It would appear as though, after tracing back through a number of rather clumsily chronicled Twitter DM's, tongue-in-cheek Replies, countless @'s, and emailed transmissions that I first met Third Sight emcee Juan Betts AKA Roughneck Jihad (@roughneckjihad) through Twitter personality and sometimes Rap critic Elmattic (@thisiselmattic.) While he still might be a relatively unknown "underground emcee," Jihad—formerly known as Jihad The Roughneck MC—has been spittin' fresh rhymes since high school, 1988; over the years, he's formed countless Hip-Hop crews including Un Cut Poets, Third Sight with DJ Du Funk, Smooth Tone, and D-Styles, The Incredible Torture Show (T.I.T.S.) with Trailer Trasher & Maestro Gamin, The Language Mechanics with Insomniac & Raggedy Andy, The Tarantula Brothers with Du Funk, Disco Sinisto with Turin, Italy-based producer IL Torsolo, newly-formed Echoes of Oratory Music, The Darc Bros. and currently runs label imprint Disgruntled Sounds. There's also a vinyl and cassette re-release of Third Sight's 2016 Orchids & Corpses compilation album originally recorded to 4-track between 1993-96 scheduled for this upcoming September.

Aside from his forthcoming second solo album, The Wretched of The Verse (A Microphone Murderer's Extended-play Response to Unabridged Wackness In Hip-Hop Music Today) Roughneck Jihad is currently working on anywhere from 8-10 additional projects with a wide array of beat-minded collaborators including, but not limited to those listed above. Just this past week, he uploaded a "3-track playlist sampler of The Wretched to hold you over until the official release of the 12-track album on digital, cassette, and vinyl next month [August]!" I've heard two versions of Roughneck Jihad's The Wretched of The Verse through various stages of completion and I can assure you, it's one Hell of a single-emcee Hip-Hop album! Jihad collected hard-as-nails beats from the likes of A-Bomb, Pryvet Peep Sho, Waxsmith, Frank John James, and BOOKS1. I would say The Wretched is stylistically reminiscent of Sean Price's Mic Tyson, Madlib & DOOM's MADVILLAINY, Wu-Tang Clan, and DOOM's Danger Mouse-produced [adult swim]-themed THE MOUSE AND THE MASK. Roughneck Jihad was gracious enough to offer up some EXCLUSIVE insight behind the tracks contained on his 3-song The Wretched sampler: "Blowhard" (Remix,) "H.O.M.D." AKA "Hands Off!!! (My D*ck,)" and "(I'ma) Smoke This Joint."

"'Blowhard" (Remix) is a diss song against bloviating conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, Bill O’Reilly, Alan Dershowitz, and Sean Hannity. I take a unique approach to the diss by becoming the loud-mouth villain "Hurricane Harry Scrotum." This is the device I use to demonstrate and criticize fire-brand conservative righty talkers. Adding a little levity to the current political discourse that is so toxic in the process. Many emcees go after each other for one reason or another, but I choose a non-traditional target for Hip-Hop criticism providing a soundscape for my diatribe against these kinds of right wing talkers. [Pryvet] Peepsho provided the fresh beat an a vehicle for this critique. Originally, the songs he added to this album were ear-marked for a project we named 2-Dimensional Projection, but we ended up breaking that LP up and using five tracks from there on The Wretched [of The Verse].

"Blowhard" (Remix) Credits: Beat Production By Pryvet Peepsho, Mixed By Jerry D, Mastered By Steven Glaze at Tone Freq Studios, and Lyrics Written & Performed By Roughneck Jihad."


"'H.O.M.D." AKA "Hands Off!!! (My D*ck)" is a love poem to and about Hip-Hop. I open the song as if I am speaking to a lady I love, telling her that I am the best suitor. Waxsmith provided the dope track and some relevant cuts that add to the mix. The whole thing is underlined by live bass from The Dubulator.

"H.O.M.D." AKA "Hands Off!!! (My D*ck)" Credits: Beat Production & Cuts By Waxsmith, Mixed By Jerry D, Mastered By Steven Glaze at Tone Freq Studios, Bass Guitar By Dubulator, and Lyrics Written & Performed By Roughneck Jihad."


"'(I'ma) Smoke This Joint" is similar in emphasis to [ Kendrick Lamar's] "B*tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe." I’m trying to communicate that certain things upset me and take me out of my zone. For instance, things like ignorance, stupidity, conspicuous consumption, love of money materialism, exploitation, and anti-blackness are a drag to me. So, in order to transcend the negative energies I often encounter, I self-medicate with medical marijuana. Of course, sprinkled in the mix are my wit and a little braggadocio, which are par for the course. All of this is layered over cuts and a dope track by Waxsmith, my Bay Area brother in the struggle.

"(I'ma) Smoke This Joint" Credits: Beat Production & Cuts By Waxsmith, Mixed By Jerry D, Mastered By Steven Glaze at Tone Freq Studios, and Lyrics Written & Performed By Roughneck Jihad."