The Witzard

"Steel Tipped Dove is a music producer and recording engineer in Brooklyn, NY who has the skills and desire to service your audio needs from vocal recordings, song mixing, podcasting, video scoring, etc. He has done work for Armand Hammer (billy woods & ELUCID,) Kool A.D. PremRock, Quelle Chris, SHIRT, and many more talented Underground Hip-Hop emcees. Hit him up at steeltippeddove.com . Here are three albums that were extremely influential on my overall style and sound:" cui bono by Steel Tipped Dove I. Viktor Vaughn (AKA MF DOOM) - Vaudeville Villain (2003) "This sh*t sounds like a movie. It's astonishing. I once took 'shrooms and sat in the room with the lights out and just watched DOOM walk around, go up and down these golden staircases—hitting the walls and sh*t to make the beats. The production on this album is so wild and detailed, it's incredible. If DOOM put this album out in 2025, it would feel brand new. "A Dead Mouse" really s...

"When I was asked to contribute to Rough Trade Publishing 's A Song A Day to Keep The Pain Away (#SADRTP) benefit project, covering Grizzly Bear 's outstanding album cut, "Foreground" somehow felt like the right starting point; in the moment, I was reacting to the Trump Administration 's Muslim Ban , projecting a song about a relationship falling apart onto man and country," one-time Das Racist affiliate and frequent Heems collaborator Lushlife wrote within a recent statement. "Foreground" was released on Day #74 of a planned 90-day initiative by Rough Trade Publishing , which they vehemently attest aims to "help a little with the pain and perhaps, even inspire you. We hope so. We all need to be doing whatever we can to make 2017 a better tomorrow." Previous prescribers to their A Song A Day Keeps The Pain Away benefit comp. include Sondre Lerche , Nada Surf, King Khan , A Place to Bury Strangers, Superchunk , awesomely-name...

"When Dev [Hynes] was 'Lightspeed Champion' , he had a little-known rap MySpace called 'Ni**a Bullshit' (2010). This was when we first started talking about a collaboration," rapper Himanshu Suri (professionally known as Heems ) recently revealed to Rolling Stone concerning his latest collaboration with singer-songwriter/producer, Dev Hynes aka Blood Orange . "I wrote some of the lyrics in college at Wesleyan , some before Das Racist in Bushwick , and most of it in my engineer Daniel Lynas' old studio with Dev [Hynes] in Dumbo ," Heems continued. "Home" was adequately described by one anonymous writer as " Dev provides fluttering guitar-work while Heems opens his chest cavity, removes his still-aching heart, [and] drops it on the floor in front of you;" the subject matter throughout Heems' forthcoming major label "debut" EAT PRAY THUG has been self-described as "much more personal than [ Hima...

"[a] beach boys meets ty$ kinda vibe," @diplo Tweeted early Thursday afternoon, attempting to best describe his latest Soundcloud upload, "LONG WAY HOME;" a quasi-remix, or more so a loose cover, of Ty Dollar $ign 's non-album single, "Stand For" re-recorded with Grizzly Bear/Vampire Weekend members Ed Droste & Rostam . "its about time that indie rock acts started to co-opt rap beats," Diplo lamented in the track's short-lived Soundcloud description, which Pitchfork points out, was imminently deleted. I was just telling my beautiful girlfriend, in terms of sheer line-blurring concept, "LONG WAY HOME" vaguely reminds me of Vampire Weekend 's middle-of-the-road Indie Rock/Hip-Hop hybrid track, "Step (Wintertime Remix)" featuring appended verses from Danny Brown , Heems, and Despot . "Stand For," the structural basis for "LONG WAY HOME," was actually co-produced by Diplo ...

Das Racist were hands down, one of the greatest post-2000 New York area Hip-Hop groups, who essentially created their own "outsider rap" scene, which would later harbor up-and-coming guys like Lakutis , LE1F, Mr. Muthaf*ckin' eXquire , Antwon, Kassa Overall , KechPhrase, Big Baby Gandhi , etc. Luckily enough, I had a chance to see Das Racist on their then unannounced 2012 "farewell tour" in Philly , a show which additionally featured a mini- Greehead label showcase: Lakutis , LE1F, and Weekend Money as opening acts. Since disbanding, founding members Himanshu "Heems" Suri and Victor "Kool A.D." Vazquez have each released a number of critically-acclaimed solo mixtapes; well, Heems actually uploaded two mixtapes, Nehru Jackets and Wild Water Kingdom , while Das Racist were still actively together. Suri then moved to Bombay, India between 2012-mid-2014 as part of a self-imposed exile, wherein he began recording material for his ...

