Here’s a literate rapper who really gives the “American way” an intelligent punch in the mouth. Throughout this entire piece, Sun Zoo, gives us his perspective (and even takes his share of the blame on Track 1) on this dysfunctional life we lead. He starts out with a moving piece he addresses to a sibling drug abuser. He acknowledges his place in the society that drives his brother to drugs. Needless to say, I immediately loved this CD.
If there was any doubt that Sun Zoo could keep his brain in a feature role, he gives us Track 2, “Aldus Huxley,” that spins the cautionary tale of the brave new world that we’ve created by continuing to ignore the coming of fascism and totalitarian control in America. The track includes a sample from the “Andy Griffith” show where Opie pleads with Andy to pay attention.
The goods just keep coming as “Victim” paints the very real picture of a girl trying to be Brittney or Paris, but our rapper doesn’t put down the stars. He reminds us that they are better people than our culture defines them to be. This is a smart young man who has succinctly defined a culture that honestly can’t see the forest for the trees. The album is certainly political, but it isn’t angry. It isn’t violent gangsta rap. Think of it more as a hip hop dissertation. If you think of yourself as too “well-healed” for rap, then this is the best place to experiment. In fact, our artist even concedes that the sampling that dominates rap soundtracks is unoriginal.
Ultimately, this is a worldly, sad recording that is very personal, but also very universal. Sun Zoo is one to watch.
Pretty nice. In other news, over 5,000 unique vistors to the site this year. Keep spreading the word and keep them coming! Also, expect a pretty long hiatus from updates both here and on the main site (sun-zoo.com) soon. I hope to get some remixes, etc,, up before then (I have a bunch of new remixes, not to mention the 33+ remixes of "Aldous Huxley" that have come in for that contest so far), but I'm leaving for China on June 19th. I will have (occasional) internet access there, but I'll be using it to keep a personal blog of my misadventures rather than updating music sites. Rest assured though, I'll be doing some writing while I'm there. I'm interested to see how being in a different place and culture (and speaking a different language) is going to affect my songwriting. Should be fun.
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