The Yearbook Album

Album Release Party- Thursday March 5 - NYC

2009-02-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

Come celebrate with Crown Digital Records recording artist Mr. Ozwald for an evening of press, partying, and live performances. Groove to the tunes of NYC's very own DJ Yose throughout the night, It's going to be a night to remember!

December Release: New Year Revolution

2009-01-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

What a ride. Feels pretty good to make it through the year and create an album that's this versatile. I gotta say I'm happy with each and every record I put out and equally pleased with this final release. I had a lot of fun making this track, and decided to end off with a fun hip-hop record... basically showcasing how i'm better than the rest of the game, humbley of course :)

'09 is gonna be a big year.

Electrofly - official music video

2008-12-08T04:38:00.001-08:00

here's my new music video. thanks to everyone involved in making it happen.

Directed by: Will Coss
Produced by: Michael McManus
Edited by: Stephen Conca

November Release: A Night to Remember

2008-12-05T22:37:00.000-08:00

Recently my boy Bruno Beats and I started a production duo called the Sonic Boyz and we've been building up a sick catalogue of hip-hop, r&b, and electronic beats. Basically we're super producers. The best that ever lived... and equally humble about it :)

Anyway, the stuff we've been doing is pretty unique so we figured it would be a good idea to make a track for the yearbook album. Long story short, we got in the studio and made a hot record. Bruno played some guitar, I started singing A Night to Remember... and the rest is history. Not sure where the idea came from, but music is a vibe and I've learned to just roll with it.

Sonic Booooooyyyyyyyz!

btw add us... we need friends http://www.myspace.com/thesonicboyz

-oz

Octoberr Release: The Holy Ghost

2008-10-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Over the past year I've been through a lot. Going through a number of different trials, my faith has been tested in many ways, but it has ultimately strengthened my relationship with God and given me a better understanding of the world.

There's no doubt I have a much clearer perspective on things and a fresh outlook on life. Having gotten to know the true message of Jesus, I felt compelled to make this song. This track wasn't made for Christians [although I'm sure they'll dig it :)] but rather those who haven't come to know Christ yet or understand everything He has to offer.

This joint is definitely soulful and I wanted to make sure I grabbed people's attention. To do so, I hired actor Michael McManus to read some very powerful scripture right from the Bible before each of my verses... and it sounds amazing. Many people have their own thoughts and opinions about the Bible, but have never actually picked it up and read it for themselves. With that being said, I felt compelled to share the Word of God with people and blessed to be able to do it through music. Enjoy.

-oz

September Release: American Dream

2008-09-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

This was a fun record to make. I got in touch with my old friend David Veslocki from West Hartford (who I've known since the 4th grade) and it turns out after all these years, he's still playing the guitar. Dave plays like Jimi Hendrix with a masters from Yale in guitar.

Anyway, I got him in the studio and it was a blast... with all the guitar on this record it had a very American vibe to it, so I decided to roll with it and write about, well, the American Dream.

I guess the timing is pretty good with the election coming up and all, and I am very proud to be an American regardless of how the rest of the world may view us. Who knows, maybe this will get a little American pride pumpin' through our veins again and encourage some patriotism.

Anyway, enjoy the record.

-oz

July and August Releases...

2008-08-14T08:22:00.001-07:00

So, everyone has been asking me where the July record is... Last month my song "Electrofly" reached 2 on the college radio charts and drew some attention from some established producers. I usually (actually, always) produce all the beats on my albums.... but when the Kickdrums reached out to me, I felt this would be a great opportunity to get a fresh sound and work with some talented cats. Right now the record is pretty much done, they're just finishing mixing the record... so I'll have that ready for you guys in a couple days.

Also, right around the same time the Kickdrums got at me, my man Rick Steel over at The Inc. got in touch and we decided to do a collab as well. Rick has taught me a lot and helped me step my production game up a few notches over the last year and I feel blessed to get a beat from him. Rick, I killed this one, you'll be happy with it.

Anyway I really feel blessed to get production from such established producers in the game and release two, ridiculous records for you all... both VERY different in sound. The artwork is up on the page, I'll be releasing these songs at the same time so you wont have to wait much longer. Thanks for your patience and suport everyone!!

