The Witzard

CREDIT: James Reitano (TFU Studios) Honestly, it doesn't even feel like there's a proper way to elegize an eccentric and extremely talented artist such as MF DOOM, who meant so much to so many of us for so many years for so many different reasons as truly unique as DOOM himself. So, what better way to pay tribute to The Man, The Myth, THE MASK himself than by speaking to those closest to him? With a heavy heart, I proudly present Shadows of Tomorrow; a new recurring column in tribute to DOOM in an effort to re-tell the tall tales, strange stories, and lesser-known tidbits of The Metal Face Villain himself. R.I.P. Daniel "MF DOOM" Dumile Thompson. "In summer of 2003, I'd re-discovered the Grantray-Lawrence series of Marvel Comics cartoons. I distinctly remember these as a kid that my brother and I would laugh and make fun of these embarassingly simple animations. Marvel was trying to get into the animation business and using the actual 60's comic art,...

"If you are one of the few who have known about MF DOOM ’s debut album since the year it first dropped (1999), you’ll know there’s been a few versions of the album to come out. There’s been bonus tracks, bootlegs, CD's, tapes, and even a lunch box edition. But here’s the thing about OPERATION: DOOMSDAY — it’s a Hip-Hop classic! Those who don’t have it, need it. The record keeps selling out, and they keep making more. Just like The Beatles , if The Beatles came to destroy Rap ," Egon 's Now-Again -affiliated online record store Rappcats wrote within a rather "villainous" press release. Egon 's co-conspirator and revered Beatsmith-In-Chief , Madlib has had a particularly mysterious, light years ahead of its time, and oddly progressive relationship with the self-proclaimed METAL-FACE[D] VILLAIN since unveiling their lone collaborative project, MADVILLAINY , amongst the terribly unsuspecting world nearly 12 years ago. Now, upon Rappcats latest OP...

Freddie Gibbs , to the best of my knowledge, has never released a proper mixtape in the typical fashion of Hip-Hop culture; a cohesive collection of re-appropriated beats borrowed from popular artists and "freestyled" over, which are given away for FREE or next to nothing. However, it would appear as though that very notion might change soon enough, as Rappcats/Madlib Invazion have unveiled plans to release a limited run silk-screened 12-inch containing "Cocaine Parties In LA" and its sparse instrumental on Side B. Gibbs previously unleashed a cocaine-laden remix of Kanye & Kendrick Lamar 's Madlib -produced G.O.O.D. Fridays (Vol. 2) submission and eventual The Life of Pablo bonus track, "No More Parties In LA." It's reportedly a track left on the cutting room floor, for whatever reasons, during the recording of Kanye 's sprawling 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy , just one composition from six CD-R's-worth of hazy...

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 DO YOU DO? HI MATT. SORRY FOR [BEING] LATE. I AM MAIKO . MUNGUNI 'S AGENT. THE VINYL I WANT WAS DECIDED. WHICH PICTURE OF MUNGUNI 'S DO YOU WISH FOR?" read a rather interesting hand-drawn Instagram message I received from Japanese artist @munguni's agent early Friday morning. "I WANT MADLIB 'S NEW EP. 'THE UNNAMED' OUT JULY 18 ON RAPPCATS' POP UP STORE," Maiko specifically requested in exchange for a custom-designed piece of original artwork. Miraculously, I was somehow able to score two screen-printed copies of Trouble Knows Me EP from Rappcats' first limited small batch pressing, which reportedly sold out in just under an hour. Egon & Rappcats then hosted a special one night only live screen-printing pop-up event with Hit & Run following Madlib 's Friday night show at Chicago 's own The Mid ; a second similar event was additionally held yesterday (Saturday, July 18th) at a Los Angeles Rappcats pop-...

While chances are kinda slim that this was recorded all at once (but you never really know with Stones Throw ), Rappcats gave cyber-birth to an amazing-sounding MED, Blu, Mayer Hawthorne & Madlib track, "The Buzz" around 12-1am Tuesday-Wednesday morning. Not unlike The Burgundy EP , MED & Blu share vocal duties, Madlib produced the beat, and Hawthorne's relegated to the buttery smooth hook; an unreleased Dâm-Funk track will also appear on flip Side B. The Buzz 12" EP will include two vocal tracks, bonus beat, instrumentals, and a cappella. It's currently available for pre-order today (November 5th) at either Stones Throw or Fat Beats . Let's talk about the sheer talent Stones Throw managed to wrangle yup for "The Buzz:" prolific underground king Madlib chopped up a beautiful Boom-Bap -infused Soul sample, the label's former Blue-Eyed Soul crooner Mayer Hawthorne on the hook, and MED & Blu , two of the most talented a...

Pay Jay , quite arguably the "Holy Grail" of unreleased J Dilla material, briefly leaked online a few years ago; The infamous MCA -commissioned vocal album that Dilla recorded with friends-producers ?uestlove & Karriem Riggins , Nottz, Kanye , Pete Rock, Supa Dave West , Hi-Tek, and Bink! [Dawg] . From what I can remember, it featured a pre- "Takeover" Doors ("Five to One") sample flip, a Funky Vanity 6 "Drive Me Wild" cover, and just one previously released track - " Fuck The Police." Thankfully, Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey recently re-gained the rights to a storage locker full of old DAT and 2-inch tape masters, which were obviously used to re-mix/master the 11+ tracks. Pay Jay Productions plans to release The Diary sometime during 2013-14 and it's material represents the unknown period in-between J Dilla 's self-produced Rap albums, Welcome 2 Detroit and Ruff Draft EP (2001-02). Standout track ...

Quasimoto is one of producer/rapper extraordinaire Madlib 's many alter-egos; But this one's a brick-wielding yellow critter with a high-pitched voice and an affinity for weed smoke. Rumors of a new Lord Quas album titled Yessir Whatever began to swirl earlier this month, which ends up being a 12-track "Odds & Sods" style comp. album. Stones Throw lamented that " Yessir Whatever collects 12 tracks made by Madlib & Quasimoto over a roughly 12-year period. A few were released on rare and out-of-print vinyl, while a few others are previously unreleased, now mixed and mastered for the first time" in a recent press release. I'm almost positive that this collection includes 4 previously unreleased tracks, too: "Planned Attack," "Brothers Can't See Me," "Catchin' The Vibe," and "LAX to JFK," which don't seem to have appeared anywhere else prior. Madlib 's scattered post- The Further...

Sine & Moon 's deep "roots" date way back before any seasoned listener would ever even believe: The mid-1990's. "Saturday Night Songs," the album's inaugural track, was recorded by Jonti Danilewitz in his homeland of South Africa Australia @ the ripe, young age of 13. Essentially a collection of old, new, re-mixed/mastered, and appended tracks, which starts out with that first song Jonti ever recorded. Jonti initially configured the album in the form of a mix CD commissioned by Stones Throw and released back in August 2011. Essentially, a wide array of 13 [15] genre-jumping 4-track records; Plus an MF DOOM -esque rapped co-starring appearance from partner in crime, Jonwayne (2007) to top it all off. Since it's original release, Jonti has been hit up with such an abundance of fan requests for individual tracks... that Stones Throw decided to re-release an updated, albeit FREE version of Sine & Moon . In preparation of the Jan. 10th ...