The Witzard

Pharrell has long surpassed anyone's expectations who previously pigeon-holed him as a Snoop Dogg & Jay-Z- affiliated Neptunes producer, on-and-off Funk-Rock N*E*R*D frontman, or mere smooth-voiced hookman; he single-handedly co-fronted 2 of the summer's biggest mega-hits, "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines" (but you already know that much). Pharrell has recently started flexing his original soundtrack/composer chops as well, working on the original Despicable Me , it's sequel Despicable Me 2 , and a rumored Amazing Spider-Man 2 super-score with composer Hans Zimmer , Mike Einzinger (Incubus), former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr , and Dave Stewart (Eurythmics). Fresh on the heels of Bob Dylan 's inter-active "Like a Rolling Stone" video, Pharrell and directing team We Are from LA unleashed the world's very first 24-hour music video for Despicable Me 2 single, "Happy" online Thursday-Friday. It reportedly feature...

All I can think of when I hear something about R. Kelly anymore is "I wanna piss on you... Gimme that pee-pee. Gimme that poo-poo" thanks to Dave Chappelle's CLASSIC scandalous skit. But R. Kelly is actually a really talented, slightly zonked out musician and he's seemingly about to infiltrate a whole new market: Hipsters! Robert Kelly formed a new-found kinship with French Indie Rock band Phoenix at Coachella earlier this summer; performing a few unique mashed-up remixes for the unsuspecting concert-goers, "Ignition" (1901) and "Chloroform" (I'm a Flirt) . It's kinda like that time R. Kelly & Jay Z teamed up for a MASSIVE album and world tour -- Except it's more like if Jay Z was 4 scrawny French guys ha. But with that said, it's not a whole lot unlike Daft Punk & Pharrell 's recent mega-hit, "Get Lucky;" Just a little more Adult Contemporary and a little less Electro -fied. Ina recent inter...

It almost seems wrong to [mis]label an artist as blatantly prolific and broad-spanning as Shawn "Jay Z" Carter as a mere rapper; Since he's arguably a powerful entrepreneur, businessman, record exec, sports agent, club owner, and 1/2 of a dynamic power-couple. After releasing his Samsung -backed Magna Carta... Holy Grail album on July 4th, he's once again teamed up with iconic "99 Problems" music video director Mark Romanek to create a 10-minute "Picasso Baby" performance art film. Recorded last month at Chelsea 's own Pace Gallery , Romanek's team managed to capture 40+ hours worth of film over a 6-hour period with 8 meticulously-placed cameras. Loosely inspired by a similarly-minded Marina Abramović performance-art piece, The Artist Is Present , Jay Z & Mark Romanek packed the room full of creative types, eager super-fans, and journalists including: Judd Apatow , Alan Cummings, George Condo , Rosie Perez, Fab 5 Freddy , Taraj...

Not incredibly unlike their previous collaborative efforts with John Legend , Jay Z, and Al Green , The Roots take the "big band backseat" role on their upcoming record with Elvis Costello , Wise Up Ghost . It's stark-looking, minimalistic cover was supposedly modeled after Allen Ginsberg 's Howl , more specifically it's infamous City Lights Pocket Poets Series rendition (1955). Questlove Jenkins defined Wise Up Ghost as a "document of music of 9 cats... Helmed by 2 music dweebs & their hero," which was reportedly released on a few as-yet-undiscovered Record Store Day white label 12-inches. "Walk Us Uptown" was unleashed mid-Monday afternoon in the form of a Soundcloud stream and Mariana Blanco -directed sparse lyric video. Legendary American Jazz imprint Blue Note Records plans to issue Elvis Costello & The Roots' long-rumored Wise Up Ghost on Tuesday, September 17th. The album first came to fruition after Costel...

