The Witzard

I've recently been reading Shea Serrano 's phenomenal New York Times best-selling The Rap Yearbook (a Hanukkah present from my wonderful girlfriend), in which he evaluates, ranks, and proceeds to meticulously break down "the most important rap song" from every year between 1979-2014. I would honestly, be flat out lying, if I said it hasn't largely affected the way I look at Hip-Hop singles in the grand scheme of the genre as a whole over the past few weeks; with that said, I would even go as far as to claim that Kanye 's repeatedly upped, deleted, re-upped, deleted again, etc. double-header "Real Friends & No More Parties In LA" is quite arguably the most important Hip-Hop song of 2016. Its first 3/4's, "Real Friends," was collectively produced by Kanye, Frank Dukes, Boi-1da , and Mobb Deep co-founder Havoc and features a half-sung/rapped hook delivered by Ty Dolla $ign , while its latter 1/4 was hand-crafted by Stones T...

"How many times, Pusha T , did producers say to you, "come to the studio right now or we're gonna give this beat to Jay Z ?" Nardwuar The Human Serviette politely asked Pusha T during a 2013 post- Canadian show interview. "Well, one time.. and that was for the "Grindin'" beat and that was Pharrell Williams ... and he's supposed to be my best friend. Right? But this guy actually threatened to give the "Grindin'" beat to Jay Z , if I did not come to the studio right then and right there. I actually came, and I'm glad he did because that record was groundbreakin' for me, Pusha T exuberantly quipped. One 1/2 of early 2000's Virginia Beach -bred Coke Rap phenoms, Clipse , Pusha T – otherwise known as the newly-elected President of Kanye 's re-launched label, G.O.O.D. Music – is gearing up to unleash his long-rumored 2-part King Push album; part one, titled Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude features productio...

"BIG UPS TO THIS NEW @DRAKE FIRE PROD. BY @FRANKDUKES [AND] @BOI1DA FT. @RIVERTIBER ON THE PART 2 VOCALS #NOTELLIN #6HITZ," @badbadnotgood frantically Tweeted upon the release of Drake 's surprise mixtape/album , IF YOUR READING THIS ITS TOO LATE , late last month. That very track, Tiber aka Tommy Paxon-Beesley 's own original composition, "No Talk" went unreleased... until yesterday afternoon when The FADER premiered it; "I've been working with Frank Dukes for a minute. He made a dope sample with my vocal stem, which Boi-1da put drums on top of, and I guess Drake liked the beat and recorded to it," BBNG -affiliated multi-instrumentalist River Tiber lamented to The FADER . "No Talk" is a glitchy Electro /percussion-aided emotive track, which in its original form, honestly, doesn't sound all that far removed from your typical Emo-Rap Drake beat. While it seems as though they might have sampled "No Talk"...

Fresh on the heels of their forthcoming collaborative Jazz-Rap album with Ghostface Killah , awesomely titled Sour Soul , Canadian -bred instrumental trio BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG) have spearheaded an unofficial GHOSTDOOM/DOOMSTARKS "reunion;" Ghostface and infrequent rapping partner/producer, [MF] DOOM have been teasing their mythical tentatively titled "Swift & Changeable" album for about 10 years now. BBNG recruited Ghostface Killah & DOOM for their third Sour Soul pre-release track, "Ray Gun," which as a recently released statement reads, "was inspired by 1960's and [70's] music, taking inspiration from the recording techniques and production of that era." While "Ray Gun"' s companion retro-fitted Rob Schroeder (Lodger Films) -directed video doesn't appear to feature BBNG, Ghostface Killah , or DOOM , "the video instantly transports you into a bizarre retro-futuristic world as "The Mask" ...

Following a steady stream of FREE-releases and countless Hip-Hop covers, Canadian Jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG ) are finally gearing up to release their first label-backed album, III for Innovative Leisure . I think it's pretty safe to say that Chester Hansen, Alex Sowinski & Matt Tavares have progressed leaps and bounds since their early days of covering Odd Future and Waka Flocka Flame album tracks; instead, now penning their own original tracks with a definitive Hip-Hop -like edge. BADBADNOTGOOD 's most recently released track, "CS60," seemingly pronounced "sexy," is a slightly darker 7-minute Jazz piece, which Complex vaguely confirms will indeed appear within III . Wu-Tang Clan -affiliated producer Frank Dukes and multi-instrumentalist River Tiber (cello) lent some additional recording assistance, perhaps outside of BBNG 's typical cannon of knowledge. "CS60" seems to mark a new Jazzier and dare I say, more "adult...