Zion I

Good musicians stick to the routine that made them successful. Great ones follow their artistic muse, wherever it may take them. Long heralded by critics as one of the finest hip-hop duos to emerge from the Bay Area’s burgeoning and legendary hip-hop scene, Zion I has always chosen the latter route and in the process, solidified their position in the eyes of their fans as one of the most creative groups ever to emerge from the West Coast. With four albums under their belt, Zion I’s history in the hip-hop scene is a long and colorful one. Most recently, Heroes in the City of Dope (2006) a release they recorded with Living Legends member, The Grouch, was hailed by the press including The Source, 944, Scratch, Vapors, among others. This summer the track “Hit Em” from Heroes in the City of Dope, was featured on EA’s Madden NFL 08 video game sound track, one of the biggest selling video games in history. Of course, making beautiful, provocative music is nothing new for the Oakland-based Baba Zumbi (also known as MC Zion) and Amplive, who exploded onto the national hip-hop scene in 2000 with their debut LP Mind Over Matter. The record melded hip-hop with drum & bass and jazz elements and is now viewed by many as an indie classic. In 2003, the group dropped their much anticipated follow-up, Deep Water Slang, which garnered both Source and VIBE award nominations for ‘Best Independent Album of the Year,” and pushed the group on tours and live appearances with the likes of Kool Keith, Lyrics Born, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Mos Def and The Roots. Zion I was a mainstay on the MTV 2/Mountain Dew Circuit Breakout tour as well. Zion I’s third release, True & Livin’ (2005) was powerful, soulful journey tracing the influence of hip-hop culture throughout the group’s childhood and adult existence. The record featured Talib Kweli, Gift of Gab, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Aesop Rock and social activist Fred Hampton Jr. In addition to numerous records, Zion I was also featured on the Grammy –Award winning group Linkin Park’s remix album, Reanimation. Zion I have been named Best Independent Album of the Year in 2001, 20002, 2003 and 2005 by The Source magazine.