Zion I’s Zumbi Speaks On Social Media Activism

Ahead of their performance on the MURS 316 Stage at the Sunset Strip Music Festival over the weekend, Zumbi of Zion I reacted to the tone of social media activism in the wake of Mike Brown’s death in Ferguson and other events including the ongoing domestic violence controversy in the NFL. Speaking with HipHopDX, he said, “maybe we need to sit back and analyze what we’re being fed and then reinterpret it with our messaging.”

“On the other side of the Ferguson thing, I was kind of like, man, it’s almost like with Black males, I feel like we’re getting programmed to be hot right now for some reason,” Zumbi said in a clip that premiered in today’s DX Daily (September 23). “There’s always this thing. It’s like Adrian Peterson and then all this NFL [controversy], it’s all Black males. Then all these Black males are getting killed. The media is pumping this. My thing is like, maybe we need to sit back and analyze what we’re being fed and then reinterpret it with our messaging. Because I feel like we’re very quick to react to what’s popping instead of sitting back and strategizing and then going at it like from like, ‘Alright, this is our aim. This is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna move this way.’ Instead of being like, ‘Well they shouldn’t do that! I’m mad as hell!’ I feel like we’re getting manipulated at a certain level.”

In May, Zion I premiered their “Masters of Ceremony” video on HipHopDX. The song appears on an EP of the same name released in January as the first of a three-part series. In June, the duo followed with Libations. The second EP features production from AmpLive and Headnodic as well as features from Mr Lif, Sadat X, and Opio.

READ: Zion I “The Masters Of Ceremony” Cover Art, Tracklist, Download & EP Stream