Alex Turney/Staff

Despite the cooling October air and looming midterms, hundreds of Berkeley students in warm sweaters, beanies and tie-dye clothing crowded Sproul Plaza early Friday evening in eager anticipation of the arrival of the celebrated Zion I hip-hop crew. About 5 p.m., local trap artists DRIPMOB took to the stage, warming up the crowd with their edgy reworks of popular hip-hop tracks. The throbbing bass took hold of the audience, triggering cult dance moves such as “the stanky leg” within a large breakdance circle near the stage. While the focus during the opening act appeared to be on the exaggerated dancing, attention shifted to the stage when the sky grew dark and Zion I arrived.

The Zion I crew, consisting of Oakland natives MC Zumbi and producer AmpLive, has toured worldwide but always returns to its Bay Area roots. The artists’ performance was intimate but energizing, drawing the crowd closer with their powerful lyrics and spacey tracks such as “Float,” a collaboration with electronic music producer Minnesota. Zumbi kept the crowd engaged with his improvised lyrics, which he explained after the show were “how (Zion I) learned to do music … through freestyling.”

Zion I has been on the rise in the melding genres of hip-hop and electronic, releasing tracks with electronic gurus like SBTRKT and Bassnectar. Recently, Zion I toured with reggae rock group Rebelution and reggae artist Matisyahu, experiences that allowed for further development of Zion I’s evolving sound.

“I remember the guys from Rebelution came up to me,” Zumbi said of an experience partying in Tahoe. “They were ultra encouraging … it was so cool to hear other musicians encouraging me from an authentic place.”

Zion I’s performance on campus, presented by ASUC SUPERB, was a free event open to all. “I feel like … every time I leave and come back I love (the Bay Area) even more, because I realize how unique and special it is,” Zumbi said after the performance.

On Oakland’s influence on Zion I’s sound, Zumbi said, “(Oakland) is so diverse. I feed on all that energy … I pull from all the good and the bad.” As we talked, fans scuttled behind the stage to wait to take pictures with Zumbi, who humbly obliged. He seemed unfazed by the interruptions, pleased to meet and hear from students. His down-to-earth outlook is definitely reflected through Zion I’s lyrics, as Zumbi explained that he’s frustrated by the superficiality of most rap music.

“(There are) things in hip-hop that I feel are not being addressed that are important,” he said. “I want to fill in the gaps, (but) not be too cerebral that it’s too static.”

It quickly becomes clear that Zion I, which has been a part of the hip-hop and rap scene since the late 1990s, is both conscious of and concerned about the expansion of rap music. Zumbi noted, “These days, the culture is watered down … it’s not a sub-culture anymore.”

He advises aspiring artists in the genre to “get in tune with what you believe in.” The future of hip-hop looks brighter, though. Zumbi believes there has been a resurgence in recent years of younger artists trying to reclaim something of the older era. “I pray that it evolves beyond that (too),” he said.

On future collaborations, Zion I hopes to work with rapper Andre 3000, Yasiin Bey, the hip-hop recording artist formerly known as Mos Def, or the Swedish electronic group Little Dragon’s vocalist Yukimi Nagano.

The campus crowd was thrilled by Zion I’s performance and proximity — many students lingered after the show to chat and take pictures with the hip-hop duo. It seems Zion I’s success is due to its ability to be incredibly inventive yet accessible — something unprecedented in the realm of spoken music of the present.

Contact Kate Irwin at kirwin@dailycal.org.

The post Zion I concert on Sproul in tune with hip-hop roots appeared first on The Daily Californian.

SUPERB/Courtesy

Thanks to the Student Union Program, Entertainment, and Recreation Board, better known as SUPERB, UC Berkeley is never short on entertainment. This fall, SUPERB is rolling out another stellar lineup, bringing the best, baddest bands and musical artists straight to campus and all for free. The Daily Californian is excited to announce the Fall 2013 SUPERB concert lineup. (All shows are on Upper Sproul unless otherwise noted.)

Giraffage / Blackbird Blackbird
Sept. 6 7:30-10 p.m.