Once you're able to get past the semi-absurd notion that Jay-Z decided to employ former- N'sync er Justin Timberlake to re-sing some Nirvana lyrics, "And we all just / entertainers / and we're stupid / and contagious," "Holy Grail" is actually a pretty awesome album opener/lead single contender. While Jay-Z & Beyoncé were spotted at a Grizzly Bear show pre- Blueprint 3 and Empire of The Sun frontman Luke Steele actually sang back-up vocals on that very album, it seems as though Beyoncé 's 27-year-old Indie Rock -loving little sister Solange really has quite the influence on Jay-Z 's varied musical tastes; Not only does Magna Carta Holy Grail (MCHG) feature interpolated Nirvana & R.E.M. lyrics, but it also makes use of M.I.A. and Alternative Hip-Hop weirdo Gonjasufi samples, "Bad Girls" and "Nikels and Dimes" respectively. Thanks to Samsung Galaxies , MCHG has already "sold" 1 million+ cop...

Ye, I can almost picture it now: Justin Timberlake pleading with his semi-distraught wife, Jessica Biel , "But babe, it's NOT nudity...it's art!" Billboard reports that Timberlake's latest album, The 20/20 Experience has sold 2 million+ plus copies since it's March release and previous singles, "Suit & Tie" and "Mirrors" still remain firmly fixed atop the Billboard Hot 100 . Just in time for Fourth of July Weekend , Justin Timberlake unleashed a steamy new video-single for "Tunnel Vision," which was co-directed by Jonathan Craven, Simon McLoughlin , and Jeff Nicholas . Call it a gentlemen's rivalry, if you will, but some might compare Timberlake's scantily-clad music video to Robin Thicke 's original banned-from- YouTube "Blurred Lines" clip. Although one could also argue that Thicke basically stole Timberlake's Blue-Eyed Soul musical style [SWAG] or even vice versa. "Tunnel Vision...

"We had to do this song... Only way to pay tribute to Daft Punk, Pharrell , and Nile Rodgers in one fell swoop. Enjoy y'all," The Stepkids Tweeted Tuesday morning; Diehard Daft Punk fan or not, I suggest you take a break from that Random Access Memories "leak" for a sec. and check this one out, my friends! Unlike Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo 's Electro-Funk -tinged original, The Stepkids have successfully infused "Get Lucky" with a sort of cheese-less Lounge Jazz vibe. The Stepkids are signed to genre-blending Indie Hip-Hop label Stones Throw and it's 3 extremely talented multi-instrumentalist members -- Dan Edinberg, Jeff Gitelman & Tim Walsh -- have separately worked with everyone from Alicia Keys to 50 Cent . Since inking a deal with Stones Throw a few years ago, the band has released The Stepkids (including "Legend In My Own Mind" ), Sweet Salvation EP , and a forthcoming album that's be...

It's a collaboration that no one really expected, but everyone secretly dreamt about and longed for: [MF] DOOM & Clams Casino ! We're talkin' about the most mysterious man in Hip-Hop and rising Cloud Rap beat-maker, Mike Volpe (Clams Casino). The Nutley, NJ native's self-released Instrumentals 1-2 mixtapes (2011-12) are arguably right up there with classic DOOM albums Operation: Doomsday , Mm.. Food, and MADVILLAINY , and MF DOOM Meets Clutchy Hopkins. @clammyclams Tweeted early Monday morning, "new track (feat. DOOM ) available now at new site CLAMMYCLAMS.COM ," which in turn, linked to Soundcloud . "BOOKFIEND" essentially features DOOM spitting wordy, dense rhymes about occult leader Alistair Crowly , Kindle tablets, allusions to "November Has Come," whatever the Hell Tetragrammaton is, and Netflix over a spaced out Clams Casino beat... "It's Netflix to the head, second best trick to get chicks to the bed....

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...

Released just a few mere hours after "Open Letter" [below] and Tweeted along with a Kanye -fied message, "Our family HOV brought that real Hip-Hop shit this morning, so me and Pusha T wanna keep that feeling going." G.O.O.D. Music approved, Kanye/Don Cannon co-produced, and DONDA -commissioned artwork... "Numbers on The Boards" pulls a Jay-Z vocal sample from "Intro/A Million & One Questions/Rhyme No More" (1997). I'm pretty white and I still caught the whole "Ballers, I put numbers on the boards" basketball reference utilized on the track's hook. "Numbers on The Boards" is Pusha T 's first major release since his critically-acclaimed Wrath of Caine mixtape @ the top of the year; It might re-appear on My Name Is My Name , his long-rumored solo debut, which should be out sometime this upcoming May. Not unlike "Open Letter," from a sonic perspective, "Numbers on The Boards" ...

