Zion I at the El Rey, 12/14/12

Bret Weinberger, a reporter for KUCI News, attended the Zion I concert at the El Rey on December 14, 2012. Bret's concert review and photos from the show are below. For more from Bret visit kuci.news.org.

 

I saw Bay Area hip-hop duo Zion I perform at the El Rey Theater in December. They were in LA on their ShadowBoxing tour with DJs Free the Robots and Minnesota. For those of you who don’t know, Zion I is comprised of AmpLive—the beat maker, and Zumbi—the rhyme spitter.  AmpLive’s DJ style is among the more unique in the rap world. His tunes are heavily electronic, and feature less thumping bass than your average Dre or Jay-Z single. He tends to infuse his rap beats with cutting edge electronic mixes, so that Zion I songs sometime sound more like something you’d hear at a rave rather than at Rock the Bells. Zumbi is known for his distinct voice; which, like the music he raps over, isn’t as deep or booming as his colleagues’, but rather edgy and, for lack of a better word, flow-y. His voice is kind of raspy too, giving it a more human feel; and he raps fast, keeping one rhyme on the heel of the other. Their overall sound is pretty hard to describe—despite my best efforts—so just check out their latest music video (featured below) to get a real sense of it.

Anyway I went to their show at the El Rey Theater on Wilshire Boulevard, a nice intimate venue I’ve found myself at more than a few times. There were about fifty or so people already there when my friend and I arrived. Most of them were just hanging out on the comfortable side-benches on the wings of the theater, waiting for the opening act to start. I talked to a couple guys from Minnesota who were at the show to see, well, Minnesota—literally because of the name. I guess after living in LA for four months these guys were homesick (Minnesota is from Santa Cruz, CALIFORNIA). I asked them if they had ever heard of Zion I, but they said no. As rap fans they were still eager to check them out, though.

Then I talked to an interesting looking fellow who was dancing by himself in the middle of the floor. The man had long messy black hair pulled back into a ponytail and was caring a backpack; he looked like a mix between a raver and a recent college grad in the middle of a solo tour of Europe. He told me he was a big Zion I fan but that this was his first show. I asked him what exactly he found so compelling about Zion I. He said:

“[Zumbi] is very deep. I’m a poet myself. He’s very spiritual. I like how he talks about what’s going on in the world and the human spirit, while everybody else is just worried about shaking their ass.”

He added that “One Chance” off of their 2005 album True & Livin’ was his favorite song by them.

Right about then the night’s first performer, Free the Robots (http://freetherobots.org/) stepped on stage. The venue got dark and everyone made their way to the front of the room. The music hall was nowhere near as packed as I’ve seen it before, so it was easy to get right up next to the stage and dance wildly when the hip-hop DJ started his set. He played his beats off of his Ableton as he rapped over them, making a lot of references to California life (his real name is Chris Alfaro and he’s from Santa Ana) and the pains of growing up.  One of his most memorable raps was about turning 18 and fighting the pressure to pursue a road to success at the expense of happiness. The highlight of his 45-minute set was probably when he threw on a remix of the theme of Nickelodeon’s classic show “All That.” Everybody went wild when the chorus played.

After Free the Robot finished his set, I roamed around the theater again, and made my way to the merch table in the back. I introduced myself to the guy selling T-shirts and records; his name was Jesse and he told me he had been touring with Zion I since October. He was a big fan of the duo—saying getting to know them was a “dream come true” since he idolized them as a teen growing up in Fremont. He said he liked the way they represented Bay Area hip-hop and kept their messages positive; telling me, “what they speak on is something that kids should listen to.” It’s important enough to mention that the show was on the same day as the tragic Newtown school massacre; in light of this, Jesse said he felt proud to be associated with a group that didn’t “glorify guns and violence” but rather talked about real issues in a serious manner. Or, as he put it, rapped “like the 90s, straight spitting.”

After about twenty minutes between acts Zion I took the stage. First AmpLive came out and introduced himself to LA, and deejayed for a couple of minutes before his rapper appeared. Then Zumbi suddenly came out in a rice paddy hat, mic in hand, waving his hands around like a true shadowboxer. He started rapping right away, and was accompanied by another MC, Deuce Eclipse. They started with jams off the new record, including the title track and “Trapped Out.” The show was stopped halfway through for a minute because a drunk girl had unplugged some wires from the front of the stage, turning off Zumbi’s mic. After the cord was put back in and the rapper got over his disbelief of what just happened, AmpLive threw on the backbeat to their hit “Coastin’” off of their 2009 album The Takeover. That was definitely one of the cooler moments of the show; it was great to see everyone bouncing and swaying to the beat of that song.

Zumbi stopped a few times in between tracks to talk to the crowd. There still weren’t many people—75 at most—so it really felt like a personal show. The lights were on, so like he told us, there was no way “we can hide in the middle of the crowd amongst the masses.” He showed us some dance moves he wanted us to do, like flapping our arms out “like a wing and slap[ping] our hands to the beat.” He also instructed the crowd to spark up and get high while they played, but unfortunately the El Rey security team didn’t think that was a good idea. There was a definite energy in the crowd typical of hip-hop shows, but amplified by connection we could feel with the performers.

Toward the end of their set—I would say the climax of the show—AmpLive came out from behind his DJ setup and busted out his homemade MPC guitar. The musical machine, pictured here, is an actual MPC studio (a brand of electronic DJ gear, feel free to google it) attached to a neck of a guitar, which is lined with a series of knobs and buttons that control the machine. So when he played, he was basically deejaying with a guitar. It looked super cool, and gave him the opportunity to a rock star style solo. Except the sounds coming out of the instrument were like nothing you would ever hear at an Eric Clapton concert.

The show ended with “Don’t Lose Your Head,” the energetic anthem from their 2007 EP Street Legends. We all partied until the end of the song, which met a hail of cheers and yelling of “Come back soon!” Amp and Zumbi stayed on stage waving to the crowd and talking to whoever approached the stage.

When the lights turned on, I talked to a couple of guys who were standing next to me about what we just saw. One of them was from New York, and said he really felt like Zion I represented what was unique about West Coast hip-hop: staying on the cutting edge of production, incorporating elements of different genres into the classic hip-hop sound, and also the strong relationship between producer and MC that so many California groups revolve around.

Unfortunately due to an issue involving my friend and some keys gone missing we had to leave the El Rey before Minnesota performed. But that wasn’t before I got to go up to Zumbi and congratulate him on the show; he was a real nice guy, and told me he’d be glad to see me at the next show he plays in town. On that note, my buddy and I headed home.

Check out this video the Zion I Crew made for the ShadowBoxing Tour; it gives a pretty good insight into the style of their shows and their general personas. Free the Robots and Minnesota are in the video too.