This week, Zion-I kicks off a two-month tour supporting pop-reggae group Rebelution (and a few spot headlining dates).

• 1/13: House of Blues, Anaheim, CA (1) (2)
• 1/14: House of Blues, Anaheim, CA (1) (2)
• 1/15: Ventura Theater, Ventura, CA (1) (2)
• 1/16: Ventura Theater, Ventura, CA (1) (2)
• 1/17: The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA (1) (2)
• 1/20: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA (1) (2)
• 1/21: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA (1) (2)
• 1/22: Roseland Theatre, Portland, OR (1) (2)
• 1/23: Showbox, Seattle, WA (1) (2)
• 1/24: W.O.W. Hall, Eugene, OR (1) (2)
• 1/26: Wild Buffalo, Bellingham, WA
• 1/27: Knitting Factory, Boise, ID (1) (2)
• 1/28: The Depot, Salt Lake City, UT (1) (2)
• 1/29: Gothic Theater, Denver, CO (1) (2)
• 1/30: Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO (1) (2)
• 1/31: Slowdown, Omaha, NE (1) (2)
• 2/02: Majestic Theater, Madison, WI
• 2/03: Fine Line Music Café, Minneapolis, MN (1) (2)
• 2/04: House of Blues, Chicago, IL (1) (2)
• 2/05: The Intersection, Grand Rapids, MI (1) (2)
• 2/06: Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH (1) (2)
• 2/08: Frankie’s, Toledo, OH
• 2/10: House of Blues, Boston, MA (1) (2)
• 2/11: Irving Plaza, New York, NY (1) (2)
• 2/12: 9:30 Club, Washington, DC (1) (3)
• 2/13: Theatre of The Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA (1) (2)
• 2/14: The NorVa, Norfolk, VA (1) (3)
• 2/17: The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA (1) (2)
• 2/18: The Ritz, Ybor City, FL (1) (2)
• 2/19: House of Blues, Orlando, FL (1) (2)
• 2/20: Freebird Live, Jacksonville Beach, FL (1) (2)
• 2/21: Freebird Live, Jacksonville Beach, FL (1) (2)
• 2/24: House of Blues, New Orleans, LA (1) (2)
• 2/25: House of Blues, Houston, TX (1) (2)
• 2/26: Stubb’s, Austin, TX (1) (2)
• 2/27: House of Blues, Dallas, TX (1) (2)
• 2/28: Scout Bar, San Antonio, TX
• 3/02: Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ (1) (2)
• 3/03: Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ (1) (2)
• 3/04: House of Blues, San Diego, CA (1) (2)
• 3/05: House of Blues, San Diego, CA (1) (2)
• 3/06: House of Blues, W. Hollywood, CA (1) (2)
• 3/07: House of Blues, W. Hollywood, CA (1) (2)

(1) w/Rebelution
(2) w/Soja
(3) w/Jah Works

This year’s crop of hip hop albums was an improvement over last year. But it didn’t come from the artists expected to dominate.

Around this time in 2008, everyone was buzzing about the “new school” of blog-hyped rappers. They injected the medium with an enthusiasm not felt in ages. So far, however, the results of this youth movement are decidedly uneven. Wale’s Attention Deficit drew mixed reviews; even fans of it must concede that it has plenty of decent rhymes, but lacks great songs. By contrast, Kid Cudi landed a few monster singles, particularly the undying “Day ‘N Nite,” but his Man on the Moon: The End of Day seemed monotone and self-indulgent. Blu and the Cool Kids mostly kept silent, and we all know what happened to Charles Hamilton.

With the jury still out on the so-called “freshman class,” the end of the aughts belonged to the veterans. With the notable exception of Nosaj Thing and Dorian Concept, all of the artists on this list are firmly established. Some mounted surprising comebacks after years of mediocre and sub-par work; others made solid follow-ups to classic albums. Unlike 2008 and Flying Lotus’ Los Angeles (and, I would argue, the Cool Kids’ The Bake Sale), these recordings didn’t establish new stylistic tropes. In a year when populism and stubborn class and racial traditions weighed down American culture, these works met expectations and buffered the status quo, whether it was the true-school ethos or the mainstream’s street-rap-as-blues credo.

That’s not to say that 2009 wasn’t an exciting time: it was. But hip hop music thrives on youth movements, and to see blog rap’s most promising rookies disappear in a cloud of weed smoke, meandering mixtapes and incessant corporate-sponsored tours and marketing campaigns was frustrating. It certainly didn’t convince the old heads from continuing to insist that the genre is a dead zombie walking. Of course, next year could be different. But for now, this is where we are.

I don’t know if this list is unique from any other, but I suspect there may be a few surprises. Perhaps the most contentious entry is for Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt II. It has topped many lists, but it certainly didn’t top mine. If my summary reads negative, it’s in reaction to the universal acclaim that has greeted it, some of which seems unwarranted. People love their action fantasies, and Raekwon’s triumphant return has some great crime narratives. But I think some consider it the year’s best because it fits stereotypes of what a great hip hop album is supposed to sound like; other entries on this list drew strong reviews, too, but they were often considered something other than “real hip hop.”

I don’t know what that “other” may may be. Maybe “alt-rap,” “backpacker,” or some nefarious micro-genre like “wobbly”? But lists such as the Plug One 50 will continue to be an anomaly until fans stop equating the genre with criminal activity and po-faced lyrical schemes, embrace a more complex universe of sounds, and live up to Afrika Bambaataa’s vision of hip hop as a perspective on the world instead of a region-specific, drug-infested street corner.

Yes, 2009 was a good year. We got consistently great music, but we missed the excitement that made 2008 seem like a promise of better things to come. Hopefully 2010 will combine not only the tried and true, but also the shock of the new.

1. Mos Def, The Ecstatic
Downtown Records

Few albums sound as hard-earned as The Ecstatic. It incorporates everything Mos Def has done up to now, from the scat-rapping to the soulful singjay-ing that is a bedrock of his stunning live performances. Like Erykah Badu on last year’s New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), he turns to cutting-edge producers — namely Madlib, Oh No and Mr. Flash — to create a frission that his past albums lacked. Those older recordings, particularly 2007′s disastrous True Magic, made The Ecstatic a surprising comeback, but it wouldn’t have been possible without those trials and errors. Its hopeful theme, an obvious nod to President Obama’s 2008 election and the ensuing “Life in Marvelous Times,” tells of a hard road to glory.

2. Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Nuclear Evolution: The Age Of Love
Ubiquity Recordings

If Sa-Ra’s first collection of recorded material, The Hollywood Recordings, was a coked-up ode to sex, drugs and nightlife; then Nuclear Evolution showed a way out of the despair and decadence. “Love Czars,” the album’s magnificent centerpiece, rolled out a locked groove as hypnotic as a Theo Parrish track; “Cosmic Ball,” with jazz-fusion master Gary Bartz as guest, was a shambolic dance in the light. Overall, Nuclear Evolution showed the different sides of Sa-Ra with a depth not heard before, justifying their rep as one of the most talented of the new soul era.

