/Big Crown Records -affiliated family dates back as far as 2005 and his piano-vibraphone credits include records by Lee Fields & The Expressions , Lady, El Michels Affair , Lady Wray, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings , Menahan Street Band, Aloe Blacc , Bronx River Parkway & Candela All-Stars, Ultimate Breaks & Beats , and The Bus...