Rather than just issue some dumb, pre-concieved press release/statement, veteran lyrical assassin Jay-Z decided to step into the studio and record a track about his involvement in a few current events. "Open Letter" bravely delves into slightly questionable shit like The Carters vacationing in Cuba (a restricted tourism zone) and having to sell his small fraction of the Brooklyn Nets in order to become a sports agent. Timbaland and Swizz Beatz co-produced the track, which also somehow manages to work in references to Kevin Hart 's infamous "You gon learn t'day" comedy skit and Bob Dylan 's Blood on The Tracks era single, "Idiot Wind" (1975). It's worth noting that Jay-Z most likely isn't working on a new album, cause his hair is pretty shaped up and well-kept ha, which in itself, basically alludes to time NOT spent in-studio. Here's a few well-written bars pulled straight from the painfully short Life + Times -b...

Anyone think Kendrick Lamar & Ab-Soul got a little confused?; because it sounds like they seriously think AWOLNATION 's break-out single, "Sail" (2001) is new or something. It's also worth noting that AWOLNATION's original track is featured in a commercial for History 's BADASS-looking Vikings show! ha. The Black Hippy/TDE soldiers decided to hop on what sounds like an on-the-fly "Sail" (Remix) for L.A. Leakers , who's DJ tags are littered all over it. From what I can gather, the tragically-named DJ sourMILK switched out most of the band's spaced out guitar licks for some slightly more Hip-Hop friendly drum hits. Take it away, Mr. Lamar : "I'm warning you though, if you love me you never go wrong / We can explore heavy feelings of breathing in Mother Nature 's air / Feelings of knowing I'm rather rare / But there's a reason for all of my madness, the gladness I am that your here." Fingers crossed th...

Before jet-setting off to SXSW March 15-16th for a secret showcase with ?uestlove & RJD2 , Justin Timberlake stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for Night 5 of what's being dubbed, #JustinTimberWeek . Ramping up the long-awaited release of The 20/20 Experience this upcoming Tuesday, March 19th , Timberlake decided to string together a medley of greatest hits for the last performance of his week-long stay @ Late Night: "Like I Love You/My Love/Cry Me a River" and "Señorita." Joined on-stage by his 10-piece band, The Tennessee Kids , Justin Timberlake launched into a slow-building acoustic/electric performance that ended up lasting almost 11 sweltering minutes! Anybody else notice that saucy-looking Spanish or white chick singing back-up and cuttin' a rug!? "It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?" is what I'd like to holla @ a beautiful girl like that... to which she'd likely reply, "I don'...

It looks like America 's favourite triple-threat, Justin Timberlake , is finally ready to make his long-awaited return to his first love, crafting smooth panty-dropping R&B . Timberlake linked up with his fellow entrepreneur-music mogul buddies, Jay-Z & Timbaland to produce comeback single "Suit & Tie." The Social Network director David Fincher 's the man behind the camera lens for "Suit & Tie"' s swanky, black-and-white Luxury Rap clip, which echoes last week's Motown /big band-reminiscent Grammy performance. The 20/20 Experience (March 15th) is currently available for pre-order in a number of special packages, ranging from $10.99-35. Renowned fashion designer-director, Tom Ford fabricated the various 3-piece suits, 2-piece tuxedos, black leather loafers, and other high-fashion accessories worn on Timberlake's recent single cover and pre-release "Suit & Tie" lyric video. While laying low during the 6-ye...

