Zion I & The Grouch - "Silly Puddy" x "Hit 'Em" (feat. Mistah F.A.B.)

Back in 2006, Zion I got together with Living Legends emcee/producer, The Grouch, for one of the better most complete albums of either collaborators' esteemed careers.  Heroes in the City of Dope still gets rotation on my iPod, so you can imagine my pleasant surprise, when I heard that the Bay Area trio have teamed up for a sequel, Heroes in the Healing of the Nation, scheduled to be released on March 22.  Zion I's latest offering, Atomic Clock, was dissapointing considering the group's reputation for consistantly putting out great albums, but here is to hoping it was an anomaly.

In the meantime, here are two of the better tracks the trio have produced over the years.  The first, "Silly Puddy," is an otherworldly cut off Mind Over Matter.  It was the first Zion I track that I ever heard and I've been hooked ever since.  The Mistah F.A.B.-assisted "Hit 'Em" is the hard-hitting opening track off HITCOD and remains among AmpLive and Zumbi's best.

Zion I - "Silly Puddy" (feat. The Grouch)

Zion I & The Grouch - "Hit 'Em" (feat. Mistah F.A.B.)

Previous: Zion I - "Many Stylez" (f. Rebulation) X "Temperature" (f. Talib Kweli)

Zion I - "Many Stylez" (f. Rebulation) X "Temperature" (f. Talib Kweli)

Zion I absolutely murdered the Brooklyn Bowl last night, putting on one of the best shows I've ever witnessed (probably only topped by being front row for Lupe opening for Wu-Tang at Bumbershoot '07).  Anyone who wasn't there, definitely missed out.  I also had a frank conversation with the group's tour manager, who feels that their upcoming album is better than their magnum opus, 2005's True and Livin', which many (including this author) hold to be one of the best albums of the past decades.  If that's the case, Atomic Clock, set to be released on November 9th, may well border on classic status.

Zion I - "Act Right" | Atomic Clock Stream | East Coast Tour

In celebration of the Bay Area duo's latest offering (dropping November 9th), I figured I should post one of my old favorites.  Even a lot of Zion I fans haven't heard "Act Right," which was released on the group's Break A Dawn, their 2006 album that was exclusively released in Japan.  For those fans out there of west coast hip hop, this is a legendary underground group that you absolutely must have in your library.  Zion I has consistently put out great albums since their first official full length LP, Mind Over Matter, back in 2000 and I expect Atomic Clock to be no exception.

Speaking of Atomic Clock, the group will be holding a full album stream online starting at 6:00 EST tomorrow (details here).  Additionally, the group is making a rare east coast tour starting tonight in Providence and ending on November 7th with a set in North Carolina.  For those CU students still in New York over break, I highly recommend taking the opportunity to attend their show at the Brooklyn Bowl on Monday (11/1) as it'll only set you back $5 and the cost of a round trip subway.  East coast shows by quality groups from the Fresh Coast are far too infrequent, so you should definitely take advantage of this occasion.

Peace, Love, & Hip Hop,

WordIsBorn

Zion I - "Act Right" (feat. Ms. Marianna)

Previous: Zion I vs. Muse - "Fight For Your Right RMX"

Zion I vs. Muse - "Fight For Your Right RMX"

One of my favorite groups remixes one of my favorite non-hip hop songs?  I see no problems here as the Bay Area duo gives their rendition of Muse's "Knights of Cydonia."  You can download an additional six Zion I tracks for free at their bandcamp.

Peace, Love, & Hip Hop,

WordIsBorn

Previous: Zion I - "Bird's Eye View" x "Caged Bird Part 1" f. Brother Ali

Zion I - “Bird’s Eye View” X “Caged Bird Part 1” feat. Brother Ali

Coming out of the Bay Area, you would expect the duo of Zumbi and AmpLive to represent the Hyphy movement more than the Golden Age of Hip Hop.  Although you can certainly hear the hyphy influence in some of their songs, Zion I (pronounced “Zion Eye”) blends deep soulful production with socially relevant rhetoric and sounds more like Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest than Mac Dre.

I was first introduced to Zion I through the song “Silly Puddy” off of their debut LP Mind Over Matter.  The song itself, had a trippy futuristic beat set to equally trippy lyrics.  It was like nothing I had ever heard and I quickly went through their discography.

“Bird’s Eye View” is off of the duo’s 2005 LP True and Livin’.  The song is reminiscent of Common’s classic “I Used to Love H.E.R.” and refers to a women as an extended metaphor to hip hop.  It is an unadulterated expression of MC Zumbi’s love of hip hop and is one of my favorite songs of any genre.  Likewise, the Brother Ali-assisted track “Caged Bird Part 1”  comes off of their latest effort The Take Over, and is one of my favorite collabs (Every day that you hold me in bars is another day I can’t teach your soul to soar).

Peace, Love, & Hip Hop,

Northside Noah

"Bird's Eye View"

"Caged Bird Part 1" (feat. Brother Ali)