Words by: Jabari Pendleton

V: Zion I is known for their spiritual and serious subject matters, but The Takeover has more of a fun vibe to it. Was that a conscious decision or more so a reflection of where you’re at in life right now?

Z: Yeah I think it’s more like where [we’re] at man. We know our music is kind of serious and people think it’s mostly all socio commentary, but with this record we really wanted it to be how we really are in real life.

V: Who are some of your major influences and how do you bring them all together so well?

Z: For this album I was vibing off Muddy Waters, Bad Brains, of course Nas; I’ve always loved Nas. I was trying to go back in the vaults and catch a real feeling of the legacy of black music and all the greats that came before us. Sometimes they get overlooked and we don’t give them any credit, but they really paved the way.

V: What’s your favorite song on the album right now?

Z: “Geek to the Beat” mainly because of the way the beat comes in and what we’re talking about with regards to society, modern life and how people can get so caught up. That shit is wack! People got to live in the moment, enjoy life for what it is because we don’t have forever down here on Planet Earth. I think the track a good jump off point for the record and sets the tone on where we’re coming from and where we are at right now.

V: How does it feel to make a living without compromising what you do?

Z: I’m blessed man. Every moment I’m awake, every breath I breathe, I know I’m blessed. I thank my creator for giving me homeboys that I can travel the world with and I know they got my back; especially for giving me fans that really support our music even through the hard times. It isn’t easy to buy a record right now. Our hardcore fans, the people that come out to the shows, buy the CDs and the t-shirts, we really owe them a lot. I know I’m blessed, just being able to live the dream. I’ve always wanted to travel the world and I’ve always wanted to rap, now I’m doing both. I couldn’t be anymore happy, this is exactly what I wanted and I’m doing it now. It’s like history in the making as far as my life’s concern. I take it serious that I have the ability to make money because I see a lot of my folks who love music and are talented but are struggling and can’t do it all the time. That’s why we’re trying to give back to younger artists and help give them the opportunity to do the same thing. I think its special to express who you are, get paid just being you and people vibing off that.

V: Do you have anything else in the works or dropping after “The Takeover?”

Z: I have a project with my homeboy The R out of Houston Texas; he’s a recent TrackMaster affiliate. The project is called The Burn and it’s just him and me.  Its straight boom-bap classic style hip-hop; its a dope project. I also have a solo joint coming later    on and I know Amp[live] got some stuff coming. Everybody out there keep your eyes open, 2012 is approaching, the end of the Mayan calendar. Everybody do their independent studies, some say it’s a conspiracy theory, others say it’s the end of the world, I don’t know either one. Its very interesting time in human history, we have the first black president, so you know there’s a change evident on the planet. It’s a change right now, be awake, be alive and be ready.

Check out www.zioncrew.com.