The Witzard

It appears as though reclusive early 2000's rapper, producer, and cold-cuttin' DJ Edan has finally decided to re-emerge from his self-imposed sabbatical and unleash his first batch of new material since 2009's "Echo Party" mixtape; Edan recently contributed production work to old sharp-tongued friend Mr. Lif 's long-awaited comeback single of sorts, "Whizdom," as well as Homeboy Sandman 's newly unveiled Kindness for Weakness album teaser, "Talking (Bleep)." Sandman 's latest Stones Throw Drip can likely best be described as a Hip-Hop -laden amalgamation of pop culture's beloved, often over-used "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH" filler phrasing for drab, long-winded, unnecessary, etc. conversation we're often subjected to throughout our every day lives – be it Ke$ha 's chart-topping No.1 single, Charlie Brown & The Peanuts' "WAH, WAH, WAH" diction substituted for adults talking, or Seinfeld prota...

Los Angeles sister act HAIM have indeed dabbled with Hip-Hop in the past, whether it be nearly getting recruited as A$AP Rocky 's backing band or appearing on genre-blending Kid Cudi and Childish Gambino tracks... But now they've enlisted rising A$AP Mob emcee, A$AP Ferg to append a ferocious add-on verse to their Days Are Gone album stand-out, "My Song 5." It's not entirely unlike a visual Where's Waldo? of seemingly everyone Danielle, Este & Alana Haim have encountered or befriended while on the road over the last couple years; featured emcee A$AP Ferg , Ke$ha, Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig , Grimes, Big Sean , SNL comedian Vanessa Bayer, Mama & Papa Haim , producer Ariel Rechtshaid, and even "Artemis" from It's Always Sunny . Leading up to it's Tuesday afternoon release, @HAIMtheband's long-rumored "My Song 5" video was subtly teased with cleverly edited 90's screen-grabs from Sally Jessy Ra...

While I think my overall musical tastes are pretty cultured and broad-spanning/sound, I must admit that I'm not too keen on current world music. Honestly, when I hear "World Music," what first comes to mind is African Tribal drums, Middle Eastern Acid Rock, Swedish Pop , Mariachi, and South African jam bands . I'm vaguely familiar with Asian Jazz-Fusion , Grime, bagpipe-led Celtic Punk , and Finnish/Norwegian Death Metal. When I first got my learner's permit [license] back in high school, my buddy Ryan and I were driving all over New Jersey , searching for terribly assembled D.I.Y. Punk shows @ dirty VFW halls and seedy hole-in-the-wall bars/clubs. 1970-80's Hardcore Punk is generally associated with it's formative New York , California , and UK scenes... But I guess we, myself included, tend to forget that there are rebellion-fueled, aggressive, socially awkward teens all over the world! Somehow, throughout my 10-12 year relationship with Punk Roc...

Biz Markie has gotta be one of the most awkward rappers male vocalists in the history of music. But with that said, "Just a Friend" quite easily ranks within my [imaginary] Top 50 favourite songs OF ALL TIME list! Markie recently logged a few recording sessions with fellow Psych-Rock weird-o, Wayne Coyne . Together, Biz & Wayne managed to conjure up "2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)" along with Ke$ha , which was the lead-off track from The Flaming Lips' semi-recent Record Store Day comp, Heady Fwends . Now, they've teamed up with skate clothing brand, Volcom to create a child-like Yo Gabba Gabba! -inspired T-shirt line for adults ha. Volcom then commissioned Markie & Coyne to self-design a bunch of signature T-shirts along with Dave Grohl , Jack Black, "Napoleon Dynamite," Mark Mothersbaugh , and their forward-thinking kids. "I Can't Believe It's Really Happening" is the second track to materialize from Biz Ma...

"Concrete Waves" is just one of those songs that's wildly catchy right off the bat! You know that you like it. But also know that you'd really be hard-pressed when asked "Why?" Kendra Morris is poised to become the next short-term Queen of Soul Pop Music; A genre initially spearheaded by the late-great, Amy Winehouse . Since "Throwback Soul" 's early-mid 2000's inception, many young songstresses have decided to jump aboard: Lily Allen, Duffy , Ke$ha, Sharon Jones, Janelle Monáe , Adele, Miss Jack Davey, Lana del Rey ... and now, Wax Poetics' very own Kendra Morris . Kendra Morris was born and raised along the coast of Florida to 2 musically-inclined parents. So, it was frankly no surprise to anyone that she grew up to be a Soulful -voiced little young lady. Morris made "The BIG Move" to New York City around 2003, where she proceeded to record bedroom [closet] recordings onto an 8-track . Those very recordings would re...