The Witzard

Chris Daly AKA DJ Cool Chris & Biz Markie at one of The Biz's famed DJ classes Marcel Theo Hall, better know as Biz Markie and oftentimes, affectionately referred to as The Biz, The Clown Prince of Hip-Hop, The Inhuman Orchestra, The Diabolical Biz Markie, and The Emizah-Emizah, was highly revered as one of the most genuine emcees to ever do it. Biz passed away on Friday, July 16, 2021 at the tender age of 57, likely due to complications from Type 2 Diabetes, although, no official Cause of Death has been revealed just yet. Biz Markie is most well-known for his infectious 1989 break-out single, "Just A Friend," but he was a truly multi-talented artist, as well. Biz Mark's lesser-known talents included beat-boxing, dancing, producing, DJ'ing, acting, singing, and song-writing. It was proven time and time again that "Nobody Beats The Biz," but he surely didn't mind collaborating with just about anyone; racking up genre-defying features with eve...

Been seeing a lot of Shock G stories (so many of 'em, so good.) Many people in The Bay, mostly music industry folks, all have a story of that cat, kinda mythical, like the Prince or Bill Murray tales you sometimes hear. An indelible mark they leave on you just doing some regular sh*t, 'cuz they're simply special like that. I have a few, but this one sticks out as one of my faves, details all, of course, a bit fuzzy due to this time in my life (so much 🥦) but, also, this was roughly 20 years ago (crazy that I still remember so much of this night, but you would, too, if you experienced it...) My guy, Ryan (then, known as Earflaps, now running Discos Mas) used to have a Wednesday at The Ivy Room on San Pablo. It was, generally, a laid-back affair, but all wax and tons of fun when I joined. Ivy Room is (historically) a little hole-in-the-wall (mostly Rock) live music venue, but on occasion, they'd have Blues & Soul and some random DJ nights. One Wednesday, we wer...

Digital Underground doesn't really get the respect it deserves, I'd say. They were wildly inventive, balancing silliness with musical chops, and were, arguably, instrumental in starting the wave of George Clinton/Funkadelic-inspired sound that would dominate mid-to-late 90's Hip-Hop. Of course, they, also, introduced us to 2pac and were an integral part of one of the craziest movies of all time, Nothing But Trouble. And Shock G took the Rap alter-ego to new extremes with the Humpty Hump persona, to the point where many people didn't realize they were the same person. We could assume this was inspirational for Kool Keith & MF DOOM, among many others. A lesser-known alter-ego of Shock's was The Piano Man, who was credited with much of the group's instrumentation and production. As Rackadelic, he created their iconic cover and liner [note] artwork. These alter-egos, also, including MC Blowfish, The Computer Woman, and more, all served to obscure the fact...

Digital Underground Word Up! Magazine Fold-out Poster (SOURCE: WEIRD RAP) In a year of seemingly unending Hip-Hop artist deaths, [Thursday] night was a particularly rough blow to Gen X Rap old heads with the passing of Shock G AKA Humpty Hump AKA Gregory Edward Jacobs. While reviewing Twitter [Thursday] night, it became immediately clear that too many folks born post-1990 didn't really know who he was, beyond his one massive hit. This following list is intended to educate, entertain and elucidate. No list of Shock G tracks would be complete without Digital Underground (D.U.)'s explosive two singles from their debut album, Sex Packets. Yes, these, obviously, are party tracks intended to get a$$es shaking, but listen to the lyrics and you'll quickly find surprising depth. The message is deceptively simple—don't let others dictate who you are or how you should feel. Fat, skinny, fake-nosed—all were welcome at a D.U. party. Without Shock G, the world may w...

Released just a few mere hours after "Open Letter" [below] and Tweeted along with a Kanye -fied message, "Our family HOV brought that real Hip-Hop shit this morning, so me and Pusha T wanna keep that feeling going." G.O.O.D. Music approved, Kanye/Don Cannon co-produced, and DONDA -commissioned artwork... "Numbers on The Boards" pulls a Jay-Z vocal sample from "Intro/A Million & One Questions/Rhyme No More" (1997). I'm pretty white and I still caught the whole "Ballers, I put numbers on the boards" basketball reference utilized on the track's hook. "Numbers on The Boards" is Pusha T 's first major release since his critically-acclaimed Wrath of Caine mixtape @ the top of the year; It might re-appear on My Name Is My Name , his long-rumored solo debut, which should be out sometime this upcoming May. Not unlike "Open Letter," from a sonic perspective, "Numbers on The Boards" ...

First off, I have to give credit where credit is due: Thanks, Mishka Bloglin for turning me onto OG Dutch Master this weekend! (shouts to David C. ) Before even hearing a lick of his music, I was almost instantly reminded of Golden Age Hip-Hop household names like Grandmaster Flash , Biz Markie, Digital Underground , Puff Daddy, Run-D.M.C. etc. based solely off that goofy/AWESOME stage name. There's very little background info online to go along with OG Dutch Master's currently brief discography. But the East Baltimore native's roughly 19-20 and rolls with 7th Floor Villains [LL7FV]. It basically sounds like the "desert island" playlist for a recovering 90's Hip-Hop absorbed Hipster 20-something, ha. OG Dutch Master 's latest output, "Raw Dope" was released right around DOOMSDAY Dec. 21st and features a vocal riff pulled from Fiona Apple 's comeback single, "Every Single Night" (2012). Up-and-coming producer Mohlz ...