The Witzard

"I used to watch Run-D.M.C. videos on my grandmother's TV in South Philly; then, I had to hide Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg CD's from my parents when I was 10-years-old. I used to make Rap tapes on my dad's stereo system. I would record every episode of BET's Rap City in high school on VHS. In college, I started my first Rap group. After college, I started my own Indie Rap label. Today, my first album released on a record label is out. And I can't believe it!" Zilla Rocca ecstatically wrote within a Friday afternoon Facebook post. Friday, May 19th was the release day for the seasoned South Philly rapper-producer and remixer's major label "debut," Good Luck with That on Toronto-based Indie Hip-Hop label URBNET. Zilla recently formed Career Crooks with his long-time friend and partner-in-crime Small Professor (Small Pro) and ahead of Good Luck with That, they released two hard-as-nails pre-album collections: last year's Sin Will Find You: The C...

"I was re-watching old Mad Men episodes and I heard Don Draper say "we're the creatives—just the least important most important thing there is." And I immediately went into the studio and freestyled the first verse over that beat 'cause I was so inspired by that line... to give you more insight, I'm not a freestyle type of recording artist; usually, all of my stuff is written, then re-written, then edited, and then finalized when I record it. I picked out that beat from Small [Professor] is his apartment during a snow storm. He pitched it first to a very [well-known] rapper, who passed on it, and I snatched it up immediately," South Philly -based emcee and @RapBooklets curator Zilla Rocca wrote within a recent emailed conversation. Rocca and the self-proclaimed " smallest professor that you've seen thus far" have been friends and collaborators since 2008 and South Philly neighbors for the past 4-5 years; they're previously relea...