"I think [we're] probably the world's only Indo-Pak rap group - peace process never sounded so rowdy," @SwetShopBoys triumphantly Tweeted on the eve of their premier single release, "Benny Lava." It's former Das Racist member Himanshu Suri (Heems) new 2-man group with Pakistan by way of London rapper, Riz MC ; Heems on the other hand, is a successful New York -based rapper and entrepreneur of Indian descent. Swet Shop Boys decided to rhyme over a recycled 2011 Ryan Hemsworth beat, which takes it's name from a mondegreen, Internet video re-interpretation, that's aptly titled "Benny Lava." It's all firmly anchored by Heems' neck-snapping first four bars: "Yo, Himanshu with the pen, I'm killing it / The white man the villain, them deny them penicillin / Syphilis experiments, death to the Tuskegee men / Somewhere in New York they say death to the squeegee men." The companion Prashant Bhargava & Tanu...

Just mere minutes before the stroke of 12 midnight New Year's Eve 2013-14, @vampireweekend Tweeted out a pretty self-explanatory mini-message: " wintertime remix of "Step" featuring Danny Brown, Heems & Despot . Happy New Years from Vampire Weekend ," along with a smarturl hyper-link. It's the kinda thing that probably shouldn't work anywhere near as well as it actually does, and I'd guess that this is your typical Pitchfork staff writer's ideal wet-dream collabo scenario ha. "Step" (Wintertime Remix) builds off frontman Ezra Koenig 's original, penned for Modern Vampires of The City and acts as the B-side to lead single, "Diane Young" [see below]. When juxtaposed against Koenig's past relationship reminiscing lyrics, Danny Brown, Heems & Despot manage to fit in surprisingly well with "Step"' s running theme. While the track's supposedly based off an unreleased and re-purposed Sou...

While it might not be the "strongest" track or optimal single contender, El-P & Killer Mike have unveiled a proper music video for "36" Chain," which is somehow the first video-single from Run The Jewels (out since June 25th). It's basically a Hip-Hop -friendly version of The Raid: Redemption that oddly enough, co-stars Andrew W.K. Amber Tamblyn, Heems , Despot, and Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire . In a preview that could [hopefully] foreshadow a possible "buddy cop movie" or reality TV show, "36" Chain" follows Run The Jewels re-cast as 2 vigilante enforcement officers out on a mission to rescue their kidnapped, cracked out, and eye-patched squirrel buddy, Mr. Killums . Preceded that morning by what you could kinda call a DVD extra, Killer Mike was also featured on a Black Noi$e -crafted Unknown Mortal Orchestra remix along with Mr. MFN eXquire ; "So Good at Being In Trouble" now houses 2 appended, hard...

Bad-ass vampire/vampire slayer flicks have been a pretty solid Hollywood mainstay for the bulk of the past 50+ years; We're talkin' about shit like Dracula , Interview with a Vampire, The Lost Boys , Blade, Buffy Vampire Slayer , etc. - NOT those pussified, glistening love-stuck "vampires" from Twilight or whatever! While I was a little too young for The Coreys' Lost Boys (1987) and even Blade's late 90's reign of terror, I can vaguely remember Sarah Michelle Gellar 's sheer ass-whooping hotness... I guess former- Das Racist swordsmen Heems is a champion of OG vampires, too because from what I understand, his latest music video for "Desi Shoegaze Taiko" re-purposes Stephen Norrington 's opening scenes from Blade (1998). It's basically a Wesley Snipes -less scenario with a room-full of white people gettin' downright Funky @ some sort of weirdly awesome [and bloody unsanitary] vampire rave/BLOODBATH, which appropriately ...

ANTWON 's beat-making buddies usually seem to conjure up some pretty emotionally-driven, hard-hitting borderline "Industrial-Rap" rhythms; But every once in a while, Nature Boy Gang 'll unleash a couple sun-soaked 90's New Jack Swing -reminiscent jams like "Darby Crash" (stacy Remix) , "LIVING EVERY DREAM," and now "3rd World Grrl." Since being re-released late Tuesday afternoon, the latter is currently serving as ANTWON 's second IN DARK DENIM (Greedhead) video-single... now has a hilarious [companion] puppet-assisted Live Circus & Alessio Avezzano -produced/directed clip to go along with it. Built around dimly-lit scenes of ANTWON rapping straight into Avezzano's camera, which are then juxtaposed against his puppet counterpart living his every sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll -fueled fantasy surrounded by an entourage full of beautiful hunnies. ANTWON , channeling Rico Suave , smoothly raps during "3...

