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As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Zilla Rocca released his first solo project this week, Bring Me The Head of Zilla Rocca. Loosely inspired by Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia - a choice in title that, I must confess, originally had me hoping for a Biblical period piece - Zilla is referring to this release as a "mixtape," however its level of quality and cohesion is more in line with what one would expect from an actual album. With his mixtape sounding as good as it does - and yes, I'll save you the trouble of reading through the rest of the review to find out that the tape is indeed quite good - he's set the bar quite high for his upcoming "official" album, Fall Back Friday.
If you've been reading this site over the past year or if you've been keeping close tabs on Zilla's MySpace page over that same time period, a few of the tracks should already be familiar to you. The tracks that were released prior to the mixtape have all been updated, however, from small tweaks like cutting out the sample loop for a few bars on Sunbathing Bitches to adding a full set of verses over Z.R.'s self-produced Bangladesh instrumental. If those song titles mean nothing to you they soon will, but for those who have heard them in their earlier form it makes for an interesting listening experience as it offers an opportunity to peak behind the curtains of the production process and see how a track gets polished up before its final release.
As with many of the previous Beat Garden projects, longtime readers of this site will recognize the names of several of the producers and rappers who make guest appearances on Bring me the Head of Zilla Rocca. Zilla's partner in Clean Guns, Nico the Beast, puts in several verses that continue to solidify his rep as one of the fiercest lyricists getting slept on by the mainstream, while Mally from the 612, ASK?, 2ew Gunn Ciz, Triple Nickels, MAGr, and Reef the Lost Cauze all put in strong performances of their own. As for the production, Alex Wood and Griff of J-Direct both lace the tape with some memorable beats.
One of the most appealing aspects of this tape, at least for a (very late) 70's baby like myself, is that it's something of a return to the kind of hip hop that people have been clamoring for since the phrase "Hip Hop Is Dead" first became a part of rap's vernacular at the start of the millennium. Not to say that Zilla's joined the tight jeans brigade in a misguided attempt to bring the 80's back - far from it, in fact, as the beats and approach to lyricism on here are, if anything, state of the art if not forward-thinking - just that the mixtape includes a lot of the little touches that helped earn so many of the older hip hop albums their status as classics. There are lyrical nods to the past, with Zilla and friends making reference to Kool Herc, the Beastie Boys and Redman's nose tissue (it'll make sense once you hear the lyric), among others. On the production side of things, an abundant supply of samples are used in favor of the Casios and synthesizers that have characterized the recent ringtone movement. And pulling it all together is the return of what has become something of a lost art in hip hop, scratched up vocal samples by Nex Millen (who's also responsible for a couple of the beats as well). Again, it's not a throwback album by any means, but there are moments that will remind you of the records that you used to love.
The tape's strongest appeal, though, is its creativity. From the theme behind the artwork to the use of a skit from the Larry David Show to an entire song built around the harps of Dorothy Ashby's By the Time I Get to Phoenix, the tape throws in a lot of material that doesn't adhere to the conventional approach to hip hop. The result is something that stands out from the weekly barrage of generic mixtapes that get featured on some of the larger hip hop sites.
Of course, the success of a mixtape ultimately depends on the quality of the emcee, and Zilla Rocca will have answered any questions about his lyrical abilities with the release of this mixtape. Every bar is packed with one liners and cultural references, though in a manner that's far more coherent than, say, Lil Wayne's habit of stringing together pop culture non sequiturs. After listening to Bring Me The Head..., you'll be left with the feeling that Zilla raps for the love of the art rather than a desire to cash in on any potential ringle money. It's a trait that more emcees could use, as Zilla himself says, "sell more crack, there's no money in rap, folks." Here's hoping that a few aspiring studio gangsters will give the tape a listen and heed his warning.
The mixtape is available for free, however as a preview here are two of the standout songs from the tape:
Zilla Rocca - Pepsi With Ice (Produced by Alex Wood)
Zilla Rocca - Cup Runneth SGB Remix (Produced by Nex Millen)
Here's the link to download Zilla Rocca's Bring Me The Head of Zilla Rocca.
9/25/2008 07:30:01 PM posted by Fresh