The Witzard

Donovan Days (ialive) & Cody Cody Jones, otherwise known as Cool Code & Don Cool Code & Don are a rapper/producer-rapper consisting of Cody Cody Jones (Cool Code) hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and ialive AKA Donovan Days (Don) from Philly. These two sharp-tongued fellas both run in the same East Coast Indie Rap with shared connections to Darko The Super, Height Keech, andrew., Jumbled, C $ Burns, The Hell Hole Store, Cold Rhymes Records, and U DONT DESERVE THIS BEAUTIFUL ART. ialive & Cody Cody Jones have collaborated on a number of occasions on loose singles, one-offs, and things of that nature; however, their big coming out as duo was 2017's Four to The Floor . It was essentially a split EP boasting four Cody Cody Jones tracks (one, featuring ialive) and four ialive-led tracks (one, featuring Cody Cody Jones) on the flip side. Featuring The Muppet Men by ialive & Cody Cody Jones Cool Code & Don did it again a few months later in 2017 with...

Fireside Chats Cassette Tape Art/Prints By: Ethan D'Ercole Chicago-based artist Jason Griff (sometimes, just "Griff") has become a heavyweight in Indie Hip-Hop in recent years. Griff is part of an Underground Hip-Hop network that spans from Chicago to Philly and likely even farther. Griff has produced music for the likes of Zilla Rocca, Scorcese Lorde Jones, Alex Ludovico, My Man Shafe, and Curly Castro. Within recent years, Griff co-founded a label imprint dubbed Insubordinate Records along with Alex Ludovico and Scorces Lorde Jones (may he rest in peace) to release both collabrative and solo efforts from each. Griff's most recent album is a primarily Punk/Hardcore-sampling affair, Fireside Chats, which references iconic Chicago venue, The Fireside Bowl. It features collaborations with emcees Alex Ludovico, Juganaut, ALASKA, defcee, Moecyrus, Scorcese, billy woods, Curly Castro, Zilla Rocca, ialive, PremRock, and SKECH185. Fireside Chats by Jason Griff I. Wh...

"PGH to PHL. Cody & Don have been yucking it up as pals and collaborators for years, but up until now, they have never done a full album together," reads a description on Bandcamp. ialive & Cody Cody Jones (then, known as Stillborn Identity) have been working together sporadically ever since 2015-16. ialive appeared alongside Cody on Jumbled-produced "Groundhog Day" from STLBRNcollabamonth2015. "Often succumbing to areas of internal turmoil, we see the boys letting go of inhibitions, flipping the script, and cutting loose on tracks like a dirtbike through dry leaves," said description continues. Through 2017, Cody Cody Jones & ialive released two collaborative digital splits together entitled FOUR TO THE FLOOR 1-2. ialive appeared alongside Blastmaster Baker on "Call of The Void" from Cody's monthly/year-long 2018 project, Year of The Dog. Rap of The Month. ialive & Cody Cody Jones have since worked together on a number of...

Since re-launching Cold Rhymes Records a few years back around the time of the release of Mind Moves The Mountain (2017) Dan "Height" Keech has stayed extremely busy. Cold Rhymes' roster now includes 83cutlass, Ardamus, Darko The Super, Emceein' Eye Height Keech, ialive/Donovan Days, Jack Toft, Kate Ferencz, MISTER, Off The Meat Rack, P.T. Burnem, Param Anand Singh, (rapper) andrew. Shark Tank, Speak N' Eye, Trauma Lavern, Vans_Westly, and Wounds. The bulk of said recent releases having been produced by Height Keech himself, along with ialive (together, as Necessary People,) art direction provided by Height's sideman MISTER AKA CoolGuyBry, and mastered by C$ BURNS. Earlier this year, Height produced the entirety Ardamus' Astro Blocks with the exception of one beat, "Tunnel Light," produced by Necessary People. Plus, Necessary People made their proper production debut across andrew.'s second Cold Rhymes offering, W.O.T.W. Additionally, I BET...

