Zion I are a hip hop duo from Oakland, California. The duo consists of producer AmpLive and MC Zumbi.
The duo was featured in a Linkin Park song titled "Plc.4 Mie Haed" from the Nu Metal band's album Reanimation.
Zion I's song "Go Hard" was the feature song in popular video game NBA Live 10
The group is known to its followers for Amp's futuristic production techniques, using a mix of live instrumentation and samples, and Zumbi's positive and socially conscious lyrics. Zion I debuted in 1997 with the locally distributed cassette-only EP Enter the Woods. Their first single on Indie label Ground Control Records, Inner Light paved the way for an album deal.
The duo's musical roots stem back to early childhood where they were greatly influenced by Tim Scott. Taking interest in the workings of musical instruments, AmpLive began reassembling his family's radios at a young age and he soon began to play musical instruments like the drums and piano. In his high school years he started crafting beats, finding inspiration in a number of musical genres.
Zumbi (formerly known as Zion) became fascinated by Hip Hop in its early stages; songs like "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow and "Rock Box" by Run-D.M.C. got him hooked on the budding culture. He has said that Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest gave him lyrical inspiration, originally feeling that his vocal tone and style wouldn't be accepted. Zumbi wrote his first rhyme around 1990 during one of his Social Studies classes in high school. After continuing his writing, he gained the confidence to start rapping in local ciphers and began learning about critical aspects of the technique, like breath control, cadences and rhyme patterns. In 1991, Zumbi and Amp joined up with two other MC's, Sup from Connecticut and Richard Raymond from the Cherry Hill projects in Baltimore to form a group called Metufour. The group signed a deal with Tommy Boy Records, but never released an album on the label.
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After signing with independent label Ground Control Records, the duo released their debut single "Inner Light" in 1998, along with their debut EP Starship. In 1999, they released their next single "Critical" featuring Planet Asia, and another EP, Chapter 4. Their debut album Mind Over Matter finally surfaced in 2000..
In total, they have released seven studio albums, Mind Over Matter (2000), Deep Water Slang V2.0 (2003), True & Livin' (2005), Break a Dawn (2006)—a Japan exclusive, Heroes in the City of Dope (2006)—a collaborative album with The Grouch: The Take Over (2009), Atomic Clock (2010), and in 2011 another collaborative album with The Grouch: Heroes in the Healing of the Nation.
The effort was one of the most critically acclaimed underground albums of the year, and was nominated for Independent Album of the Year by The Source Magazine. AmpLive's futuristic production techniques and Zumbi's strong and substantial lyrical content were a major hit with underground Hip Hop fans.
Zion I started their own record label, Live Up Records, in 2003, and released a mixtape titled Curb Servin. In 2004, the duo released a compilation titled Politicks, and another mixtape, Family Business, which served as a prelude to their anticipated third album. They were featured along with Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Haiku D'Etat on the CD/DVD Calicomm 2004..
On September 22, 2010 the duo announced a new album entitled "Atomic Clock" which was released on November 9, 2010 on Gold Dust Records. “The Takeover (2009) was a very external record and we wanted to focus on fun, party music. Atomic Clock is much more reflective and internal. We didn’t want to just recreate what we did last album. Art is not about living in the past.” Zumbi said about the new album on their website
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