With Giraffage and Blackbird Blackbird playing Sproul, Berkeley will be introduced to some of electronica’s hottest acts. To make the deal even sweeter, they’re both local artists hailing from San Francisco. Charlie Yin, better known as Giraffage, recently made a song for Kitsune America 2 with one of our own, UC Berkeley alumni Jhameel, as well as up-and-comers DWNTWN. His sample-based beats have earned him acclaim all over the Internet as well as a tour through Europe with one of SUPERB’s recent performers, XXYYXX. Listening through his body of work will give you a unique tour of hip-hop and R&B with samples from artist such as R. Kelly and Monica.

Blackbird Blackbird is one of the finest acts that the lo-fi dream pop movement has brought into the spotlight. Fans of acts such as Washed Out, Toro y Moi and Teen Daze are sure to appreciate Mikey Maramag’s body of work. He is constantly experimenting with his sound, but one thing remains constant — it’s laid back and spellbinding. Perhaps being from Honolulu can have that kind of influence on your music.
— Ephraim Lee

MAX COOPER
Sept. 26 8-10 p.m.

As with all of the most engaging forms of electronica, the music put out by producer Max Cooper sounds as if it is written to be listened to just as much as it is meant to be danced to. And for those yet to be acquainted with one of his live sets, this is saying quite a lot, considering how infectiously floor-ready his music is. Based out of London, Cooper narrowly avoided a life as a postdoctoral university geneticist, abandoning his studies in 2010 to focus on the less scholarly pursuit of DJ-ing. Fortunately, this change of heart paid off in a big way, as he has taken to the road to enchant crowds with his icy ambiance, making appearances at electronic music gatherings like Glade Festival, Decibel Festival and Bestival. All the while, he has remained prolific, releasing several EPs a year and pumping out remixes on the side. Drawing obvious inspiration from Aphex Twin, Cooper’s tracks often feature complex rhythms behind pulsating, otherworldly melodies. Although hard science may be in his past, he has definitely mastered the science of beats.
— Erik Weiner

ZION I
Oct. 11 TBD

When it comes to alternative hip-hop, Zion I manages to deliver a nonstop onslaught of tracks of equal parts power and authenticity. This native East Bay duo, consisting of rapper MC Zumbi and producer AmpLive, have been effectively tearing up the underground scene across the country since their inception in the late ’90s. They’ve come pretty far since then, starting their own independent label and collaborating with such big name acts as Aesop Rock and Talib Kweli. Even in terms of style, they have ventured out of their new-school background and have explored other hip-hop subgenres without compromising their distinctive voice. Classic influences like A Tribe Called Quest can be heard throughout Zion I’s catalog, but their material has taken strikingly hyphy turns and has even dabbled in unabashed experimentalism in recent days. However, regardless of the sonic era in which their music was released, the common denominator underlying both production and lyrics has always been the outright energy it manages to capture in the studio and unleash mercilessly upon unsuspecting audiences.
— Erik Weiner

PALMA VIOLETS with opener SKATERS
Oct. 18 5-7 p.m.


“Come get your nerves and eardrums shattered,” beckons the Palma Violets’ Facebook page as it lists their U.K. tour dates. Though these chaps released their first album 180 only in February, Palma Violets have already been touring with Queens of the Stone Age and the Weezer Cruise, as well as appearing on Jimmy Kimmel. Sweaty locks, pale skin and skinny limbs are archetypal features of the band, along with sounds similar to those of the Vaccines and the Strokes — but the band puts a mystical edge on their frisky rock with vocals by Chilli Bensen.

It seems as though good loud rock, with an emphasis on live performances, is the reason for the success of the Palma Violets. Though they have been more popular abroad in the U.K. than in the United States, it’s only a matter of time before their rattlesnake rock strikes out west. With a similar British rock-inspired sound, NYC-based rock band Skaters will be opening for the Palma Violets.
— AJ Kiyoizumi

BORN RUFFIANS
Nov. 17 5-7 p.m.