Monday morning, self-described "Rap singer, song-writer, beat-maker, and pal" Donovan "ialive" Phillips quietly announced he'll be releasing his fourth (fifth?) solo studio album, I'LL WAIT FOREVER , later this month. It will be his fourth consecutive release with Baltimore-based Cold Rhymes Records run and operated by Dan "Height" Keech & MISTER AKA Cool Guy Bry . We first heard about ialive through an interview posted by John "Jumbled" Bachman on his blog a few years back with both Donnie & Darko The Super , together, billed as The Hellhole Store . ialive 's Height Keech -produced TIMEWAVE ZERO (2017) and self-produced follow-up, DON'T DO NOTHING (2019) were, easily, two of our favorite Hip-Hop albums of the last few years. I'LL WAIT FOREVER is the direct follow-up to ialive 's Odds & Ends-style 2019 EP, ODD ORTS , which boasts remixes from both Juan Cosby & Unsung. Now, it appears as though this...

ARTWORK BY: Ed Ptskor (@edpiskorcartoonist) It's been a while, but The Witzard's Rap EP Wrap-up column is back! Over the course of the past month or so, there have been a plethora of solid Hip-Hop EP's released online; a quick, concise 30-minutes or less format that's seemingly, replaced the mixtape/"street album" format of years passed to become your favorite underground rapper/producer's go-to promotional tool. Here, for this latest edition of The Witzard's Rap EP Wrap-up, we'll be profiling eight EP's released throughout November 2019 and maybe, a couple from a month or so prior, as well. Featured below, in no particular order, are EP's from the likes of Action Bronson & The Alchemist, Almost Elijah, CRASHprez & knowsthetime, ialive, Mikah kHill, Pecue, Rolled Gold, and Teek Hall. Along with a brief write-up on each release, you'll find a select track from each EP, as well purchase links to buy or stream online. If this one...

BRZOWSKI , a self-described "touring Post-Rap artist hailing from the icy wastes of New England" hasn't released a proper full-length since 2017 critically-acclaimed ENMITYVILLE . Although, with that said, BRZO has stayed nothing short of inactive over the last nearly three years: 2018 saw the release of his I Had An Accident (IHAA) DIG 2 GRAVES split EP with MC Homeless , as well as 80HRTZ -produced single, "Cemetery Rose" Featuring Renée Coolbrith . So far, this year, in 2019, BRZOWSKI has released a cover of Woody Guthrie 's iconic "This Land Is Your Land" from The Multiverse: Season 1, Episode 2 , a 5-song score entitled Abduction Themes for a documentary called Otherworldly Amor , appeared on Zak G 's "Propaganda" from his Milled Pavement Records -released album, Mutant, and appeared alongside D-FAZ for five tracks from their new album, OneNationUnderDog . Blooddrive Vol. 4 by BRZOWSKI On top of all that, BRZOWSKI has...

A Soundtrack For Real Justice: A Fundraiser For The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund by hectic zeniths hectic zeniths is the "mixed media collage time travel film score justice reform trip-hop music video comix shoegaze lo-fi art horror solo piano loop pedal synth pop hip-hop project" of Philly-based producer and multi-instrumentalist, Adam Prince . It appears as though hectic zeniths has been active since about 2011 and Prince often records and releases music as amplifya , as well. hectic zeniths produced two tracks included on Darko The Super 's 2018 album, Bogus Poetry In The Dizzy Age and has also, recorded with Seattle-based emcee sketch lightly as said the starling . Now, hectic zeniths has returned with his first proper release since 2017's layercakes remastered, A Soundtrack for Real Justice: A Fundraiser for The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund . A Soundtrack for Real Justice... is a fundraiser/benefit comp. with 100% of proceeds raised being donated...

August Heat by Ialive John "Jumbled" Bachman was one of the many talented artists, writers, and Beastie Boys super-fans who contributed to our recent 3-part PB30 All-around Breakdown feature and now, he's returned with his second self-released full-length of 2019, AUGUST HEAT . Jumbled 's first long-form project since January 2019's Padre , AUGUST HEAT is just as it sounds: 17 tracks-worth of sweltering instrumental beats and emcee-assisted vocal tracks. "In early June, Jumbled compiled a list of his heat: heavy Boom-Bap beats that meshed together to create an album," explains a press release. John Bachman goes on to define "heat (noun)" as "1. hot beats / raps, 2. oppressively hot or humid weather, 3. pressure" and then, somehow, manages to reference a JAY-Z rhyme from "Light Up" alongside Drake: "Triple entendre, don't even ask me how." Although, originally conceived as a single-emcee affair, AUGUST...

