The Witzard

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...

Just this past Saturday night, Raymond "Ray" Strife & iLL-Omega premiered their latest collaboration/music video for "Heaven Is Empty" at Trenton, New Jersey venue, Millhill Basement. It appears as though "Heaven Is Empty" was premiered at Millhill around 8:00pm and world-wide on YouTube just a matter of hours later at 11:00pm; Saturday night's festivities, also, included live performances from Ray Strife & iLL-Omega themselves, along with King Spade, Gibby Stites, Wormtooth, and Dre Skuffs. Ray Strife & iLL-Omega are the "Rap & production equivalent of Fonzie & Richie Cunningham," as well as the self-proclaimed "Rap Iron Fist & Luke Cage." "Heaven Is Empty" is the first single to be released from Ray Strife & iLL-Omega 's upcoming fifth collaborative project, God's Plan, expected to drop on vinyl later this Fall. Their previous collaborative efforts include Preface: I Will Neve...

Going To The Garden by Mega Ran Let's just go ahead and deem this what it's organically become already: it's unofficially "Official" WrestleMania 35/WWE Monday Night RAW Week here at The Witzard !!! So, to continue the frantic festivities, we have a new track from wrestling aficionado and sharp-tongued Philly -based emcee Mega Ran ! "GOING TO THE GARDEN" was commissioned by Ring of Honor (ROH) and produced by frequent Ray Strife collaborator iLL-Omega , whom Ran initially got in touch with through his friend Eric at NERDS Clothing . "It was hard, fast-paced, and unlike anything I'd ever done before. I wanted to flex some chops and rap a little faster than I normally would on it, to fully capture the excitement of the moment," Mega Ran said on his approach to iLL-Omega 's beat for "GOING TO THE GARDEN." Mega Ran has previously released, at least, three wrestling-themed/ Wrestle Rap albums between 2016-18: Mat Mania:...

Last year, Trenton, New Jersey -based emcee/producer duo Raymond "Ray" Strife & iLL-Omega unleashed their second proper long-form collaboration, Go for The Gusto . It's the full-length follow-up to Ray Strife & iLL-Omega 's 2017 Preface: I Will Never Be Beautiful EP , which was, actually, premiered right here, across the pages of The Witzard . On Super Bowl Sunday , I received an email from Ray Strife entitled "Wanna premier a new video?" It was during, as we all well know, a fairly lackluster game between The Patriots & The Rams , so I quickly watched the video and sent an exuberant "Hell yes!" Reply back to Ray . Said music video is for Go for The Gusto stand-out "Shane Falco" —an allusion to Keanu Reeves ' character in 2000 Sports/Comedy film, The Replacements —is now, proudly premiering right here on The Witzard , as well, this afternoon. Throughout "Shane Falco"' s nearly 5-minute duration, we'r...

Trenton, New Jersey -based emcee/frontman Raymond "Ray" Strife released so many projects last year, we couldn't even keep up—well, my wedding was this past October, as well!—but seriously, Ray put out a BUNCH of music throughout 2018. He released his Ill-Omega -produced full-length follow-up to 2017's critically-acclaimed Preface: I Will Never Be Beautiful EP , Go for The Gusto , #BFF EP with his real-life BFF's Roebus One & Ill-Omega originally recorded back in 2013, and HARD FEELINGS EP from his "Negative" Hardcore band, OVER EVERYTHING . Now, at the top of 2019, Ray Strife has already returned from a holiday vacation to France with a previously unreleased track entitled "Think of how a Castrated Horse Feels," which takes its name from a lyric within Nirvana 's "I Hate Myself & Want to Die" from 1993's The Beavis & Butt-Head Experience compilation. It appears as though Doc Heller 's "Think o...

Hard Feelings by Over Everything "There isn't much to say. Nothing is OK. We're over it. We are OVER EVERYTHING," is the oft-used mantra of Trenton -based OVER EVERYTHING . A self-described "Negative Hardcore" band, OVER EVERYTHING 's line-up consists of frontman Raymond "Ray Strife" Novak , guitarist Erik Monsees , bassist Ricky Scheinder , and drummer Brendan Lipira . OVER EVERYTHING 's debut EP, HARD FEELINGS , is Ray Strife 's first released piece of work since his April 2018 full-length with producer and frequent collaborator, iLL-Omega , Go for The Gusto . Ray Strife defines "Negative Hardcore" as "a place to get out all the negative sh*t in your life and brain; take the anger and aim it through the speakers! That's what I use it for, anyway" and adds that OVER EVERYTHING may (or may not) have, actually, created the genre. I've personally, been hearing rumblings about OVER EVERYTHING for a year o...