If the spirit of early ’00s indie pop were ever to traverse the Great White North in search of a band to embody its ludicrously catchy angst, it may well have found a suitable host in Born Ruffians. As it turns out, this group of happily self-deprecating Midland-via-Toronto natives seem totally unable to put a guitar pick to a string without resulting in an anthem that embeds itself deep in the listener’s head for the foreseeable future.
After years of touring with acts such as Peter Bjorn & John, Franz Ferdinand and especially Tokyo Police Club, these Ruffians have used peer influence as a sounding board, of sorts, to produce a more refined sound of their own. Vocalist Luke Lalonde retained the brazenly honest lyrics of his past work (“I need much more good and much less bad”), but the band’s upbeat jangle is now flavored with an extra dash of world-weary cynicism (“Needle in the hay, lost but in my place”). All the same, Born Ruffians can’t help but deliver lines such as these paired with ironically joyful refrains practically written to be shouted along to.
— Erik Weiner

The post SUPERB Fall 2013 Lineup appeared first on The Daily Californian.

MUSIC:

A wide variety of albums await your ears this week — at least for those who haven’t already started torrenting them. Both the Berkeley-based hip-hop indie rock group Why? and Oakland’s own Zion-I will be releasing albums this Tuesday. In addition to the local groups, there are a lot of big name artists releasing. Matt & Kim, the Wallflowers and Flying Lotus all have new albums out this week as well.

And then, of course, Muse is releasing their latest record, The 2nd Law. The band has slowly deteriorated into a hollow shell of its former self, case in point with their incorporation of dubstep into the new album. Whether you dig the new album or not, it’ll be interesting to see how Muse will progress from here on out.

However, not all is glum in the music world. The experimental band Deerhoof will be playing at Slim’s in San Francisco on Monday. Famed guitarist Slash will be playing the Fox Theater in Oakland this Tuesday with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. If you’re looking for something more mellow and with a little scat thrown in, heartthrob Jason Mraz will be playing the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Thursday.

— Ian Birnam

VISUAL ART:

As the first few days of October arrive, they bring with them the month’s First Friday Art Walk. Oakland Art Murmur has changed significantly over the years, with even more participating galleries and a broader geographic stretch of festivities. Although the walk is less concentrated now and has lost some of its intimacy and bustling excitement, Art Murmur is still at the top of the list when it comes to visual art in the East Bay.

After checking out Art Murmur on Friday, head to the city Saturday to see Colin M. Day’s latest show. Day is a San Francisco-based photographer and videographer who has done a lot of interesting projects capturing artists on film and creating engaging videos, which themselves are works of art. Now, he brings his talents to San Francisco’s Gallery Three in his show “Grey Areas.” Featuring large- and small-scale photographic works, he is documenting the gray areas of the marijuana industry and the urban art movement, both of which involve ever shifting uncertainties, rules and freedoms. Through the exhibition, Day asserts the legitimacy of these artists and farmers.

— Anna Carey

LITERATURE:

A festival borne out of the idea that San Franciscans spend two times the nation’s average on booze and books, SF Litquake starts this Friday and continues through Oct. 13, ending with a “Lit Crawl” — an event that embodies the original spirit that creators of the festival had.

With almost 200 events and 850 authors at the festival this year, it is clear that the Bay Area literary scene is expanding and deepening. From talks of “cowboy noir” to the project of turning “Moby Dick” into an opera and authors ranging from local star Dave Eggers to 20 random audience members who at “Pitchapalooza” have a minute to pitch their book concept, the events are crafted to spur discussion and, of course, further interest in the Bay Area literary community.

The “Lit Crawl” finale involves taking over various venues in a neighborhood (a bee-keeping shop has been used in the past) for authors to showcase their work on a more personal level with bookworms for free. Details on this year’s crawl are available on the Litquake website, along with tickets, schedules and descriptions of events.

— A.J. Kiyoizumi

THEATER:

Now that it’s October, we can look forward to two things. One: The election is near — so there’s still time for Romney and Obama to make that “Lethal Weapon” redo we’ve all been dreaming of. Two: Halloween and its glorious, candied treasures are soon to be enjoyed (and thrown up soon after if you’re like me). Alas, these events are still a month away. Luckily, the Bay Area theater scene has some shockingly exciting shows to fill these long, dreaded weeks of midterms and melancholia.