3. Nosaj Thing, Drift
Alpha Pup Records

Here’s an excerpt from my interview with Nosaj Thing earlier this year:

The hype surrounding Drift is the inevitable result of a scene gathering media and fan attention. Thankfully, Drift isn’t a summary of beat music clichés, but a haunting suite of songs that resembles Romantic classicism, minimalism/new music theory and old-school “electronica” techniques pioneered by Global Goon and Aphex Twin. (One of Drift’s tracks is titled “1685/Bach,” a nod to the year Johann Sebastian Bach was born.) Marrying his esoteric melodies to subtly dusted beats, Nosaj Thing creates an instrumental journey that leaves an indelible impression.

4. Brother Ali, Us
Rhymesayers Entertainment

Some critics have asked why Brother Ali, with two great albums under his belt, is never ranked among today’s best MCs. Certainly, few artists could convey inner peace and happiness with such clarity. Like Animal Collective, whose Merriweather Post Pavilion used domestic bliss as a source for drama as rich as any emotional conflict, Brother Ali takes marriage and family as a starting point to wonder why the rest of the world is in turmoil. He raps with such passion and moral certitude; he truly is, as Chuck D. calls him, “a soldier of love.”

5. Aceyalone, Aceyalone & The Lonely Ones
Decon

The second in a planned trilogy of tributes to his influences (the first being 2007′s underrated dancehall venture Lightning Strikes), Aceyalone & the Lonely Ones celebrates the big beats of classic Motown and doo-wop. But it’s not just another retro-soul exercise. Aceyalone playfully inhabits Bionik’s tracks, dropping a series of clean, family-friendly rhymes reminiscent of Freestyle Fellowship’s “Inner City Boundaries.” This may not be Aceyalone’s most important album, but it’s joyously fun all the same.

6. Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II
Ice H2O Records/EMI

At 22 tracks, this long-awaited sequel to Raekwon’s 1995 masterpiece was full of highs and lows, from the terrific “House Of Flying Daggers” and “Surgical Gloves” to boorish smackdowns like “Broken Safety” (featuring the always predictable Jadakiss). Importantly, this edition focused narrowly on crack dealing, all the way down to the absurd “We Will Rob You” (an interpolation of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”). Save for the anguished “Cold Outside,” it didn’t aspire towards the white-hot hellfire and spiritual redemption of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Here, drug dealing isn’t one’s lot in life, but a familiar role, like a Martin Scorsese gangster flick. The purple tint of the album cover — an allusion to the original’s limited-edition “purple tape” jewel case  — signified business as usual. However, its best songs made for undeniably spectacular mainstream entertainment.

7. Madlib – Beat Konducta, Vol. 5-6: A Tribute To…
Stones Throw

Originally released as two vinyl-only EPs (Vol. 5: Dil Cosby Suite and Vol. 6: Dil Withers Suite), this tribute to Madlib’s friend and collaborator James “J Dilla” Yancey contains real and genuine sorrow. Madlib may have been Dilla’s biggest influence in his final years; you can hear it in his masterwork, Donuts. So the Beat Konducta repays the favor by incorporating samples from Dilla’s best loved tracks, including “The Light.” It’s still quirky and weird…this is a Madlib album, after all. Call it a revival, with plenty of beers, blunts and tears to go around.

8. Serengeti & Polyphonic, Terradactyl
Anticon

Serengeti has worked quietly in Chicago, releasing poorly-distributed albums full of sharply detailed character sketches and odd hooks, which makes him a perfect addition to the left-of-center Anticon. As his official national debut, Terradactyl brings those subterranean elements to light. There is “My Negativity,” which he chants as “My Negga-negga-negga,” drawing an unconscious parallel with a historic epithet. “My Patriotism” turns not to politics but to intimate relations. Meanwhile, Polyphonic the Verbose’s electronic squalls dance around Serengeti’s tales of everyman woe like glowing brain synapses.

9. Tanya Morgan, Brooklynati
Interdependent Media

Brooklynati was a sophomore effort in every way — bigger guests, better production and a concerted effort to translate the rough charms of its debut, 2006′s Moonlighting, to a broader canvas and a wider, blogosphere-primed audience. That the group was mostly successful — the album doesn’t really take off until nearly a third of the way through, during their brilliant “horrorcore” parody “Hardcore Gentlemen” — misses the point. Von Pea, Ilyas, and Donwill continue to grow by leaps and bounds, delivering cipher cuts (“Never 2ndary”) and love jawns (“Never Enough”) with the unique perspective of three admitted rap nerds who are slowly becoming genuine indie-rap heroes.

10. DOOM, Born Like This
Lex Records

If The Ecstatic was Obama’s campaign of hope set to hip hop, then Born Like This was the rabid, red dog populist aftermath. It’s not exactly a fuck-you album on par with Prince and the Revolution’s Around the World In a Day and OutKast’s Idlewild, since DOOM bookended his first solo disc in five years with a gospelly “Thank Yah.” But after enduring rumors of alcoholism, ill health and even his death, prompted by years of eccentric behavior — he hasn’t been seen publicly without his trademark mask since the late 90s — and notorious no-shows at his concerts, DOOM sounds unrepentant. On the Charles Bukowski-quoting “Cellz” and the homophobic “Batty Boys,” among others, he sounds furious, shoving hard rhymes and third-person asides down your throat like Ron Artest. He doesn’t do it consistently enough to make Born Like This a classic, but he still manages to excite and infuriate all at once.

And here’s the rest of the list sans commentary:

11. P.O.S., Never Better
Rhymesayers

12. Finale, A Pipe Dream And A Promise
Interdependent Media

13. Shafiq Husayn, Shafiq ‘En A-Free-Kah
Plug Research

14. Busdriver, Jhelli Beam
Anti-

15. Mike Slott, Lucky 9Teen
LuckyMe

16. Anti-Pop Consortium, Fluorescent Black
Big Dada

17. Willie Isz, Georgiavania
Lex Records

18. Dorian Concept, When Planets Explode
Kindred Spirits

19. Zion-I, The TakeOver
Gold Dust Media

20. Mr. Lif, I Heard It Today
Bloodbot Tactical Enterprises

Here’s the new video for Zion-I’s “Coastin’,” courtesy of Okayplayer.com.