Hey, are you ready to get in "the holiday spirit," but you're growing tired of those same played out Christmas songs that seem to be on constant loop @ every super-market and department store/mall!? If that sounds anything like your annual winter-time scenario, then I'd recommend checking out Sufjan Stevens' latest release, CHOPPED & SCROOGED . Now, I spin all sorts of crazy X-mas albums -- Punk Rock , Steel Drum, Big Band [Swing] , Tijuana Christmas , James Brown , etc... But this well-executed 9-track Hip-Hop mixtape even pleasantly surprised me! Stevens even managed to recruit a bunch of his musically-inclined friends and Asthmatic Kitty labelmates to remix select cuts from his second 5-volume Christmas compilation, Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas (Vol. 6-10) . The collection's stand-out tracks easily include contributions from Das Racist Heems , kitty pryde/Fol Chen , and Busdriver/Son Lux (Looper) . Falsely billed as as posthumous ...

Let's face it, most of us in our mid-20-30's have probably "stumbled" our way into a couple sleazy strip joints by now. I've had my fair share of alcohol-fueled, cigar-accented conversations with shot girls about Portugal The Man and even an unexpected run-in with Joey Fatone (all in one night)! It sounds like Meyhem Lauren has chronicled a vaguely familiar experience on "10 Dollar Lap Dances." Released just in time for the season's traditional festivities, Mr. Thanksgiving himself laments about his [least] favourite gentlemen's club, which has an all-hours buffet, but still doesn't warrant his tips. Lauren and producer-friend Harry Fraud "walk in the dirtbag spot, shit down, and proceed to do wrong." He must've learned a thing or 2 about fine dining from chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson , who's featured on Mandatory Brunch Meetings (December 6th). Numbers-wise, it's guest list doesn't really seem to stack ...

I think one of the reasons that Das Racist works so well is because of the cross-section between Heems' great appreciation for Mainstream Pop melded against Kool A.D. 's desire to be weird/ Experimental . While Nehru Jackets (January) was just a bunch of Mike Finito-produced beats made from Indian samples, WILD WATER KINGDOM is slightly more commercial... almost directly influenced by post-2001 Hip-Hop : shit like The Blueprint , Dipset, Kanye , Meek Mill , and French Montana. Heems managed to hand-select some Funky "liquified" beats from Harry Fraud , Crookers, Beautiful Lou , LE1F, Steel Tipped Dove , Mike Finito, and Keyboard Kid . "I've become in touch with my astrological signs. I'm a Cancer , and I'm a Pisces Rising for my moon [sign], so I'm pretty fucking watery. I like water a lot and this past summer, I tried to be out by the beach as much as I could. I was out on the Hamptons , I was out on Martha's Vineyard , I was ou...

It kinda seems like Weekend Money were added to the Das Racist/Union Transfer bill in the final hour" ... But man, they've gotta be the TIGHTEST rap crew I've never heard of! Ne$$ & Baghdaddy proceeded to [brutally] open the show and were followed up by fellow Greedhead labelmates: SAFE, Lakutis , and flamboyant rapper LE1F . Impose Magazine goes on to cleverly point out that this is NOT the same Ness that Diddy notoriously sent across the frozen Brooklyn Bridge to buy a cheesecake on Making The Band 2 . Weekend Money Ne$$ was born and raised in Philly and is now co-aligned with politically conscious Hip-Hop group, dead prez . Since immigrating 1/2 way across the world, DJ Baghdaddy has been able to learn/produce under the wing of seasoned Roots beatsmith, Hot Sugar . Ne$$ had a chance meeting with Baghdaddy @ a party; While he had never produced a Hip-Hop beat before, the 2 ended up vibing pretty well... melding together Hip-Hip & Electro att...

While it was just announced late yesterday afternoon, WILD WATER KINGDOM is quickly shaping up to be[come] his second mixtape of 2012, and Heems has already tapped a wide array of beat-makers for possible inclusion: Diplo , Le1f, Harry Fraud , Yorrissey, " @keyboardkid206 , @beautifullou1, AND @MikeFinito ." Making a pretty un-characteristically bold move, Yorrissey (BLKHRTS) decides to employ a tricky sample pulled from Shoegaze godfathers, Echo & The Bunnymen on "Killing Time." It sounds a lot like Donnie Darko from the get-go and after a re-purposed vocal fragment [hook] plays out, Heems comes in... rapping full-force about being bored? For all intensive purposes, "Killing Time" just might be the true genesis of Slacker Rap-Rock . Along with friend-producer Yorrissey , Heems somehow manages to find the middle ground between self-loathing 80's Indie Rock and Underground Hip-Hop . Heems recently stated on Twitter that Beautiful Lou ...