First up, this Monday, Oct. 1, Berkeley’s own Shotgun Players will be hosting a cabaret of presidential proportions. “Stand By Your Man: Women of the White House Sing Karaoke” will feature all the classic leading ladies — Michelle, Hillary, Nancy, Jackie — crooning to their hearts’ content. The image of Hillary Clinton singing seems a frightful sight more likely found in the Grand Guignol-style “Extravaganza of Terror & Titillation” of “Shocktoberfest 13: The Bride of Death” presented by San Francisco’s own Thrillpeddlers. Running Sept. 27 to Nov. 17, this parade of panic promises musicals, one-acts and spook shows suited to stir us students out of our midsemester stasis.

— Jessica Pena

FILM:

This Wednesday, student curatorial interns at the PFA are exhibiting a program of Bay Area student film. Titled, “Universal, Unique, Untouched,” the films being showcased represent the work of talented film students from across the bay area. Many of the filmmakers will be present and will hopefully answer questions. One only hopes the cine-Bears … the film-Bears … or whatever we call our student filmmakers, fare well against the several Stanford filmmakers who will be making the trip to show their work.

Anna Boden will be at the San Francisco Film Society theater on Oct. 4 showing her film “Sugar.” Billed as a fresh take on the classic rags-to-riches sports film, Sugar charts the growth of a young Dominican baseballer trying to make it in America. Boden will be present as part of her two-week-long artist in residence program to answer questions and help young filmmakers find their way and network. Those inspired by the “Universal, Unique, Untouched” should take note!

— Thomas Coughlan

The post This Week in Arts appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Rock the Bells/Courtesy

School is out for the summer, if only for those of us at UCB. So, that means that this announcement, the announcement for the line-up of arguably the biggest and most anticipated hip-hop festival on the planet was just around the corner. Yes,  the bill for this year’s Rock The Bells Festival was, as it always is, freestyled by hip-hop legend  Supernatural. Only this time, the announcement was accompanied by a beat box from a West Coast hip-hop god, the man, the myth, the multi-instrumentalist super producer and silky smooth rhymer hailing from the streets of Compton—DJ Quik. And, as if things couldn’t get any better, this year’s Rock The Bells will be a two-day festival. Two days filled with some of the greatest artists to ever pick up a mic (Nas, Ice Cube, RZA, and the list goes on). The line-up, which also features Bay Area icons like E-40 and Too $hort, is just as dope as the way in which it was announced. So, without further adieu, here is the line-up with the dates and locations so you know where to drive, fly, or hitch-hike (be careful out there) this summer to bask in what should prove to be hip-hop ecstasy (again, be careful and drink lots of water):

2 Chainz*

ASAP Rocky*

Atmosphere*

Big Daddy Kane

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Deltron 3030

Dipset

DJ Lance Rock and Friends

DJ Quik

E-40 and Too Short*

Eligh, Grouch and Zion I

Fashawn

Hit Squad Reunion

Ice Cube

Immortal Technique

J Cole*

Kendrick Lamar*

Kid Cudi*

Mac Miller*

Missy Elliott and Timbaland

Murs

Nas

Naughty By Nature

Prodigy

Redman and Method Man

Salt-N-Pepa

Schoolboy Q

Slick Rick 

Supernatural

RZA

Tyga

Watsky

Wiz Khalifa*

Yelawolf

Dom Kennedy

* notes performance on select dates only 

ROCK THE BELLS 2012 FESTIVAL SERIES DATES & VENUES:

08/19 – 08/20   San Bernardino, CA – NOS Events Center

08/25 – 08/26   Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre

09/01 – 09/02   Holmdel, NJ – PNC Arts Center

The post Rock The Bells 2012 Line-Up Announced appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The world of hip-hop is becoming more diverse each day. Rappers are exploring new styles and expanding their palette more so than ever before. From collaborations with artists of different genres, to mixing modern sounds with traditional methods, rappers and M.C.s are shattering the borders of rap stereotypes. Sure, there are still some artists that live by the gangsta code of sex, money and drugs, but deep within the sticky haze are artists with ill beats and untouchable flow that are waiting to be discovered. This Friday, the Fillmore in San Francisco plays host to the Hella Fresh Fest, a hip-hop festival whose  goal is to do just that: expose people to the diversity within the Bay Area’s hip-hop scene.

