The Witzard

"cats that wanna send beats, [my] email is homeboysandman@gmail.com . only send 2, as mp3 attachments. I'll only respond if I pick 1, but I'll listen," read a very recent open casting call from Stones Throw emcee @HomebpySandman dispatched to earnest beatsmiths world-wide. It seems as though the construction of Sandman 's latest release was conducted in a somewhat similar manner: "well, it [happened] just by itself. One day, I got an email from Homeboy Sandman , who asked if he could use this beat from my Chinoiseries album that I released in 2007. It's a really old beat I made over 10 years ago, so I wasn't too keen at first, but I decided to let him use it, since he's a real dope emcee and the result came out as a "Bus (A Rhyme)." He made a dope video that comes with it and that's that. Thanks," Arnaud Bernard (better known as Onra ) wrote within a Facebook message sent directly to The Witzard . I've been mulling ov...

" Fudge came together during several sessions in the summer and fall of 2015 at Nick Hook 's Green Point studio. Prefuse 73 [Guillermo Scott Herren] brought along a hard drive full of beats. [Michael] Christmas wrote to the instrumentals in the studio, and recorded the vocals the same day, as friends swung by to check it out; some of the drop-ins at the studio ended up joining in the recording, not least D.R.A.M. who brings lifted soul vocals on the album track "All Points South,'" Lex Records wrote within a comprehensive on-site Fudge press release earlier this past week. Although this is Herren's first full-length recorded alongside an emcee, he's previously worked with a number of revered Hip-Hop legends including, but not limited to Ghostface Killah , Jewel-runner El-P, Mos Def , Aesop Rock, fellow Lex label mate DOOM , GZA, Death Grips drummer Zach Hill , and RJD2; while Michael Christmas is "a 22-year-old Boston emcee, who has...

"After dropping "Trunk of My Computer" video from the #STSxRJD2 album, STS , Black Thought , and Truck North put [their] MMJB twist on RJD2 's classic Mad Men theme song, "Beautiful [Mine]." Produced by The Wurxs for [their] Wurxs of Art project coming soon," Philly emcee Sugar Tongue Slim (STS) wrote Tuesday afternoon on his Soundcloud accompanying "Mad Men Jam Boys." The Wurxs -produced remix of RJD2 's Mad Men theme, "A Beautiful Mine," is the unofficial return to form of Roots affiliated crew, Money Making Jam Boys , which consists of Roots emcee Black Thought , STS , Truck North , Greg P.O.R.N. and Dice Raw (who are noticeably absent here). MMJB 's first and only release thus far was their Denzel Washington -approved 18-track debut, The Prestige: Jam Boy Magic way back in 2010. Its members have remained far from silent in the five years since The Prestige : Black Thought & The Roots have ...

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'...

I Admit by Aaron Livingston Philly Reggae-Soul singer Aaron Livingston has laid down some vocal tracks for 2 separate Roots albums, The Tipping Point (2004) and their latest effort, undun . Therefore making Livingston an "Honorary Roots Member" and putting him amongst the [fine] company of John Legend , Mos Def, Blu , Dice Raw, Sugar Tongue Slim , and Peedi Crakk. Aaron Livingston 's most recent full-length project, an RJD2 -produced album titled The Abandoned Lullaby was released back in Fall 2011. While Livingston's solo discography may appear to be pretty "scattered," he's also recorded tracks with Hot Sugar , The Mean, Young Vipers , and Hezekiah... as well as Greatest Hits, Vol. -1 . That aforementioned "Odds & Sods" compilation album is available for $5.00 (FREE) download over at Bandcamp , along with a slew of slightly-dated, yet fleshed out loosies. "I Admit" was unveiled on Thurs. May 3rd , but kind of cast a...

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a sucker for a good cover. When it comes down to it, the practice of covering songs is the sheer essence of Pop Culture : Taking something vaguely familiar, re-hashing it, and then re-releasing it to [eventual] wild success. One could even go as far to argue that sampling beats in Hip-Hop is a form of "covering." The latest cover to show up on my radar is Mike Posner 's recent version of Oasis - "Wonderwall" (1995). Posner's biggest claim to fame may very well be "Cooler Than Me," a track which was written-produced in his Duke dormroom. A Matter of Time was distributed to the masses through iTunes U with help from friends, Don Cannon & DJ Benzi . One proper album and a couple digital mixtapes later... Mike Posner liberated a BRAND NEW collection around Thanksgiving, The Layover . While "Wonderwall" is easily the stand-out track, the mixtape features a fine assortment of collaborators...