This has been a tumultuous year for Zion I. In January, just as the group’s beloved Oakland was reeling from the murder of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer, which resulted in several protests and a highly publicized riot, Zumbi and Amp Live dropped their fourth album. The Take Over has both shocked and excited fans; its buoyant mix of electro jams, hyphy tracks and West Coast slanguage marks a long journey from the soulful beats ‘n’ bass of their acclaimed 2000 debut, Mind over Matter.

In part one of my interview with Zumbi, we discussed Oakland’s current problems, his new group the Burnerz, and their recorded response to the Grant shooting, “Cops Hate Kidz.” For this installment, we delve into the response to The Take Over, which has drawn surprisingly mixed reviews from print and online critics. (It currently has a rank of 58 out of 100 on Metacritic.com, an entertainment reviews aggregator, for “mixed or average reviews.”) “It’s going to have to grow on them,” says Zumbi of the album. “For us, for Zion I, we’ve gotta keep it creative, we’ve gotta keep it pushin’. We don’t want to regurgitate what we’ve done before and follow a formula.”

Unfortunately, the drama didn’t stop after our phone interview ended. That night, during Zion I’s concert at Berbati’s Pan in Portland, Ore., the nightclub cut off the group’s sound in the middle of their set. “I’ve got to take time out to apologize to all our fans in Portland who witnessed us getting our set cut off by the venue (Berbati’s),” wrote Zumbi on his MySpace page, where you can read more about the situation.

In spite of it all, 2009 looks to be a productive year for Zion I Crew. In addition to the album, they’ve released several mixtapes, including the 420 Mixtape with International Turntable Federation champ Vin Roc. Amp Live is working on a compilation for Om Records, and Zumbi has the Burnerz. “Give us space to make music,” says Zumbi. “Let us make art.”

Plug One: I want to talk with you about your new album. Personally, I like it a lot. I feel like you’ve re-invented your sound. But I’ve read different reviews of it, and it seems as if people are struggling with the direction that you’ve taken your music. Can you speak on that?

Zumbi: It’s interesting, man. I’ve noticed that, too. Initially, when the album first dropped I was, like, wow, people don’t like the record. Generally, we do very well with the critics. But since the record has been out for two months, almost three months, and now we’re finally hitting the road and touring, I’m seeing that the shows have been packed and people know the words to the songs.

I don’t know…I feel like the Internet gives people a lot of space to be highly opinionated. With the way blogs are, it’s like one person and there’s not really an editor, and [that person does] whatever they want.

So I’m not really sure, man. Maybe people just weren’t feeling the sound at first and it needed to grow on them. Because I remember when our first album, Mind over Matter came out everybody was trippin’, like, “Oh my god, they’re doing drum and bass! This is not cool. This isn’t hip hop.”

Plug One: Really? Because you guys started doing drum and bass before that album came out.

Zumbi: The first single we dropped, “Inner Light,” people didn’t get it. They were, like, “Oh, this is wack.” I remember directly the feedback from our radio and promo people was, like, “This is not cool, we don’t get it, blahzay blah.” But six months later, all of a sudden, all of these eccentric DJs are starting to play it, and then it actually becomes the hallmark of the album – that it was experimental. And then people were feeling it.

So that’s how I feel about this new record. People are going to be fans of it, it’s going to have to grow on them, or it’s going to have to get to the people that enjoy it. Our old school fans, I feel like they’re still with it, because they’re still coming to the shows.

I’m just baffled by a lot of the write-ups because, at one point, the Source is giving us four mics [for The Take Over]; but then, I’m reading stuff online where people are, like, “Oh, they’re trying real hard to be eccentric. They’re trying to be different.” Now I’m looking back and I’m, like, wow, you guys obviously have not followed our career, because we started out on a different note, and we’re just continuing the cycle of how we make music. Every album we make is a different experience with how it sounds and how it feels.

Plug One: I would agree except to say this album was much more produced, while the beats on your past albums weren’t as complex. There are more sounds in Amp Live’s productions on this album than I’ve heard in your previous albums.

Zumbi: Huh. Well, you know, I think we’re growing as artists. That’s the same thing they said when we went from Mind over Matter to Deep Water Slang [because] we started using live instruments. And that was a big thing. True & Livin’ took a step back; that was a more retro, boom bap album. And on Heroes in the City of Dope they said, “Oh, you’re going hyphy and back to the electronic. It sounds like hyphy music.” So everybody thought our next album would be hyphy.

Then, on this record, it’s expounding out into a futuristic, uptempo electro thing. I know [Amp Live] learned a lot working on the Radiohead remixes and doing a lot of rock remixes. So I know that influence is definitely on this record as well.

So it’s just something new. For us, for Zion I, we’ve gotta keep it creative, we’ve gotta keep it pushin’. We don’t want to regurgitate what we’ve done before and follow a formula.

Plug One: Do you think there’s a schism between the way East Coast fans hear your music and the way West Coast fans hear you? You guys are so deeply rooted in the Bay Area and a lot of your music reflects Bay Area trends. Have you seen that separation, or am I just imagining it?

Zumbi: I’m not sure, man. That’s a very good question. Generally, we’ve done very well on the East Coast for a West Coast group. But with Heroes in the City of Dope, I noticed a marked decrease in East Coast activity for us, because that album was very West Coast.

On The Take Over, I’m not sure how West Coast it is. I feel like it’s a national kind of sound, like a universal sound of hip hop. We’ll have to go on tour. I get my best judgment, my sense of whether people are feeling the music, when we’re on tour, to see the crowds and see their reactions to the songs in person.

Like I said, the online thing, I feel like, man, it’s a blessing and a curse. On one level it gives people a lot of exposure, and people get to hear a lot of music for free. But on the other side it’s unlimited opinions. And opinions are, like, forgive me for saying it, assholes. Everybody has one. I feel like a lot of people are able to hide behind these names, and they’re totally unaccountable because nobody knows who their [real] names are. Then they can just post whatever they want, and they can talk shit, they can big it up, they can say “It kinda sucks but I like this one song.” They can do anything they want. It creates a democracy kind of thing, so…

I was real sensitive to it because this is the first time that the online opinions have [really made a difference]. There’s still magazines, of course, but I feel like online is really the motor behind sales. I read a lot of stuff, then I started reading other people’s stuff, commentaries and reviews, and I was, like, in light of what everybody else gets, [our reviews] are not that bad.

But relative to what’s going on online, I just see that stuff as a general trend. Usually it’ll be The Source, Vibe, URB, Vapors, you know, all of these different spots, and you know who the writer is. Now it’s, like, those guys are joined by 2000 other people.

It is what it is. We’ve just gotta stay focused. Just keep making music that inspires the youth, and stick by it, because that’s what we’ve always done.

Plug One: There are a few songs on the album where you refer to how people see you as this positive guy, and they see you as this hippie dude. Can you speak on the perceptions people have of Zion I? How true are those perceptions?

