The Witzard

THE HUSTLE IS REAL is a story about creating your own lane to make money doing what you love and the hustle and grind that goes along with it. "If you have to work, you might as well do what you love." DJ Prestige makes a living as a DJ spinning 7-inch 45 RMP vinyl records. He's, also, a freelance writer, graphic designer, and champion of all things vinyl. "I'm really a working-class DJ." His lane is music that has soul, music that moves you. Funk, Jazz, Soul, Hip-Hop, Latin, Disco, and more are what he delivers at his DJ night. Whether it's in the lobby of the ACE Hotel in NYC, The SHAKE Party in Brooklyn, behind the decks at various venues on the beach in Asbury Park, NJ, or as a guest DJ at Boston's SOULELUJAH, Prestige is known for his impeccable selection that controls the vibe and moves the dance floor. "90% of what I play, people don't know, but, they get down and dance anyway because it's good music. It's the be...

Root Down feat. Fleur Earth - Oonops Drops Vol. 1 by Nautilus German -based DJ Oonops (AKA Patrick Decker ) is a self-described "connoisseur of tight spider beats and juggler with different musical genres" who hosts a monthly Brooklyn Radio Mixcloud show and has compiled guest mixes for world-renown stations such as Laid Back Radio (LDBK) and Breakin' Bread . As DJ Oonops tells it, he first discovered Japanese Jazz Fusion/Soul-Funk trio Nautilus "a few years ago" by chance, upon diggin' up their first few 45 singles; amazed with their work, Decker soon "got in touch with [Nautilus] and dropped several tunes in [his] shows for Brooklyn Radio " including Oonops Drops - Straight from Japan II , Smoky Jazz Session 4, Black Gold of The Sun , WORLD TRIAL 2, and SMOKY JAZZ SESSIONS 5 . "After that, I had the idea to bring them on German label Agogo Records for a wider audience and I compiled this compilation out of their first two albums...

"Here's another excerpt from the Sulu & Excelsior visual album and what will probably be the next official music video we'll be releasing (we still have to shoot a set-up.) Enjoy this clip of "Misery Luv," which I directed and shot along with @jbsankara - This vid took some serious digging in the Super 8 crates of my pops, who is also featured in this video, as well as a slew of family," @suluandexcelsior wrote on his Instagram back on MARCH 31. I'll never forget, when I first met Sulu & Excelsior frontman Steve "Sulu" Mallorca back in Nov. 2016, he described his rather unique Hiphopfunkpunkmamboska blend of music as "Johnny Mathis meets Mos Def meets Stevie Wonder meets Nat King Cole" and it's stuck with me ever since! Sulu & Excelsior's instantly catchy, foot-stompin' debut Eddie Romero was entirely "Produced, Arranged, Composed & Performed by Steven E. Mallorca." Thanks to an introduction ...

INSTRUMENTALS.3 by AVER " INSTRUMENTALS.3 is a collection of ideas I was experimenting with in 2016 that don't quite fit into a bigger instrumental project I am currently working on (you could say they are the off-cuts, I guess!) I put it up as a FREE download , so people can see progress in the beats I'm working on, but really just so they aren't [sitting] around on my hard drive. My girlfriend told me I should stop being a perfectionist pr*ck and release them, so I did. It's her fault," THE NATURAL CURRICULUM (TNC) rapper-producer AVER replied within a Twitter DM, when I asked for a bit of background information concerning his latest project. "All Musical & Visual Excretions by AVER ; Except cuts on Track #3 by El Statiko ; This sh*t is not really mixed or mastered, soz," reads INSTRUMENTALS.3 's rather fitting Bandcamp description. THE NATURAL CURRICULUM consists of AVER , emcee Bill Sykes , rapper-producer Chalk , DJ-producer Oma...

"We're mashing up classic 1960-70's Soul grooves with the 80's synth-aesthetic of guys like Lucio Battisti and the heavy guitar riffs found in Modern Rock by guys like Jack White," says Teddy Presberg. After spending five years steeped in the St. Louis Jazz and Soul scene, collaborating and touring heavily with organ player LeClare Stevenson, the two decided to move back to Portland to launch a new project. When they landed in Portland and fired up their experimental organ trio project DoveDriver, they sought out an unlikely vocalist and songwriter to tighten that sound and launch pigWar : Garett Brennan," reads a fragmented chunk of pigWar's recent Outright Music press release. Presberg's latest and main band, pigWar list Teddy Pendergrass, Led Zeppelin, Lee "Scratch" Perry, The Faces, J Dilla, and Parliament-Funkadelic amongst their greatest sources of influence. DJ Prestige at Flea Market Funk further notes that "there are elements...

