The Witzard

Aside from co-headlining Budweiser 's second annual Made In America Festival , Mrs. Carter recorded an interesting new track for what's poised to be one of Summer 2013's biggest blockbusters, The Great Gatsby . While Bryan Ferry Emile Sandé contributed a "Crazy In Love" cover, Beyoncé & André 3000 managed to conjure up their own unique re-make, "Back to Black" (2007). Needless to say, Bey & Dre have TOTALLY flipped Amy Winehouse 's breakout Neo-Soul hit; and from the sounds of this just-released 90-second snippet, "Back to Black" has been effectively turned into a modern day Electro-Funk jam. But with that said, it's pretty damn hard to judge an entire track off a brief 90-second preview! Almost every time André 3000 randomly spits a few sub-par bars like this, it just makes me want that long-rumored OutKast reunion album even more, which I'm beginning to question will ever really see the light of day. Beyo...

The more I think about it, it's really just a coming-of-age type thing that almost all of us go through @ some point during our mid 20-early 30's: admitting that an old friend/fling is now just "somebody that [you] used to know." And that sheer, simplistic candor is exactly what makes Gotye 's similarly-titled 2011-12 break-out hit single so gosh darn relate-able! The quintessential track @ the heart of all this, "Somebody That I Used to Know" was only semi-recently knocked off Modern Rock radio charts by "Call Me Maybe;" Not surprisingly, there has to be close to 28,000+ fan covers and parodies uploaded to YouTube . A number of well-known Hip-Hop producers have taken a shot @ remixing "Somebody That I Used to Know" ... Chuck Inglish , Dice Raw, Sugar Tongue Slim , and DJ Tiesto . Making Mirrors , which is actually Gotye 's third album, is now available for purchase/enjoyment on both sides of "the pond." "Rel...

Homeboy Sandman is probably still hard @ work recording First of a Living Breed , his debut Stones Throw full-length, because labelhead Peanut Butter Wolf keeps "releasing" all the good tracks for FREE! The latest mp3 give-away, "Brown" was produced by fellow Stones Throw signee, Jonti and was uploaded to Soundcloud Thurs. afternoon; It showcases a Hip-Hop beat that was fine crafted on a native South African instrument called a "coconut kalimba" (thumb piano) . Homeboy Sandman & Jonti originally linked up @ Radiolab , "Brown" was seemingly written/recorded for their Colors -based episode. Leading up to First of a Living Breed , Homeboy Sandman has released a string of 2 EP's since signing with Stones Throw in Dec. 2011... Subject: Matter and Chimera EP . Jonti has also managed to issue 2 projects with the Indie Hip-Hop imprint, Twirlgig/Sine & Moon (mixtape). Old Australian "chaps," Jonti and Gotye are h...

Sugar Tongue Slim (STS) is a criminally under-rated "Atlantadelphia" -bred rapper and honorary Roots Crew member. From what I can tell, his first recorded appearance was on The Roots' Indie Rock -tinged dark/light "concept album," How I Got Over (2010). STS additionally represents 1/5 of Money Making Jam Boys and his solo output [thusfar] includes: Demand More I-II , Sole Music EP , The Illustrious , and a gaggle of assorted Remixes & Indie Rock flips. After slowly leaking out short, weekly music videos over the course of the past few months, Sugar Tongue Slim finally unveiled his latest Starting Line-Up -produced mixtape effort earlier this morning: GOLD RUSH . It's basically a collection of 15 Top 40 flips (2009-11), which are often slightly re-appropriated with STS' unique storytelling and acute Boom-Bap flourishes. STS and his team of certified in-house gold diggers [producers] hand-selected singles from contemporary artists such as B...

Here's the new "Game of Thrones" (Freestyle) that I did over Gotye 's "Somebody That I Used to Know." Just a year after my car accident, I've put out more music than I have in my whole career! I will continue to release plenty more in the up-coming year, including the next installments of The Greatest Rapper Never trilogy: "Transformation" and "The Realization." I'll also continue to grow the Raw Life label... So, take a second to check out Young Gliss, Rone , Les Professionnels , and other artists we'll be working with in the future. - Karl "Dice Raw" Jenkins

Word choice [use-age] can generate such a raw, introspective look into one's mind. Most of the time, people don't even realize how much emotion they're subliminally revealing. If "love" were substituted into the phrase, "Somebody that I used to know," it mean an entirely different thing. based solely on word choice, I wouldn't be stretched to assume that the relationship in question ended quite bitterly... and by most social standards, it would be safe to assume so. Drawing from a number of failed relationships, singer-songwriter Gotye penned "Somebody That I Used to Know" in his parents' Mornington Peninsula (Australia) barn. During the early stages of producing the instrumental, Gotye pulled a sample from Luiz Bonfá 's 1967 composition, "Seville." "Somebody That I Used to Know" was originally released in promotion of Making Mirrors , which was issued worldwide @ the close of Summer 2011 . It's compan...