The Witzard

Trenton, New Jersey -based emcee/frontman Raymond "Ray" Strife released so many projects last year, we couldn't even keep up—well, my wedding was this past October, as well!—but seriously, Ray put out a BUNCH of music throughout 2018. He released his Ill-Omega -produced full-length follow-up to 2017's critically-acclaimed Preface: I Will Never Be Beautiful EP , Go for The Gusto , #BFF EP with his real-life BFF's Roebus One & Ill-Omega originally recorded back in 2013, and HARD FEELINGS EP from his "Negative" Hardcore band, OVER EVERYTHING . Now, at the top of 2019, Ray Strife has already returned from a holiday vacation to France with a previously unreleased track entitled "Think of how a Castrated Horse Feels," which takes its name from a lyric within Nirvana 's "I Hate Myself & Want to Die" from 1993's The Beavis & Butt-Head Experience compilation. It appears as though Doc Heller 's "Think o...

"Hey, what's up? I'm Darko The Super AKA Doc Heller , an Experimental Hip-Hop artist from Philadelphia , by way of Jupiter. These are a few albums that have influenced my production [work]. There's much more, but these were the ones I found easiest to write about. Obviously, Frank Zappa is the greatest musician of all time and has affected me in greater ways than just sonically, but I found it too difficult to choose just one of his albums to mention from his massive catalog. Also, Camu Tao 's King of Hearts (2010) was on my list, but I couldn't think up something good enough to do it justice. Anyway, here's my Beat-maker Bedrock ." Watered Down Demon Fuzz by Darko the Super Charles Hamilton - My Brain Is Alive mixtape (2009) " Charles Hamilton 's my favorite producer and an artist who doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves for influencing a whole generation of rappers. Out of the 200 or so albums he's released, I chose My...

Bummer Every Summer by Doc Heller Mere hours before penning this very piece you are about to embark upon, I was taking a late night scroll through Twitter and happened to stumble upon HYPEBEAST Editor Ben Roazen (@broazay) 's recent interview with [adult swim] Vice President & Creative Director Jason DeMarco (@Clarknova1.) DeMarco is of course, responsible in part for [adult swim] 's seventh annual Singles Program , Williams Street Records, DANGERDOOM 's THE MOUSE AND THE MASK , and bringing together Run The Jewels , amongst countless animated/musical triumphs. I was, as a matter of fact, at the time, trying to figure out a slightly unique angle to approach this Darko The Super BUMMER EVERY SUMMER write-up and VOILA... Near the end of HYPEBEAST's interview, Ben Roazen asked Jason DeMarco to briefly discuss [adult swim] 's storied years-long working relationship with DOOM ; to which DeMarco replied in part, "I've got paintings that DOOM made for...

"Whoopsy daisy never lazy, so I heave-ho / Whippin' sh*t like DEVO , whip it good (That thang!) / Whippin' sh*t like Elmer Fudd and Mr. Fudd slang / Listen to my guitar twang as I sang," Zev Love X tactfully rhymed on KMD 's "Constipated Monkey" from their shelved 1993 album, Bl_ck B_st_rds . The Witzard 's favorite demented beat-maker Darko The Super sampled a bit of Zev Love X 's "Constipated Monkey" verse for appropriately-titled "Whippin' Sh*t Like DEVO" from his landmark 55th album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Darko! but I'll let him explain the rest: " Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Darko! samples and is inspired by my favorite New Wave band, DEVO . My dad was the one who got me into DEVO , which is his favorite band. He has their debut Q: Are We Not Men? album cover tattooed on his leg. The album cover I chose to make parodies the original and utilizes the #2 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft , Darko ...

"I'd like to think of this album as more of a home-made mixtape you could burn to CD and give to Trick-or-Treaters . It's what I've been working on the past few months; music is a labor of love. I love releasing albums and sharing them with my friends and I intend to never stop. Put Down The Candy & Let The Little Boy Go! furthers that narrative. Maybe one day, I'll embrace my outer-adult to the fullest and find a real job. Til then, this is all I have," Evan Souza , better known as Darko The Super or Doc Heller , wrote within a message included along with his Trick-or-Treat -ready Haloween -themed mixtape. The Witzard previously premiered the mixtape's Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg -inspired title track , which Souza says was dually inspired by Slaves' recent Mike D (Beastie Boys) -produced album, Take Control . Darko The Super clever re-appropriated a line pulled from Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg 's Eazy-E dissing "F*ck wit Dre Day (and E...

"I made the beat [last week]. It's the first beat I made actually playing everything through my MIDI keyboard. I usually never do that. It felt good to have something completely mine in a way. I was listening to the new Slaves album [Take Control] produced by Mike D of Beastie Boys , before I made the beat; maybe that inspired the sound," Darko The Super (Evan Souza) wrote within a recent statement to accompany his latest single and music video, "Put Down The Candy & Let The Little Boy Go!," which he was kind enough to let me premier right here at The Witzard ! "Not too sure what the verses are about, but the chorus describes envying a friend and being dissatisfied with yourself because you're not in a better position like they are, but at least you know them. I wrote the lyrics while taking out the trash, getting a shower, and doing the dishes. I get most of my writing done doing daily tasks," Souza continued. Darko The Super addition...