Zion-I heralds “The Takeover”

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

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One Response to Zion-I heralds “The Takeover”

  1. DJ_Dally_Dal says:

    Hey, this is a nice post. Thanks

    Bay Area Rap Radio

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