Zach Witness

In November 2015, producer Zach Witness first drew widespread notice when he supplied the beats for every song on Erykah Badu’s playful mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone. Although his name remained unfamiliar to most people in his hometown of Dallas, Texas, local listeners already knew him as DJ White Chocolate, a central force in the skating-rink-driven “D-town boogie” sound. After building his reputation behind the decks, he crafted an otherworldly remix of Badu’s “Bag Lady” that reached the singer and convinced her to work with him directly. The pair spent two weeks in his bedroom studio shaping the spontaneous collection, which also included a cameo from André 3000. The meeting with the OutKast member—someone Witness had idolized since childhood—moved him so deeply that he made an OutKast-inspired EP intended solely as a private gesture of thanks. When André responded with enthusiasm, Witness made minor adjustments and decided to issue the project publicly. The five-track digital EP Electric Revival: Rise of an OutKast Nation appeared on Alpha Pup in August 2017. He called the music “pre-game music for protests.”