Zumbi: I think our music is who we are, from moment to moment. Every album is like a chapter in this grand book. Whenever that book ends, I’m not sure. I think every album speaks to who we are at that moment.

I think the thing I was talking about when I say “They try to call us yoga/A couple of years we’re set to take the thing over,” is that we’re evolving as people. Give us space to make music. Let us make art, because that’s essentially we’re doing. We’re not the guys who just make club bangers. We’re not the guys who just make songs for headphones. We’re making stuff for the dance floor. We’re making stuff to reflect on. We’re making stuff to make you feel good when you wake up in the morning. We’re making stuff to make you feel inspired to fight against the system. We’re really working to be universal in what we do.

I feel like some of those generalizations are true. But it’s not the totality of who we are. And I just don’t – I can’t allow myself to be limited and boxed in as an artist. I feel like it spells doom when somebody can just be, like, “You’re going to do this and this, so I’m not interested in you anymore.” I’m not trying to allow that to happen. I want to have that free space to break out and do something different.

I feel like the Burnerz’ “Cops Hate Kidz” is a different take on what I can do, or how I can come off on the mic. Zion I is definitely more groovy and feel-good, and the Burnerz is expanding who we are as artists, and breaking through convention.

Plug One: Is the Burnerz a new group?

Zumbi: Yes, it’s myself and the Are. It’s a new project. It hasn’t come out yet, but “Cops Hate Kidz” is the first song we’ve released. The album is basically done. We’re just waiting for the right time to start the process of leaking stuff and building towards a record.

It’s a super-raw hip hop album. The Are does a lot of different type of stuff that I would equate to Jay Dee or Pete Rock’s style like chopped soul samples and rugged beats. And I’m just going for mine on the mic – straightforward and in your face, not too high-conceptual, just basic-level hip hop. But it’s still soulful. It’s a hopeful album.

Plug One: Has the project been picked up by a label?

Zumbi: We’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do. We might go strictly online; we might sign it to a label. We’re trying to figure it out because the music industry is changing so fast. At this point, I’m wondering how long CDs are going to be relevant.

Previous: Zumbi: “I don’t want to see a bunch of Lovelle Mixons in Oakland”

Discography:

Mind over Matter (2000)
Deep Water Slang v 2.0 (2003)
True & Livin’ (2005)
Heroes in the City of Dope (w/The Grouch) (2006)
The TakeOver (2009)

www.zionicrew.com
www.myspace.com/babazumbihere
www.facebook.com/people/zionicrew

Zumbi photo by Peter Graham.

“Damn, this is getting crazy for Oakland,” says Zumbi minutes before his group Zion I performs a soundcheck at Berbati’s Pan in Portland, Oregon. Like so many Yay Area residents, the veteran hip hop artist is concerned about the terrifying rise in confrontations between local police officers and residents – a trend that arguably resulted in the January 1 murder of Oscar Grant, who was shot in the back by a BART police officer; and the March 21 killing of four city police officers by Lovelle Mixon, who shot the cops (and was subsequently killed himself) in a vain attempt to evade arrest for a probation violation.

The two incidents drew national attention, and led to riots and protests in Oakland. Zumbi’s response came in the form of “Cops Hate Kidz,” an Internet track he recorded with the Are, a producer out of Houston best known for his work with K-Otix. (Not coincidentally, K-Otix made waves in 2005 with “George Bush Don’t Like Black People,” a remix of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” that excorciated the former president’s lame response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.) Released straight to the Internet under the guise of the Burnerz, “Cops Hate Kidz” bears a deliberately provocative title. But the song itself is reasoned and anguished, taking note of both sides – pro-law-enforcement and a community that feels it is under siege – before calling for a solution. It’s an approach that Zumbi feels compelled to take.

“I understand why people are saying fuck the police, those guys died,” he says in reference to Mixon’s deadly firefight with Oakland law enforcement. “But it’s not my sentiment personally. My thing is about people and community, and we’re all God’s children. We’re all here. All of our lives count equally.”

Zion I is currently on tour in support of its new album, The Take Over. But the first half of my interview delves into Zumbi’s feelings about what has already been a tumultuous year for his hometown. In part two, which I’ll post tomorrow, Zumbi discusses The Take Over, which has drawn decidedly mixed reviews, the difference between East Coast fans and West Coast fans, and forthcoming musical projects such as the Burnerz album. Meanwhile, you can download a copy of “Cops Hate Kidz” at the bottom of the page.

(May 2 update: A link to part two of my interview with Zumbi has been added.)

Plug One: Explain how the song “Cops Hate Kidz” came about.

Zumbi: For one, I live in Oakland. Just bearing witness to the whole Oscar Grant situation – I was down at the protests, and there was a lot of us from the hip hop community out there, and just the overwhelming sentiment of being so emotional and passionate – and then seeing the riots and everything. I went downtown and got some footage myself. I’ve never seen Oakland, California like that. This is, like, January into early February.

Just seeing all that, and having that feeling, and going to all these meetings, and feeling like we weren’t really saying anything. Mehserle is still not charged with anything. He didn’t stay in jail but for half a night or something.

Plug One: Wait – I thought he has been indicted for murder.

Zumbi: So he did get indicted? I’m not sure. I’m asking.

Plug One: Yeah, he’s been indicted. Then he was obviously bailed out.

Zumbi: So when did he get indicted? Is he going to jail?

Plug One: When they indict you, that just means that they’ve charged you. And then he pleaded not guilty.

Zumbi: So you’re saying that they have to figure out exactly what the charge is.

Plug One: Well, there was a pretrial hearing scheduled for [March 22], and then the day before it was scheduled to take place, Lovelle Mixon shot the four cops. So they moved it to May 18.

Zumbi: So, basically, what I’m saying is that it doesn’t seem like there’s been a conclusion to that situation yet. So, like you said, even though he’s been indicted, it still feels like we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen yet with this dude. He could get a light charge, he could get a heavy charge – it’s up in the air.

And then, when the Lovelle Mixon stuff started happening, it was like, damn, this is getting crazy for Oakland. I’ve never seen it like that before. Man, it’s like so much activity with the police.

I live in West Oakland. I’m going to L.A. and coming home off tour, and I’m coming into the neighborhood and, like, within the first minute of driving into my neighborhood I see five policemen running down the street with the dog in the front, and the police officers are blocking the street so I can’t get to my house. Finally, I get to my block and I’m trying to pull into my house, and [the police] tried to cut me off. I’m like, dude, I’m going home. I live here. [The police officer] said, “Oh, I thought you were trying to pull around me.” Stuff like that. Then, just driving up 14th Street and seeing the whole block blocked off with police officers.

