WZRD (band)

WZRD (pronounced one letter at a time, W-Z-R-D) is an American alternative rock band and music production team, composed of longtime friends and frequent collaborators, recording artist Kid Cudi and record producer Dot da Genius. Formed in New York City in 2010, Cudi originally named the band Wizard, inspired by the Black Sabbath song of the same name. However, Cudi renamed the band on two separate occasions, the first being in April 2011 to 2 Be Continuum, explaining: "I needed something more original, something different...". The second time occurred in November 2011, to the band's current namesake. Their eponymous debut album WZRD, was released in February 2012, peaking at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was supported by the lead singles, "Brake" and "Teleport 2 Me, Jamie".

History

2006–2010: Early years and formation

Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi and Oladipo "Dot da Genius" Omishore met through a mutual friend, with whom Cudi once worked with at Abercrombie & Fitch: "He was a good friend of Dot’s friend named Riliwan. Riliwan’s just such a real motherfucker, to this day, that we play him records and get his opinion—because he’s not going to cut us any slack. But, being that our records have been so awesome he barely says anything. We would rap at work, and he would spit, and he was like, 'Yo, I know a producer. I want you to meet him.' I was like, 'OK,' and he had him come up. We met up, and Dot played me some beats. I remember being like, 'OK.' I wasn’t like, blown away". Dot da Genius had just started producing but Cudi claims he saw "potential in the artistry".

+/- (band)

+/-, or Plus/Minus, is an American indietronic band formed in 2001. The band makes use of both electronic and traditional instruments, and has sought to use electronics to recreate traditional indie rock song forms and instrumental structures. The group has released two albums on each of the American indie labels Teenbeat Records and Absolutely Kosher, and their track "All I do" was prominently featured in the soundtrack for the major film Wicker Park. The group has developed a devoted following in Japan and Taiwan, and has toured there frequently. Although many artists append bonus tracks onto the end of Japanese album releases to discourage purchasers from buying cheaper US import versions, the overseas versions of +/- albums are usually quite different from the US versions - tracklists can be rearranged, artwork with noticeable changes is used, and tracks from the US version can be replaced as well as augmented by bonus tracks.

History

Band

Band or BAND may refer to:

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Computing and electronics

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Bandō

Bandō may refer to:

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See also

Bando (disambiguation)

WZRD (FM)

WZRD (88.3 FM) is the student-run radio station at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois, US, founded in 1974. The station serves the Chicago area. The station is licensed by the FCC to Northeastern Illinois University. WZRD broadcasts on a Freeform radio format.

Programming

Unlike other formats, WZRD's freeform does not have block programming of particular genres, or styles of radio such as a news slot, a rock slot, or talk radio show (save Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations). Instead it compels the DJs to mix all of these genres together in a creative, unique, and often challenging way. It would not be unheard of to hear Tibetan Buddhist chants, early 1980s punk rock, eclectic mixes, a spoken word piece and public service announcements in succession.

"Different genres of music, spoken word, and sound effects are played side-by-side in a way that usually flows rather than jars. With a library of rare recordings that includes 15,000 records and another 17,000 CDs, cassettes, and reel-to-reels, there’s no telling what you’ll hear. 'We always say if you don’t like what you hear right now, turn us on again in five minutes and you’ll hear something completely different,' says former Program Director Dan Demchuk." - Cara Jepsen, Illinois Entertainer

WZRD (album)

WZRD is the eponymously titled debut studio album by American alternative rock duo WZRD. The album was supported by the singles "Brake" and "Teleport 2 Me, Jamie". The album was released on February 28, 2012, via Universal Republic Records, as well as Cudi's newly found label imprint, Wicked Awesome Records.

Background

WZRD's lead singer Kid Cudi, first unveiled the project in January 2011 after returning to Twitter announcing a new album he was hoping to have out by the summer: "pushing for a summer release of the wizard album… wizard is a rock album, no raps, just singing. brand new thing… workin on some Jay and 'Ye shit… new mixtape A Man Named Scott thats this summah for all those who fucks with my raps, this is for u since ima be all rocked out with the wizard shit. also its free… oh and new york catch me if u can, i start filmin “how to make it” in march."

On May 31, 2011, Cudi released the first offering from his rock band, a song titled "Perfect Is the Word". It was the first song Kid Cudi and Dot da Genius worked on for the album. During a Ustream broadcast they revealed a song titled "Rocket" and announced it will serve as the second single. On November 10, 2011, Kid Cudi revealed that the only guest appearance on the album would be Australian indie-rock band Empire of the Sun. On November 18, 2011, Kid Cudi renamed the band once again to 'WZRD' and announced that the album, will be released on his 28th birthday, January 30, 2012. On November 20 Kid Cudi announced via Twitter that his upcoming album will not contain any profanity including the use of the word nigga. Kid Cudi released "Brake", the first offering from the album on November 21, 2011. On December 5, 2011, Kid Cudi released a snippet of "Teleport 2 Me, Jamie", the album's lead single.