The ZYG 808 Brings A Sense of Tradition Into Hip-hop

HYANNIS, Mass. - Feb. 12, 2018 - PRLog -- Before he picked up a microphone, legendary Hip-hop MC, Rakim Allah, was a tenor sax player. His sense of phrasing and flow as an MC was clearly shaped by his exposure to and participation in playing jazz. Likewise is true for the 14 year-old MC , The ZYG 808, who holds Rakim on the mantle among his other influences in MCing.

"I'm not a rapper, I'm an MC," explains The ZYG 808 from behind his drum set in the band room at Mashpee High School. "A rapper gets up on the mic, spits a few bars and leaves. An MC can actually host a party and interact with the crowd. That's what I'm trained to do." As the son of a performing artist, who's career spans music, theater and spoken-word, it is of little surprise that The ZYG 808 has this understanding. "When I first wanted to MC seriously, I went to my father and he asked me, 'do you want to rap because you have something to say or because you want to look cool?' I had something to say."

Similar to the poets of the ages, who you would find huddled in corners or at tables over a notebook writing their ideas and inspirations down, you'll find The ZYG 808 jotting down lyric ideas on his phone or tablet. Learning from the tragic mistakes of others, he also knows to cloud what he writes.

Co-founding the Soul Poet's Syndicate as a collective for MCs, spoken-word artists, and media producers, "the best MCs come out of crews and collectives because being around other MCs makes your work stronger. It's like a workshop." The ZYG 808 sees the potential for hip-hop to be another branch of the poetry movements of the 20th century like the Harlem Renaissance, Beatniks, Black Arts Movement, Hip-hop, and the more recent Urban Expressionists movement of the 1990s and early 2000s of which his father was a figure.

Something with be dropping from this young man very soon. His album, "The Intro" is slated for release in Fall of 2018.

Follow The ZYG 808 on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/thezyg808