I just feel like the whole relationship between the community and the police is pushing to another level I’ve never witnessed before. Even [when I lived] in Atlanta during the Rodney King riots – people were actually rioting so the police were out in full force, I can see that. But right now, it just feels like it’s just getting hotter and hotter. It feels like there’s almost no end to it.

And the youth in Oakland really don’t care. There’s not that many jobs, people aren’t going to school. It’s just this sentiment of “I don’t give a fuck.” For me, it’s getting kind of scary.

So I was on Twitter, and one of my followers hit me up. He was, like, “Man, you should do a song about what’s going on in Oakland so I can post it on my blog.” And I was, like, hmm. I thought about it. And then I checked a post on my Facebook page and somebody made the same kind of comment. So I was, like, damn, I need to get on this.

I hit up the Are, who does all the production for the Burnerz. He was, like, “Yeah, I’m with that. Here in Houston, one of my little homies got shot. He pulled up in his driveway and the police stopped him a block away from his house. They said that his car was stolen. He was, like, man, I bought this car two years ago. It’s in my name. The guy’s mother comes out of the house to see what’s going on. They slam her up against the wall. The guy overreacts, jumps out of the car, and they shoot him in his back. So I have the same sentiment with the police right now.”

He made the track that night. I wrote [my rhymes] that night and recorded them the next day. And we just want to get it out and say something to the world. Just express the feeling that I know a lot of people have right now. But I didn’t want to make a song that was, like, fuck the police, because that’s too basic and simple an analysis of what’s going on right now. To say that is to invite more and more tension to what’s going on.

This song we wrote, it talks about that, but it also talks about the other side. The first verse is the police and their perspective. The second verse is from the perspective of a guy like Lovelle Mixon who doesn’t have anything, and who’s scared, and who’s like, “If I’m going to go out, I’m going to go out blasting.” The third verse is a summary saying that we need to change this system.

Also, another fuel for this was watching the memorial at the Oakland Coliseum, and seeing all the media attention and all the police from across the country come in and engage in this mass ritual. Even driving down interstate 880 and seeing all these billboards for the four police officers shot. Now, I care about human life, and I also care about lives that aren’t police. So I feel that if the police had expressed that same concern for Oscar Grant’s life by putting up a billboard for him, it would make the community feel better. But I feel like they hold their own above regular people. That’s one of the centrifuges of the battle going on between the community and the police.

So this song is dedicated to all of that, all of those energies wound up in one song.

Plug One: I’m glad you said that, because I was a little confused by the second verse where you seem to personify someone who’s shooting at cops. I’m glad that you explained that you were just trying to take two perspectives.

Zumbi: Yeah, I could see how it could be a little confusing. On one line I said, “I’m an assault rifle, call me trifle/But I’m just a product of the hate you made/Project buildings, government aid.” Just how that criminal mentality is fostered when society doesn’t care until it’s too late. Then they want to say, oh, you’re a criminal. But in the meantime, while you’re becoming criminalized, nobody’s offering you social services, coming to give you counseling, trying to make your school a better school if you live in an impoverished neighborhood. They just leave it until it gets too bad, and then they want to say, oh, this is a tragedy. But the tragedy is that society doesn’t really care while these things are building and festering, while these sores are growing and growing. Now pus is oozing everywhere and people are concerned about it.

In the Bay Area, both sides are heated over the Lovelle Mixon situation. On the one hand, you have people in Oakland who are sympathizing with Mixon. On the other side, people are saying, hey, this guy’s a cop killer, he shot four people, and all four of them died. Why are some people in Oakland showing support for him if he’s a killer?

It’s hard for me to speak on that because I don’t necessarily feel support for him. I understand where it comes from, but I’m not, like, yeah, he’s a hero. Some friends of mine are riding for him, acting as if this was some type of revolutionary action.

Plug One: Right. At a SXSW concert, dead prez was, like, “Hooray for him because he killed four cops.”

Zumbi: See, I don’t feel that way, man. I realize that these people are human beings. People make mistakes. They could have been crooked cops, but right now there’s no proof of that. But there is proof that Lovelle Mixon raped, like, six girls or something crazy like that? When I heard that information I was, like, damn, this is a crazy story.

There is no black and white in this. [I can’t say that the police are] infinitely evil and [Mixon] is infinitely good. I can’t look at it in that way. There’s too much gray area between what’s happening and what happened. So my position is to look at the system and how the system – the police, which represents the state – interacts with the community. I feel that if there was more outreach directed to the community about the Oscar Grant situation, then the community wouldn’t feel so wound up and uptight about the police. Like I said before, they celebrate the lives of these four police officers, but they didn’t seem remiss about Oscar Grant at all. So the treatment between the two [incidents] is confusing to me.

I understand why people are saying fuck the police, those guys died. But it’s not my sentiment personally. My thing is about people and community, and we’re all God’s children. We’re all here. All of our lives count equally. So how do we address the disproportionate treatment between the two, the police officers and the community?

Plug One: Who are some of the rappers that you saw at the January 7 protest at Fruitvale BART?

[Note: Oakland activists held a protest over Grant’s murder – which was widely documented by bystanders with cell phones, who subsequently posted videos of the shooting to YouTube -- and the delayed response by city officials. The January 7 protest started peaceably, but later, a breakaway group marched a few miles to downtown Oakland and started a riot. Unfortunately, it was the riot that finally made Grant's murder national news; beforehand, the incident was only covered by Bay Area media.]

Zumbi: Mistah F.A.B. was out there, Casual from Hiero, my partner Deuce Eclipse, Jennifer Johns, there were a couple of DJs. That’s it for now.

I was juiced when I saw Fab. This guy gets criticized for being “hyphy” and not caring, but he’s there when a lot of people who are supposed to be positive aren’t. To me, your actions speak a lot louder than your words. It was good to see a brother like that on the front lines, just representing for the people and showing concern.

Plug One: Were you at the protest that turned into a riot?

Zumbi: I was at the earlier one, and I remember that halfway through [the Fruitvale BART protest] a guy got on the mike and said, “We’re going to march this way.” I’d say about a quarter of the crowd bounced, including a lot of the younger people in attendance. They all walked off. And we stayed [at the BART station] for maybe an hour more. It ended around 6:30 p.m.

I got a text message around 7:30 p.m., and my homie’s like, “Hey man, are you downtown? Are you okay?” I’m like, “Yeah, I’m cool. What’s going on?” And he was, like, “Because they’re rioting downtown.” So I went down there with my camera to check it out.

I wasn’t really a part of it. I saw [radio host and journalist] Davey D, a bunch of independent journalists, people with cameras, as well as anarchists and a lot of young black kids running around. It was strange to me, because I’ve been in a riot situation before, and this one had a different tone. It felt like a lot of teenagers watching other people do stuff, and then following and imitating their behavior. I felt like there were a lot of people documenting the situation, but there wasn’t any leadership in the situation.