"We got something special for you today. ialive & The Custodian of Records teamed up to bring you this one-off gentle heat. Make it rain on the boys with half dollars," Cold Rhymes Records ecstatically posted on their Facebook page early Tuesday morning. ialive & The Custodian of Records' (TCOR) debut collaborative stand-alone single together, "INTERVALS," was quietly released late Monday night into Tuesday morning. It appears as though "INTERVALS" came to fruition rather organically, as ialive & The Custodian of Records are, simply, fans and mutual admirers of each other's work; "I believe, I reached out to ialive after peeping "THE OUGHTS" video and then, purchasing TIME WAVE ZERO and enjoying the album. He may have expressed interest in a possible collaboration, so I sent him a couple tracks and this is the one he chose," TCOR recently explained to The Witzard, via email. Intervals (prod. The Custod...

Last we heard from Dan "Height" Keech , he was prepping his 2018 E-40 & B-Legit-style double-mic sonic assault, Computer Rocker , on his very own imprint, Cold Rhymes Records , with partner-in-rhyme, MISTER as a "Featured Emcee" throughout." Prior to Computer Rocker , Height and his crew unleashed THERE ISN'T VERY MICH TIME: 14 ICE-COLD DEVASTATORS FROM COLD RHYMES RECORDS , which boasted choice cuts from their 2018 release schedule: Height -produced Stories of A Made Up Year from Darko The Super , Speak N' Eye's Cypher At The Gates of Dawn, and Kate Ferencz 's What Was The World , as well as Param Anand Singh's Psychic Arpeggiator, 808's & Milkshakes from Desperate Band Appreciation Society (Darko & Harvey Cliff MC,) Vans_Westly 's Bubble Boy , HEIGHT KEECH 1000: The Tightest Songs 2000-2018, ialive 's Don't Do Nothing —one of our personal Favorite Albums of 2018—Year of The Darko Hosted By: Height Keech, ...

Stale Flowers by dreamswell dreamswell are a self-proclaimed "Doomgaze" (Doom Metal + Shoegaze) band hailing from Philly. Formed about four years ago, dreamswell consists of Candice Martello, Jon Martello, Gina Piccari & Madalean Gauze , who initially bonded over a shared admiration for seminal Shoegaze bands, such as True Widow & Slowdive. " dreamswell , stemming from the gritty music scene of Philadelphia, is the collaboration of four familiar Philly music scene faces, who have come together to hit hard, get muddy, and whisper lightly," reads a description on their Facebook page. I also, catch sonic allusions to equally "gloomy" bands like Silversun Pickups, Cults, The Smashing Pumpkins, Baroness, The Cure, Siouxsie & The Banshees, and Echo & The Bunnymen. After having released a 2-act EP series throughout 2017-18, dreamswell have returned with the first single from their debut full-length, SPOILED . "Stale Flowers" defi...

"It's hard to pinpoint the moment I wanted to become a producer. I do remember contemplating at a young age the elements of Hip-Hop, wondering where I fit in. My older brother wrote [graffiti]. My other brother's friends were DJ's and emcees. To 12-year-old me, it was logical to take a craft up in one of these cornerstones. I, actually, wanted to break, but having no actual training available to me, that didn't last long. Around this time, I recognized my affinity for beats and beat-making. The part that interested me the most was seeing people come up with something from nothing. You didn't need to know how to play an instrument. The process intrigued and excited me. The rapping was cool, but what moved me the most was the music. I could get down with an average emcee, so as long as the sh*t he was rhyming on was tight; vice-versa, if a fire emcee had wack beats, it felt wasted to me." Four Albums of Note (Honorable Mentions) 1. De La Soul - 3 Feet...