Zion I

This album deserves to be granted an extended shelf life, not just because of its unique qualities, but for the travails the band endured to get it out there. Deep Water Slang is tagged v.2.0 since the original version nearly disappeared with the demise of Zion I’s former label, Ground Control/Nu Gruv Alliance, until the group inked a new deal with New York-based Raptivism Records. On the album, they go against the major grains of mainstream hip-hop through their beats and rhymes. This manifests most clearly in the use of instrumentation such as wind chimes and pan flute to further the earthy, “build rather than destroy” theme of “Dune,” and in a song about remorse and forgiveness (“Sorry”), two concepts usually missing from the genre’s vernacular. They prove versatile in working with different tempos (ranging at times from dancehall to a fast drum and bass pace) and creating a complex interaction where background samples and riffs are often incorporated into the rhyme scheme (check “A.E.I.O.U.” for proof). Still just below the radar but worthy of so much more.