Justin Timberlake makes the kind of music that's supposed to help you get laid; Let's call it "baby-making music," for lack of a better term. But JT has spent the bulk of last 6-7 years since his last album, Future Sex/Love Sounds (2006) doing damn-near everything besides writing/recording music: re-launching MySpace , sharpening his acting chops, launched a designer clothing line, recorded a few seriously good comedy tracks, and just being charming in general. During his time off, Justin Timberlake managed to record vocals for a gaggle of hits and misses for his musical friends' albums, too... 50 Cent , Jimmy Fallon, [The] Game , Ciara, The Lonely Island , T.I. Madonna , Timbaland, Duran Duran , Diddy-Dirty Money, Talib Kweli , Rihanna, and Chris Cornell ? Timberlake finally took the plunge and "wifed up" his long-time on-again-off-again girlfriend, Jessica Biel @ a private ceremony back in October 2012. Following nearly a solid week's-wor...

Shouts to critically-acclaimed Hip-Hop producer, Just Blaze for bravely stepping into unknown, spray tan-glazed new territory; His latest genre-blending masterpiece, "BEHOLD! (Exhibit J)" was released online Wednesday afternoon. While it may come to a surprise to quite a few Hip-Hop heads, Just Blaze has been fucking around with House music for a little under 10 years now. While he wasn't producing countless hits for Jay-Z , Ghostface Killah, Saigon , Busta Rhymes, and Jay Electronica ... he managed to sneak in a few Hip-House influenced tracks: Cajmere Remix, Joe Budden - "Pump It Up," unreleased Rah Digga , and "Exhibit G, F & P" [Guido Fist Pump]. It sounds like Just Blaze ran into Fool's Gold label-head/resident DJ, A-Trak @ a holiday party a few years back, who's now gearing up to unleash his debut House EP. "Exhibit J" is a rough, NEAR[LY] FINAL cut that won't be featured on the EP, but you get th...

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...

Think about it: What if Biggie was the first masked Hip-Hop head to embrace and practice Illuminati ? Passing everything he knew onto Jay-Z before his sudden, mystery-filled passing? Most likely, that's all just hearsay... but that'd actually be pretty damn cool! New Jersey -born Witch-House producer, oOoOO (Chris Dexter) uploaded a new track to Soundcloud earlier today, somewhat cryptically titled "333." It's actually a remix of Ghostface Killah 's semi-recent track, "Three Bricks," which featured Raekwon and a recycled Biggie verse [See what I just did there!?]. Parts of this new edit mildly reminds me of oOoOO 's past nearly unrecognizable remixed works: Lady GaGa , Corina, SALEM , and Nadia Oh. "333" almost sounds like it could be The Illuminati 's theme song, if it even exists. But I guess we'll never really know, 'cause it's a "secret society" and all that shit. oOoOO properly re-laces "Thr...

You said you're looking for artists that embody the American spirit. I've got a guy: He's got a beautiful voice and he sings Al Green songs well. The only problem is that he's super-busy and Donald Trump thinks he was born overseas. [Laughs] "Ah, yeah, THAT guy. I'm gonna try. I'm gonna tell you guys right now: I'm gonna give him a call and I'm gonna try to get him to perform - Do a little rendition of Al Green - but I doubt it. I think that opens up the political season. He'll be so far into helping the world that he probably won't have time, but I'm absolutely going to ask him." - Jay-Z (Rolling Stone)

1996 was quite the memorable for fans of both Hip-Hop and Pop Culture . Just ask the members of TOOTHPASTE , Kassa Overall & TECLA . The pair are currently readying a mixtape, aptly titled 1996 ; It's poised to be "AN ODE TO THE PAST AND AN ODE TO THE FUTURE" (Kassa Overall ) and will feature raps/hoops over beats culled from various 1996-bred hits... featuring New York 's finest up-and-comers: Big Baby Gandhi , DVS, Chaz Van Queen, Tavi , and K-Bob . TOOTHPASTE 's upcoming mixtape will most likely be composed of beats culled from landmark Hip-Hop albums that were originally released back in 1996: OutKast, Aaliyah, 2pac, Jay-Z, The Roots, Tribe , Busta Rhymes , De La Soul, Nas , and Lil Kim . I really enjoyed Kassa Overall 's latest commercial effort, Stargate . Skillfully apping over top of a size-able amount of current Pop Radio staples... a vein in which I figure 1996 will essentially mirror. From what I hear, TECLA is making some pretty note-wort...