Plug One: Considering that there are so many activists and positive people in the East Bay, why is there a vacuum of leadership there? I think you referenced that in “Cops Hate Kidz” when you talked about the Governator [California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger] and [current Oakland mayor and civil rights legend] Ron Dellums. It seems like that trend is part of Oakland’s recent history, even going back to [former Oakland mayor] Jerry Brown. People are looking for ways to make money off Oakland, but there’s no leadership in terms of trying to find solutions for the community’s problems.

Zumbi: We had a lot of hope for Ron Dellums coming in and changing the situation. I’ve talked to a lot of the homies about this, including [journalist] Adisa Banjoko and Davey D. We’re waiting for Dellums to do something. He’s primed and ready. This situation is happening. But it feels like he hasn’t taken the reins at all. He’s from West Oakland. He, if anybody, should know the architecture of the land and the mentality of the people. At the least, he should be able to connect with them on some level. And I don’t think he’s made enough effort to reach out to the youth.

It’s easy. Even if he were to get a Mistah F.A.B., a Zion I, a Lyrics Born, E-40 or Too Short to try and reach conduits between him and the youth and be, like, “Guys, I really need some help on this, let’s organize around this situation and have a community forum.” Because I don’t think he could have necessarily stopped what has happened, but I think there’s a better way to interact with the youth.

I’m not really sure why Oakland is struggling in this way. We had a lot of leadership back in the 60s with the Panthers and that whole movement, but [the system] chopped off [the movement’s] heads. So maybe people are scared of that. Maybe people are trying to find a new way to resist. Maybe people have been so dumbed down that, now that there’s this tragedy, it’s more of a reactive response, because there’s not necessarily an organized system to deal with these things.

It’s a good question. I’m not really sure why it is the way it is. I just know that there’s a lot of youth that can easily be led astray by a lot of this rhetoric that’s being put across in terms of…I don’t want to see a bunch of Lovelle Mixons in Oakland, California. It’s not going to be a happy scene for young people who pick up guns and create war on the police. That’s not going to be cool. So I’m thinking of ways to get the word out and have people think about it in a different way.

The Burnerz, “Cops Hate Kidz”

Also: Zumbi: “Let us make art”

www.zionicrew.com
www.myspace.com/babazumbihere
www.facebook.com/people/zionicrew

Zumbi photo by Peter Graham.
Police funeral photo by Ben Margot/AP.
“Cops Hate Kidz” artwork by NickNack.
Oakland riot photo by Noah Berger/SF Chronicle.

Tonight, Zion-I will begin supporting their solid new album The TakeOver with a series of West Coast concerts. Spread out over the next three months, the itinerary includes several colleges and a few all-important dates at SXSW. No word on when the Bay Area group will tour the East Coast.

• 2/25: Mighty, San Francisco, CA
• 2/27: Woodies Sports Bar, Escondido, CA
• 3/10: UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
• 3/12: Blunt Club, Tempe, AZ
• 3/13: Green Room, Flagstaff, AZ
• 3/18: The Back Alley Social Club, Austin, TX
• 3/19: Gruv, Austin, TX
• 3/21: Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, Denver, CO
• 3/22: Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins, CO
• 3/23: Abbey Theater, Durango, AZ
• 3/27: Sonoma State University, Sonoma, CA
• 3/28: Club Toons, San Jose, CA
• 4/01: UC Riverside, Riverside, CA
• 4/02: Velvet Jones, Santa Barbara, CA
• 4/03: UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
• 4/04: Empire, Sacramento, CA
• 4/05: Humboldt Brew, Arcata, CA
• 4/07: WOW Hall, Eugene, OR
• 4/08: Neumo’s, Seattle, WA
• 4/09: Berbati’s Pan, Portland, OR
• 4/11: Nightlight Lounge, Bellingham, WA
• 4/17: The Badlander, Missoula, MT
• 4/18: Zebra Lounge, Bozeman, MT
• 4/20: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
• 4/22: B Side Lounge, Boulder, CO
• 4/25: Belly Up Cafe, Aspen, CO
• 4/26: Meow Wolf Cafe, Santa Fe, NM
• 4/28: Star Bar, Park City, UT
• 5/01: Slim’s, San Francisco, CA
• 5/07: Morseland, Chicago, IL
• 5/08: The Orpheum Theater, Madison, WI
• 5/11: Call the Office, London, ON
• 5/12: Dubland Underground, Rochester, NY

3/18-3/19: SXSW
4/18-5/12: w/Kev Choice Ensemble
4/18-4/28: w/the Bayliens

Juicy Juice

Here is a speculative list of ten 2009 hip-hop albums. All of these titles are scheduled to drop sometime during the next 12 months. I omitted some perennial “coming soon” titles (Madvillainy 2, 9th Wonder’s The Wonder Years, Ghost & Doom’s Swift and Changeable, Big Boi’s Sir Luscious Left Foot and others). Not to say that they’ll never come out, but we’re moving on now.

Hudson Mohawke’s debut album (Warp): This may be the most hotly-anticipated of the electronic/hip-hop crossovers. Warp has a good track record of signing underground sensations who go on to record their best material for the label, with Autechre, Prefuse 73, Boards of Canada and Antipop Consortium being among the many examples. (tentative release date: Spring ’09)

Zion-I, The Takeover (Gold Dust Media): I’ve heard this album, and I can safely say that it’s Zion-I’s best to date, maybe as good as those cassette EPs they used to release back in the day. But will fans and critics give them their due recognition? People who don’t live on the West Coast tend to sleep on/underrate them. (release date: January 27)

Willie Isz, Georgiavania (Lex Records): Khujo and Jneiro Jarel have been leaking tracks from their forthcoming collaboration for the past several months. Some have sounded impressively soulful and reflective (“In The Red”), while others have sounded tinny and strange (“Gwan Jet”). It seems as if all the leaks — many which you can hear on Willie Isz’s MySpace page — are meant to get listeners comfortable with their unusual sound before the full-length drops. At the least, it should be an adventure.  (tentative release date: late February/March)

Talib Kweli & DJ Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal (Warner Bros.): There’s some speculation whether this will come out now because Kweli’s Blacksmith management has split with Warner Bros. But I think that Warner Bros. still wants him on the label — it just didn’t feel like pushing Blacksmith’s underground slate (Jean Grae, Strong Arm Steady) to the mainstream. Kweli’s last album (2007′s Eardrum) was pretty good, and Hi-Tek is long overdue for a breakout year. Keep your fingers crossed that Warner Bros. doesn’t let this one rot on the shelf. (tentative release date: TBA)

Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love (Ubiquity): Sa-Ra’s 2007 debut was a patchwork of old singles and leaked tracks, detritus from their stillborn deal with G.O.O.D. Music/Sony. It sounded like leftovers. This upcoming affair should be much more fresh and cohesive, provided that blogs don’t leak the whole thing first. (tentative release date: spring ’09)

Kid Cudi, Man on the Moon (Fool’s Gold/Downtown): I wasn’t feeling this song at first, but lately it has resonated with me. Kid Cudi (pictured above) seems to have found a way around the auto-tune nightmare that has ruined rappers’ impulse to harmonize; it’s not exactly Cold Crush Brothers, but memorable nonetheless. An openness to electronic styles like soulful house could make this an intriguing debut. (tentative release date: TBA)

Dam-Funk, Toeachizown (Stones Throw): Dam-Funk is another dude who has leaked MySpace joints for many months now. He’s already released a few 12-inches, as well as an edition for Stones Throw’s Rhythm Trax series. But I expect Toeachizown to be a head-scratcher on par with James Pants’ Welcome. When I first heard that album, I disparaged James Pants for making a good demo tape. It was faint praise. Almost twelve months later, I still can’t stop thinking about that album. (tentative release date: Spring ’09)

Antipop Consortium, Flourescent Black: It’s been over a year since the four members of Antipop announced they were reuniting, and still no word of when the album will come out, or even which label will release it. (However, they’ve performed several NYC shows.) I imagine something will drop before the next edition of All Tomorrow’s Parties takes place in September; APC are scheduled to make a key appearance there. (tentative release date: TBA)

Charles Hamilton debut album (Interscope): Sonic the Hamilton’s album will most likely be a highly commercial mix of styles meant to entice hipsters, backpackers and teenyboppers alike. The question is, will he get the formula right? (tentative release date: TBA)

Mos Def, The Ecstatic (Downtown): Since his classic 1999 solo debut Black On Both Sides, Mos Def has concentrated most of his energy on his acting career, with fantastic results. Though not yet a lead actor, Mos has scored meaty supporting roles in critically acclaimed films and box office hits. Unfortunately, he’s subsequently used his music to indulge his artistic whims, making for meandering and unfocused albums like 2004′s The New Danger. At the beginning of 2008, he announced that he was teaming up with Kanye West (who also made beats for The New Danger), perhaps a sign that he wasn’t going to fuck around this time. Whatever The Ecstatic turns out to be — another classic or another mess — it should be interesting. (tentative release date: Spring ’09)

Other releases to watch for: MF Doom (Lex), Mr. Lif, I Heard It Today (Definitive Jux, April 13), Thavius Beck, Dialogue (Mush?), J. Medeiros, Friends Enemies Apples Apples (Quannum), Nosaj Thing (Alpha Pup), new Themselves album (Anticon), The Cool Kids, When Fish Ride Bicycles (Chocolate Industries), Evidence, Cats & Dogs (label TBD), Finale, A Pipe, A Dream & A Promise (Interdependent Media), Danny! (Definitive Jux)

Bay Area duo Zion-I has scheduled its fourth album, The Takeover, for January 27 on Gold Dust Media.

“Zion I has a reputation of being very spiritual and serious,” says MC Zion a.k.a. Zumbi in a press release. “I think The Takeover is a lot more fun than our past records. We still touch on serious subject matter, but this album shows the other sides of our personality.” Towards that end, Zion and producer Amplive have recruited Brother Ali, Devin the Dude and British rapper Ty for guest shots.

Amplive has built a reputation in recent years as an out-the-box remixer, reworking tracks by Jamie Lidell, Linkin Park and others for mixtapes (2006′s Beats, Remixes & Mashups) and online consumption. A planned Radiohead remix effort, Rainydayz Remixes, drew a lot of press when Radiohead threatened legal action against him. (It’s currently available via Amplive’s MySpace page and elsewhere.) However, it also earned Zion-I some of their first mainstream notice in years. Before then, Zion-I was acclaimed in the urban world — their 2003 album Deep Water Slang drew a Source award nomination for Best Independent Album — but mostly ignored in the pop press.

Buoyed by Amplive’s Radiohead remix controversy, Zion-I’s challenge will be to use that increased attention and make The Takeover a breakthrough release. “We try to make music that falls into a crack and fills a void for us as fans of music,” says Zion.

The track listing for The Takeover is below. The group is currently on tour with the Mighty Underdogs.

• 1. “The Taking”
• 2. “Geek To The Beat”
• 3. “Take Over”
• 4. “DJ DJ”
• 5. “Antenna”
• 6. “Caged Bird Part 1″ (feat. Brother Ali)
• 7. “In The Mornin’ (Caged Bird Part 2)”
• 8. “Radio”
• 9. “Gumbo”
• 10. “Country Baked Yams” (feat. Devin The Dude)
• 11. “Coastin’” (feat. K. Flay)
• 12. “Juicy Juice”
• 13. “Peppermint Patty”
• 14. “Bring In The Light”
• 15. “Legacy” (feat. Ty & Jennifer Johns)

And here are the tour dates:

• 10/30: Knitting Factory, Los Angeles, CA
• 10/31: Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ
• 11/01: Green Room, Flagstaff, AZ
• 11/02: Sunshine Theater, Albuquerque, NM
• 11/05: Mohawk, Austin, TX
• 11/06: House of Blues, Dallas, TX
• 11/07: Mojo’s, Columbia, MO
• 11/08: Abbey Pub, Chicago, IL
• 11/09: Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI
• 11/11: Marquis Theater, Denver, CO
• 11/12: Black Sheep, Colorado Springs, CO
• 11/13: Abbey Theater, Durango, CO
• 11/14: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
• 11/15: Knitting Factory, Boise, ID
• 11/17: Neumo’s, Seattle, WA
• 11/18: Satyricon, Portland, OR
• 11/19: Domino Room, Bend, OR
• 11/21: Underground, Reno, NV
• 11/22: Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA

10/30-11/22: w/The Mighty Underdogs

Today, in a pleasantly surprising turn of events, Zion-I producer Amplive has decided to release his Radiohead remix project, Raindayz Remixes, after all.

As has been widely reported, Amplive planned to offer an EP’s worth of remixes of Radiohead’s new album, In Rainbows. However, before he could issue them via his MySpace page, Radiohead’s management stepped in and threatened legal action. The project seemed dead, but today Amplive announced that he has been given permission to release the remixes after all.

A statement posted on One Seven Six Six, the site for Zion-I’s management company, reads:

After a cease & desist put the breaks on Amplive’s Radiohead In Rainbows remix project, the online music community reasonably wondered if the tracks would ever see the light of day. Well, here they are.

While the Oakland producer/DJ acknowledges that he probably should have contacted Radiohead (who were not involved in the project) to seek approval prior to making his interpretations publically available, an agreement has been reached between all involved parties and Amplive has been granted permission to release Rainydayz Remixes for free to the general public. Effective immediately, the eight-track record is available here.

