This Bay Area trio's debut album is a loaded 22-track effort that dares you to try and classify it. Influenced equally by hip-hop and various forms of electronica, Zion I offers listeners a collage of new sounds mixed with ancient spiritualism. Mind over Matter's lead single, "Creation," is a track that combines choppy drum snares, razor sharp scratches, and great interplay between Zion and Bay Area rapper Planet Asia, and should appeal to hip-hop fans who are down with abstract rappers such as Blackalicious and Digable Planets. Other songs such as "Metropolis," with its mellow keyboards, are bound to appeal to fans of trip-hop. On top of Amp Live's varying beats are Zion's mystical rhymes such as "Trippin'," which focus on spirituality and are a welcome relief from much of the materialism that permeates modern hip-hop. Many of the other tracks fall somewhere in between rap and trip-hop, and its lack of a center may mean that Zion I may struggle to find listeners. That's too bad, because, unlike so many other artists, this trio actually has something to say.
© Jon Azpiri /TiVo