pigWar by pigWar "We’re mashing up classic 60/70’s Soul grooves with the 80’s Synth -aesthetic of guys like Lucio Battisti and the heavy guitar riffs found in Modern Rock by guys like Jack White ... There’s an incredible throwback thing happening in Soul music right now. We love that sound, and we’re hugely inspired by it, but we want to take people to the edge. The edge is where new meaning emerges, new perspective; the weird stuff," Portland -based pigWar guitarist and producer Teddy Presberg detailed within a recent Outright Music statement. Presberg, along with core pigWar members frontman Garett Brennan and keyboard-bassist LeClare Stevenson , craft a unique blend of Hard R&B and spaced-out Psychedelic Soul that's equally informed by traditional 1970's Soul-Funk , as well as J Dilla , Led Zeppelin, Teddy Pendergrass , Rod Stewart-helmed The Faces, Parliament-Funkadelic , and Lee "Scratch" Perry. Prior to pigWar 's January 2015 incep...

"One of the running themes in Eddie Romero can be heard in the opening and closing tracks of the album, when I rhyme "shall I croon or shall I spit?" Basically, I wanted to play with the image of an old school crooner, a slow jam king, that all of a sudden, flips his ballad on its ear and starts rhyming all fast and frenetic. On the first single, "Up to You" this idea is in full effect; to me, I feel like the melody is really sweet and romantic, but I wanted to contrast this with a fast and somewhat hectic beat that hits hard and could be equally at home with Big Daddy Kane rhyming over it," Steven "Sulu" Mallorca wrote within a recent statement included along with my previous Sulu & Excelsior write-up. Mallorca's unique sound has been fittingly categorized as "Johnny Mathis meets Mos Def meets Stevie Wonder meets Nat King Cole," which I would almost equate to something along the lines of Mayer Hawthorne meets Eric B. & R...

"my trippin' mojo is a raw tape recorded Funk "N" Soul band from Leipzig, Germany. Impressed by the sound and style of the 60's music, they are presenting a current refreshment with their debut called Edda's Garden. Every moment [breathes] the smell of the late sixties and [early] 70's, where the essential of this genre have been defined in a formula which exists nearly unchanged since then. Heavy drums, Funky basslines, hot brass sections, and an extra portion on the guitars wah-wah pedal. On the top of this rhythmic basement, you got Sabrina Bornmann with her powerful voice—sometimes complaining, sometimes demanding. All in a mix which is characteristic for the time before Soul music got straight and more Disco-like. This orientation consistently impacts on all fields of the musical production of the album. And so, Edda's Garden has been recorded complete analog with old mics and a dusty tape machine. 10 tracks full of love, emotions, Soul, and hea...

"Bringing their Northern Coal Music to the masses once again, Smoove & Turrell, our favorite Newcastle bunch return with a new record, Crown Posada , and a new single "You Could’ve Been a Lady." Today, we premiere the video for the track, produced by David Macgill and directed by Smoove & Turrell themselves. These chaps have been holding their own for quite sometime, broadcasting a blend of Soul and Electronic music that has propelled them from their North East base to international festival favorites. They are working-class to the soul (pun intended), and this first track on the record is a beautiful re-working of the Hot Chocolate track. While the original, slower and sweet with it’s heavy guitars can move you like it’s 1971, and the April Wine version is a little more upbeat and 70’s radio style, the Smoove & Turrell version is updated, more Dance-friendly, and has that back beat that knocks. Let us not forget the organ that winds itself in and out throu...

"One of the running themes [throughout] Eddie Romero can be heard in the opening and closing tracks of the album, when I rhyme: "shall I croon or shall I spit?" Basically, I wanted to play with the image of an old school crooner, "a slow jam king," that all of a sudden flips his ballad on its ear and starts rhyming all fast and frenetic. On the first single, "Up to You" this idea is in full effect; to me, I feel like the melody is really sweet and romantic, but I wanted to contrast this with a fast and somewhat hectic beat that hits hard and could be equally at home with Big Daddy Kane rhyming over it." - Steve Mallorca (Sulu & Excelsior) Eddie Romero by Sulu and Excelsior New York -based trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, rapper, and film-maker Steven E. Mallorca 's Sulu & Excelsior Facebook page self-describes his music as " Johnny Mathis meets Mos Def meets Stevie Wonder meets Nat King Cole ...

"Just some nasty instrumental Funk! It’s a niche market, but that’s always been where my heart is. I just never had the resources or the right mind and skill sets til now. When I first started playing drums, Pablo called me to sit in with his band, PABLO, because the drummer wasn’t showing up. They were patient with me as I learned my instrument and how to play with other musicians, instead of just jamming in my basement. I eventually became the drummer in that band, but for a moment, the rest of the band was busy with stuff and both Pablo and I had other side projects that were kind of dragging. The PABLO band is more like Rock, so Pablo and I decided to make a pure Funk project on our own. That became The Du-Rites and it’s ironic that it’s coming out before all the other projects and is actually getting really good feedback. It was initially inspired by restlessness and a desire to "Funk out,'" Jay "J-Zone" Mumford replied during our previous August 2016...