You can download Rainydaz Remixes at One Seven Six Six.

Since that controversy has been resolved, Zion-I can go back to focusing on better things, like their upcoming tour with Mistah F.A.B. Dubbed the Fresh Coast Tour, it finds the Bay Area veterans touring around the West Coast with a slew of special guests, including the Grouch from Living Legends. But few in the mainstream media who covered Rainydayz Remixes acknowledged Zion-I’s existence. It seems like the group needs to tour the rest of the country, too, if only to show that Zion-I’s appeal runs deeper than a Radiohead mashup.

In the meantime, the tour dates are below.

• 2/20: UC Riverside, Riverside, CA
• 2/29: The Avalon, San Jose, CA
• 3/01: 28th & B Skatepark Hangar, Sacramento, CA
• 3/02: Whiskey Dicks, South Lake Tahoe, CA
• 3/03: Whiskey Creek, Mammoth Lakes, CA
• 3/06: El Rey Theater, Los Angeles, CA
• 3/07: The Brickhouse, Phoenix, AZ
• 3/13: Emo’s, Austin, TX
• 3/15: The Sandbar, Vail, CO
• 3/16: Abbey Theater, Durango, CO
• 3/18: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
• 3/19: The Other Side, Missoula, MT
• 3/20: Chop Suey, Seattle, WA
• 3/21: WOW Hall, Eugene, OR
• 3/22: Fez Ballroom, Portland, OR

2/20-3/22: w/Mistah F.A.B.
2/29-3/01: w/the Grouch
3/06: w/Amad Jamal
3/13: SXSW
3/22: w/DJ Quest

Plug One review: Zion-I & the Grouch, Heroes in the City of Dope

www.myspace.com/zioni
www.myspace.com/amplive

In the grand Plug One tradition of reporting stories long after they cooled, we take a look at the unfortunate debacle surrounding Zion-I producer Amplive and his aborted project, Radiohead: Rainydayz Remixes.

Last November, Amplive began leaking tracks from the remix project, and promised an all-star cast that included Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Too Short, and Chali 2na. He planned to make it available on January 10 to those who purchased In Rainbows via Radiohead’s historic online offering. Only fans who had a email receipt from Radiohead’s W.A.S.T.E. site would be sent a copy of Raindayz Remixes.

As the tracks circulated through the blogosphere, the media picked up on the story, and the New York Times ran a brief item on it. All of that attention, however, led to Amplive receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Radiohead’s publisher, Warner-Chappell Music.

Interestingly, the date of letter is December 18, but Amplive didn’t announce that the project would be halted until January 3, which indicates that there may have been some backroom negotiations. Nevertheless, on January 3 Amplive sent out a MySpace bulletin titled “Amplive vs. Radiohead”:

First and foremost I would like to thank everyone who has been digging my remixes. I put a lot of time and hard work into them and I am glad people are appreciating them. I was especially excited about the exclusive verses I was able to get from Del the Funky Homosapien, Chali2na from Jurassic 5, the soul singer Codany Holiday, and K.Flay, who were all also super excited about contributing to the project. I really feel if Radiohead’s team was able to hear these remaining remixed songs, they would feel differently. So I am writing this letter to ask that if you have any post/streams/mp3s of the songs from Rainydayz Remixes that you remove them immediately. Complying with the cease and desist, these remixes can’t be publicly distributed or made commercially available. Even though I was offering them for free in conjunction with the In Rainbows download and had good intentions because of my appreciation for their music, the powers that may be are not seeing it the same way. Hopefully I can find a way for Radiohead to support this FREE release made available only to those who purchased their album. For now I am cooperating with the “C & D” only because it has come from Radiohead’s team and I will respect that. BUT if that changes I am happy to resume my release plans. Again, I appreciate your support in posting them, but because of the situation at this time, it is illegal. Thanks for you help. – Amp Live

Amplive planned to release a free zip file of the remix record on January 10th to all those who forwarded an email receipt of In Rainbows purchase to amplive@onesevensevensix.com. In addition to unveiling the tracklist (which can be found below), Amp had planned on expanding the release model to allow those who had deleted their W.A.S.T.E. emails to reserve a copy of the album by forwarding receipt of a donation – in any amount – to Friends of the Earth, a charity Thom Yorke has officially backed on the band’s Dead Air Space blog. If and when the release is allowed to move forward, all those who have forwarded receipts from W.A.S.T.E. or Friends of the Earth will receive a copy of the album. Tracklist, and more info on the charity below.

Amplive then posted a track listing of the remix project. He also posted a YouTube video explaining the situation. The track listing and a link to the video are listed at the end of the story.

In a January 4 interview with Gigwise, Radiohead manager Bryce Edge commented on the situation:

“A main problem was that he (Amplive) did a cut and paste of a photo of Thom and put it on his website which inferred he was involved in the project. When we heard that you had to send a confirmation email from W.A.S.T.E to get the album, we thought ‘That’s a bit naughty!’

“It wasn’t a case of someone simply posting some remixes on a website, he was suggesting that the band were involved and that’s why the publishers decided to take this action.

“Amplive had never even come to the band telling them about his idea, which would have been nice. I know he had good intentions, but I just think he’s misled people.”

Give props to Amplive for complying with the cease-and-desist order. In contrast, when Danger Mouse was presented with a cease-and-desist order for his classic The Grey Album mashup of Jay-Z’s The Black Album and the Beatles’ The White Album, he organized “Grey Tuesday,” and called on music fans to download the album for free. Amplive could have easily launched a similar, highly-publicized protest. Perhaps he should have.

At any rate, with the media blizzard having moved on to other pressing matters, like Lil Wayne’s umpteenth drug bust, Amplive is free to continue his career as part of Zion-I (a great group that got little to no mention in all of the Radiohead vs. Amplive stories). He has already begun to post mashups of other artists on his MySpace page.

It appears that Raindays Remixes was sent to members of the press, so it’s possible that it may be floating around on to the Internet. Two tracks, “Nudez” (Amplive remix) and “Weird Fishez” (Amplive remix), are still posted on Stereogum’s website. Good luck finding it.

Here’s the track list:

• 1. “Rainydayz”
• 2. “Video Tapez” (feat. Del the Funkee Homosapien)
• 3. “Nudez” (feat. MC Zumbi of Zion I and Too Short)
• 4. “Weird Fishez”
• 5. “All I Need”
• 6. “15 Stepz” (feat. Codany Holiday)
• 7. “Reckonerz” (feat. Chali 2na)
• 8. “Faustz”

And here’s the video:

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Plug One review: Zion-I & the Grouch, Heroes in the City of Dope

www.myspace.com/zioni
www.myspace.com/amplive