Headlining the festival is the veteran duo of M.C. Zumbi and DJ AmpLive, better known together as Zion I. With their bombastic beats and slick rhymes, Zion I have been a powerful, prominent act in the Bay’s hip-hop scene for some time now. In a recent interview, Zumbi spoke about the Hella Fresh Fest, hip-hop trends and how the genre can create a connection that brings people together.

Originally known as the Paid in Full Festival, the goal of the Hella Fresh Fest is to unify all styles of hip-hop. “We started the Hella Fresh Fest as a way to bridge the gap we thought existed between street-oriented and traditional hip-hop in the Bay Area,” said Zumbi. “Right now, that gap is much thinner. The game has changed dramatically from where it was five years ago, and lots of lines have been blurred between categories and styles. It’s not the mystique of being untouchable, you have to be more down-to-earth now.”

The diversity of the festival is far from an understatement. While Zion I represents the more independent, uplifting aspect of hip-hop, the Jacka and Husalah will be there to show off the realm of gritty street rap. Los Rakas explore a hybrid of different genres, whereas The Honor Roll Crew will please both electro enthusiasts and rap fans alike. Rounding off with The Jealous Guys and DJ Amen, the festival appears to back Zumbi’s words, promoting a wide spectrum of hip-hop artists.

While festivals such as Hella Fresh showcase the varied areas of hip-hop, many artists are approaching a more D.I.Y. attitude towards marketing. With the Internet, it can be fairly easy to go from unknown rhyme-spitter to viral rap sensation, provided you have the balls to put yourself out there. Using multimedia properly can be an amazing marketing tool, one that Zumbi encourages all artists to take advantage of if they want to get their name out.

At the same time, Zumbi expressed his distaste for artists who rely solely on the same tired mantras of sex, money and drugs that cause people to tune out hip-hop. “It’s too easy and cliche,” remarked the M.C. “Yeah, everybody wants to have a lot of money, good sex and weed. That’s cool for one song, but if your whole record is about how you’re gonna pull my girl, have sex with her after the show and then smoke her out and leave, there isn’t any depth there.”

It can be hard to find rappers who don’t adopt this thug-life style. However, there are plenty of artists such as Atmosphere and Immortal Technique that still create deep verses and meaningful, provocative lines while staying within a particular area of hip-hop. Zumbi said that he tries to emulate a spiritually upbeat mentality throughout his songs. “A lot of my rhymes are things that really happened in my life, or little segments that I take and blow up to make a caricature,” Zumbi recalled. “Sometimes it’s exactly what happened though. From there it’s just a feeling that I have.”

Zumbi also stated how having a wide musical spectrum isn’t a bad thing either. He said that he listens to artists from The Black Keys to MF DOOM to become aware of different things that musicians are trying out, thereby broadening his own style. This belief that the greater the diversity of music you listen to leads to evolving as an artist is one that promotes alliances between artists of different genres, something Zumbi hopes more artists will undertake.

A big part in gaining recognition is having a solid fanbase as well. Zumbi spoke about how the independent acts can have a more dedicated following than major label artists. “There’s guys like Rebelution who I feel are selling more tickets than some major label artists,” said Zumbi. “They aren’t on the radio, which tells me it’s more about a sincere connection with the fans and interacting with them.”

The views and mindsets of Zumbi are ones that hip-hop as a whole is steadily progressing towards. While tomorrow’s Hella Fresh Fest will sure to bring down the house of the Fillmore with ultrasonic beats, the real message is clear: No matter their style, all artists are unified in some way through the universal energy created by music and art.

“It’s about unity and working together, whether you’re preforming, in the crowd or not causing drama. We’re trying to inspire people to collectively work together and come together. We all do different stuff, but we’re really all the same.”

Ian Birnam is the lead music critic.

The post Zion I of Oakland leads progressive hip-hop gala appeared first on The Daily Californian.