For some odd reason, I just feel that a Das Racist -fried Lana del Rey remix really isn't going to need much "hard selling" 'round these parts of town [The Internet]. Das Racist are without a doubt one of my favourite Hip-Hop bands; I'm still not too sure exactly how I feel about Lizzy Grant I mean, May Jailer er, uh... Lana del Rey . Regardless, "National Anthem" (Das Racist Remix) should manage to pique the interest(s) of all sorts of music fans far and wide! Heems & Kool A.D. work their lyrical "magic" over a stripped down, nearly vocal-less re-worked beat. Frantically bragging about everything from money/rupees to Bruce Willis and somehow working in mentions of Lil B , Tyler The Creator, Bad Brains , Boy Crisis, Diplo , Oscar The Grouch, deadmau5 , and Amy Winehouse. * Shouts to Pedro (Daplib) @ Illuminati Zone for the "Private" Soundcloud link hook-up! Lately, it seems like Lana del Rey , who also recently linked u...

Gotta admit, I'm pretty STOKED on the [possible] idea of hearing more music from these 2 newly-formed Hip-Hop groups: Miguel Street and Ron Artiste . Almost simultaneously announced on this fairly quiet Monday afternoon, Miguel Street consists of Heems and Big Baby Gandhi , who's debut track features them rapping over a re-tweaked version of "Call Me Maybe." Ron Artiste on the other hand, is the latest nom de plume of former Jurassic 5 leader, Chali 2na and veteran emcee Roc "C" ... either paying homage/goofing on the infamous basketball player who now goes by Metta World Peace . I'm not really sure which one it is just yet, but I think they're LEGIT tried and true ballers! Much like Heems & Mike Finito 's "Teenage Dream" (Katy Perry) remix from last year, "Call Me Maybe" has that same sort of "so, are they like kidding or are they serious" type of vibe going on. Hot 97 , the also SUPER-FRESH dual pro...

Respect The Fly Shit was written/recorded in one fall swoop @ Embassy Suites during SXSW (March 2012) in just 24 hours. Harry Fraud and Tommy Mas mounted a mic on top of an ice bucket and somehow managed to morph a hotel room into a make-shift recording studio... Meyhem Lauren quickly invited everyone who was anywhere nearby Austin, TX to roll through Room #426 over a 2-day period and record a verse: Action Bronson , Heems, Sean Price , RiFF RAFF, Roc Marciano , AG Da Coroner , and a few more rapping friends. Beat-wise, Fraud and Mas somehow managed to conjure up 12 Jazzy , Boom-Bap -filled originals, ready to be fully laced up and punchline accented. Re-mastered @ SXSW' s end, Respect The Fly Shit is a collection of 12 care-free tracks that were loosely laid down over a long weekend [vacation]. Meyhem Lauren then managed to forge a solid enough relationship with clothing company LRG and Heems' record label, Greedhead that they both agreed to sponsor/fund his FRES...

Contrary to popular belief, Das Racist 's version of "The Recipe" (Gwyneth Paltrow) actually pre-dates Kendrick Lamar & Dr. Dre 's single version, which was released first. Since "Meet The Frownies" [sample] was only issued in 2010, this all had to happen over the past 2 years... Scoop DeVille gave a rough version of the beat to Das Racist before ever even meeting Kendrick Lamar & Dr. Dre . But because Aftermath somehow managed to release "The Recipe" first, it may seem like Kool A.D. & Heems are beat-jacking, which is entirely off point. Anyways, here's Das Racist's final take, "Gwyneth Paltrow," now accompanied by some sort of found footage of 2 weird-ass 1970's "putty face" re-molding performance artists. Victor Vazquez directs or something...

After 2 cancelled re-schedulings, I finally managed to see Childish Gambino live up in Sayreville, NJ with my buddy Ryan just about a month ago. Complete with lots of lights, "pyro," guitars, and violins, it seemed more like a KISS concert than a Hip-Hop show... definitely much more showmanship than I could have ever imagined! Donald Glover acts weekly on Community (NBC) and in his downtime, has begun to flesh out a pretty solid career moonlighting as an Indie rapper. Childish Gambino 's recent wide-spread release, Camp really helped solidify his unique brand of raps about [college] girls strewn across Dance -laden beats. Gambino previously self-released a slew of mixtapes and online albums between 2008-10, but Camp was still semi-misleadingly totted as his "debut album." Generally not one to enlist fellow emcees, Donald Glover seems to be changing his ways, as he's secretly complied a forthcoming feature-driven mixtape. 3 of 6 recently "lea...