-oz

June Release: Dirty Girl

2008-06-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I was talking to my friend Arielle online, and she sent me a picture of herself wearing glasses. Now, she looks good no matter what she's wearing but in this particular picture she commented on how this was her "nerdy girl" look. Immediately I started singing nerdyyyy girllll in my head and thought that would be a dope concept for a song. Everyone is always talking about dirty girls... me personally, I like a nerdy girl... with a wild side :)

Anyway, when I got into the studio to record i started laying down the vocals for the hook. "Nerdy girl, I need a nerdy girl" etc... The odd thing was, every time we listened back to what I ecorded, it didn't sound like I was saying nerdy girl at all, it sounded like I was saying dirty girl. We tried for about an hour to find a way to make it sound less like "dirty" and more like "nerdy" but, to no avail.

So, at this point I just said what the F, rewrote the song and made it about a dirty girl. After all, like I said before... I like a nerdy girl with a wild side :)

PS: shout out to Bruno Sutter for laying down some sick guitar.

May Release: Electrofly

2008-05-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

This joint is a banger right here. Staright up rocks the club. 80's throwback.

It's interesting how this song came to be though... I initially had an entire different record in mind for the May Release...

Basically, I had produced a really hot joint for the summer and I had a certain female vocalist (who shall remain nameless) that was gonna do the hook. Unfortunately, like most people... she talked a good game and was completely unreliable.

I had studio time booked for Wed, Thurs, Fri and a couple hours on Saturday before my engineer bounced back to Miami. I gave her the record nearly 2 weeks in advance to get her part done...

When Wednesday and Thursday rolled around, she gave me the complete runaround, no vocals, and never showed up... And now I had no record... I'm not sure whether it was her fault or her managers but it was completely unprofessional and I don't do business like that.

Anyway, so now it's Friday... 2am, and I have no record at all... I got home, turned on my equipment at my studio and made a hot ass beat and just ran with it. Woke up early the next morning, finished the beat and wrote the song on the bus out to the studio. Last minute, but damn it came out hot.

I was thinking about electricity for whatever reason and the the word electrify... then it just came to me. Someone in my situation who was damn near screwed out of completing a record... was fly enough to manage the whole situation... Hence I came up with the word, "Electrofly". I actually like this record a lot more than the original idea I had for the May release... so whenever things don't seem to be working out the way you planned, keep moving forward cause God has something else in mind for you.

Enjoy.

April Release: Hey April

2008-04-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

Well, this song is about a girl... hence the title. Actually, this is more about a relationship than it is the girl... so I think anyone who has been in a relationship can relate to this joint right here. I wanted to do something fun and different so this song isn't really a hip-hop record. The whole "single every month" thing gives me the freedom to do what I want and try new things.

Enjoy.

Oh yea, shout out to Bruno Sutter for playing the guitar.

March Release: Life

2008-03-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

So I’m a little late posting this blog, but that’s OK :)

There were a few different directions I could have gone with this particular record but it really came to life (no punn intended) when I got the idea to use my computer’s voice to "sing" the hook.

I wrote out a few phrases in Microsoft Word about life and living the dream etc... and had a few different male and female voices generated by my computer "read" the text. I sampled the voices into my MPC, chopped em up and I knew I was on to something. By the time I had worked out the arragement of the computerized voices I knew the rest of the song would write itself...

I brought the beat into the studio before I wrote the song because I knew my engineer (Bruno Sutter) would really be able to have some fun while mixing this record, and I wanted to feed off of his energy. I told him I really wanted to bug this record out and try all sorts of crazy shit... try something new and different and just have fun with it.

Anyway, as for writing the song, I just wanted to talk about things relative to what is (and what has been) going on in the world, especially our country. Instead of going into detail and spelling everything out for you, I wanted to just use single words throughout to let your own images come to mind and create your own story within the one I’m telling. It’s all there... some of the shit you will or won’t understand or interpret correctly... kind of like things that happen in life.

Anyway, I’m doing a video for this joint, will be out in about a month or so...

Shout out to John Lilly for designing the cover.

February Release...

2008-03-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

iTunes is a real pain in my ass. I uploaded the new song on Feb 6th and it's still not available yet... but hang tight. It should be up any day now, I continue to bother the powers that be to hurry up and get it on the site. Thanks for your patience.

-oz

ps: I just finished the march release and it's totally bananas. more on that later...

Lil Wayne concert... Me opening

2008-02-24T01:12:00.000-08:00

Opening for Lil Wayne tonight at the Newark Symphony Hall in NJ. Check it out if you can make it.

February Release: Anything

2008-02-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

Well everyone, we barely got here this month. I know it's only February, but I couldn't have come any closer to canning this entire project when I started this record. I had actually written an insanely long blog about it, but it was just too much to read...