"The process on making the album pretty much was made during a tough and stressful time this year. It's crazy that this album has a chill vibe, when I was going through crazy sh*t, personally. I was inspired by J Dilla 's Donuts , Kendrick Lamar 's DAMN. and Lo-Fi Hip-Hop music—which I have been listening to [heavily] this year," Trenton -based DJ and producer Darnell "iLL-Omega" Storey wrote within a recent email. I rarely listen to Rap these days, so this was my "f**k you" to typical-sounding beats and albums," iLL-Omega continued. Just about four months ago, iLL-Omega unleashed his proper solo "debut," Omegatron , which ran right here at The Witzard along with his Beat-maker Bedrock column. Darnell Storey has previously released material with fellow New Jersian Ray Strife and his DKFG crew, Rocky, Alien , Kahlil Ali, and A Mankind Complex with Trino , as well as signees on his Cap City Ent. imprint. Since Om...

Merry Christmess by Jumbled Merry Christmess exudes a frantic sense of fluidity, similar in nature to that of my personal favorite Hip-Hop -minded Christmas comp. Peanut Butter Wolf Presents: BADD SANTA - A Stones Throw Records Xmas . After initially pitching a batch of holiday-themed beats to an East Coast-based crew of emcees to no avail, John "Jumbled" Bachman , unfortunately, aborted his then-untitled Christmas EP for a planned 2016 release. Now, nearly a year later, Jumbled is back with his fully-realized 15-track Merry Christmess comp. Following The Ghost of Len Bias EP with MGNTK. emcee UllNevaNo and THE INSULT with long-time friend and emcee Dwell (as Bully Preston ) Merry Christmess is Jumbled 's third proper release of 2017. While Merry Christmess is, in fact, Jumbled 's first beat-minded Christmas release, John Bachman 's Indie Rock/Power-Pop band, Soft Peaks actually issued a 2013 cover of The Kinks' raucous "Father Christma...

Darnell "iLL-Omega" Storey (@illomega) is a friend and frequent collaborator of The Witzard ; he hand-crafted the beats for Ray Strife 's recent The Witzard -premiered Preface: I Will Never Be Beautiful EP , he's one half of rapper-producer duo A Mankind Complex , founder of Trenton -based label Cap City Ent. and recently assembled a producer-selected Beat-maker Bedrock playlist. iLL-Omega 's latest endeavor is Rocky's House Podcast hosted by Cap City Ent. signee and collaborator Rocky (@rockythepromoter.) Alongside Rocky & iLL-Omega , Rocky's House Podcast 's panel of co-hosts additionally features Hip-Hop artists and lyricist Alien (@bonafied_alien) and Princeton -bred improv actor and comedian Adam Politis (@smokinpolitis) as well as a variety of special guests on each month's episode. Rocky himself describes Rocky's House Podcast as a unique online platform wherein they're able to "shed light on local/mainstream ...

"What's goodie!? My name is iLL-Omega . I'm a beat-maker from Trenton, NJ . This is my column [for] Beat-maker Bedrock ! Here's three albums that inspired me to start making music. Salute to John "Jumbled" Bachman and The Witzard for letting me be a part of this!" - Darnell "iLL-Omega" Storey I. Wu-Tang Clan - "Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) "This album is one of the first Hip-Hop albums that made me want to start doing music. The RZA delivers a cinematic feel with the Kung-Fu samples and crazy chopped-up samples. The hard-hitting drums shake your car and pound your chest on each track. I remember first listening to Wu-Tang in intermediate school. When I first played this tape, it felt like a movie that I didn't want to end. The contributions from all nine members of the Wu-Tang seemed like a big Kung-Fu fight scene with each line that punches you in the face." II. Redman - Muddy Waters (1996) ...

Trenton, NJ -based rapper Raymond "Ray" Strife recently reached out to me, via email after seeing my write-up on JE DOUBLE F 's HUMAN RITES teaser single, "JAGGED EDGE." I believe I actually got in touch with Jeff due in part to (or maybe even because of) my recent work with fellow East Coast emcees Height Keech and Darko The Super affiliates, STATIC BROTHERS . Ray Strife & JE DOUBLE F are both founding members of Trenton -bred Rap crew DKFG , which additionally includes Kahlil Ali , RayRayBeats, Luis , Roebus One, Wade Wilson , Cody Jones, Dready Mercury , Ill-Omega, and Cornelius The Third . " Raymond Strife used to play in Punk bands, until the iPod was invented and replaced musicians. Strife isn't actually his last name. Reads lots of comic books, but gets laid more than most nerds who read lots of comic books," Ray Strife 's rather brief, yet fitting Bandcamp description details; included within for FREE or Name-Your-Pri...