Basically, what I wanted to share with you is this: No matter what you do in life, you're gonna have to deal with a lot of bull shit. You're gonna have to overcome a lot of obstacles to get what you really want out of life. You have to handle the pressure, the stress, the drama, the haters... you have to make lots of sacrifices to get what you want. You have to embrace the tough times cuz if you don't you'll never get anywhere.

For the first time ever I almost crumbled under all this pressure... I've sacrificed damn near everything for this music shit and it never gets any easier. I gave up my bed over a year ago so I could have more space for equipment in my room. You think I'm not fuckin tired of having no bed to sleep on? It's been way too long since I got a good nights rest.

The bottom line is, if I didn't have this music shit consuming every minute of my time, and every dollar in my pocket... if I just quit and did something else... I wouldn't be any happier. I'd be fucking miserable and life wouldn't be any easier. Quitting never solves anything, it only creates more problems, more drama, more bullshit and just leaves you without whatever it is you're trying to obtain.

This is life yo, and I aspire to get what I want out of it... shit is hard right now, but when things really pop off- I'm gonna get that big ass apartment, I'm gonna get that big ass bed that I deserve and I'm finally gonna get some sleep!

And that's what this record is about. I know what's mine and I'm gonna go get it. And so can you... Anyone can do ANYTHING... you just gotta grind hard. When life throws you lemons, don't make lemonade... throw those lemons back until life finally gives you what you want.

-Oz

January Release: The Best

2008-01-07T23:08:00.000-08:00

About 2 weeks ago when I first began working on this record, I had plans to name it “New Year Revolution”. I thought it was a pretty solid title for a January release and shows I’m about to do things differently. However, as I started writing and producing the track, the song started taking shape and “The Beginning” felt like a more appropriate title. That was the first of many changes ☺

The night before I was scheduled to record I went to Guitar Center and purchased a talk box. It’s actually a difficult instrument to use if you’re a first timer like myself… you’re singing through a tube which is connected to an amp, which (in my case) is connected to a keyboard. As you sing into the tube and play the keyboard, you get that robotic/electronic-like voice.

Anyway, the next day arrived, I got to the studio and I was ready to bang this song out… or so I thought

When my engineer (Bruno Sutter) hooked me up to record, I started playing some notes and singing through the talk box. For whatever reason I started saying "Baby I'm the best, b-b-baby I'm the best" and that’s when the entire track just completely came to life. It sounded so hot that I actually got chills. I went into the vocal booth, laid down some heavy breathing and me and Bruno both just started bugging out. This became the bridge of the record.

Believe it or not, this was actually a problem. I knew that with a bridge this hot I would have to follow the vibe and go in a completely new direction and rewrite everything. I had to finish the song by the 5th if I was to even come close to releasing it 10 days later… and Bruno was leaving for Miami on the 6th. This gave me about 4 days to get everything done and complete recording.

So, with little sleep, lots of coffee and about 70 peanut butter cups later… I rewrote everything and finished the track. You’ll find that this is a pretty unique record with a wide range of influences. It’s a cross between Louis Armstrong, Jay-Z, The Gap Band, Brittany Spears, and Dr. Dre. There isn’t anything out there like it and I had a lot of fun trying something new.

Anyway, the song is available on iTunes now... and as for me, it's time to start working on that February record...

peace!

-Oz

Getting Started...

2008-01-02T00:39:00.000-08:00

The Yearbook album idea came to me at about 6am last month when I was just sitting around brainstorming after making some beats. When it hit me, I really got too excited to sleep so I started writing down how I wanted to approach this project. Seeing as it was already December and I wanted to have the first song released in January, I didn't have much time to get things in order.

Initially, I thought it would be really cool to have each song relate to whatever is going on in my life at the time... ultimately, composing a yearlong “documentary” so to speak. What I didn't realize until I started recording is that if I'm going to be blogging/documenting everything throughout the year, what would be the point of saying the same things on the record each month?

That’s when it dawned on me... Keep the blog interesting, document the process; keep the music interesting, WRITE HOT SONGS! If this project gives me the freedom to do whatever I want, then I won’t limit myself to the same format each month. It’s time to bring good music back, try something new, and start taking risks!

I'll see you around Jan 15th with "The Best"

-Oz

Rob & Big Season 3 trailer

2007-12-20T05:01:00.000-08:00

These guys are hilarious. I'm actually a fan of the show so it's pretty cool to have my song in the trailer. Click the iTunes button to download Amazin'