ZULUZULUU hits the road on the upcoming What's The Price Tour Spring 2017.
Minneapolis, MN
R&B / Psychedelic funk / Afro-futurism
Some artists wear their hearts on their sleeves. ZULUZULUU wear their entire beings for all to see. They’re not a band. They’re not a crew. They’re not a collective. They’re a Tribe. Hailing from Minneapolis, their sound is a cauldron of influences drawn from the very best the city has to offer. The fierce funkiness of Prince. The gospel tidings of Sounds of Blackness. The unbridled enthusiasm of The Replacements. The un-exhaustive flow of Atmosphere.
Made up of six musicians/producers, each member of ZULUZULUU brings their own uncommon perspective to each musical declaration. MMYYKK, Proper-T, Greg Grease, DJ Just Nine, ∆RT P∆RTÉ & Trelly Mo spin yarns about life, heritage, and their perspective, all with an exploratory sound that spans much more than just the few artists listed above.
As fun as their experimental, electronic take on R&B futurism is, it’s not to be taken lightly. They are serious about presenting music that will elicit though and inspire greatness. “High Value Black Art” is what they call it. We call it one of the can’t miss shows at this year’s 80/35.
- Written by Chris Lackhy
Twin Cities alt-weekly City Pages polled 100-plus critics around the metro area, asking them which local band held the most promise in 2016. ZULUZULUU ran away with the prize. A producers’ supergroup of sorts, ZULUZULUU has been synthesizing and streamlining enough collectivized inspiration (their covers album The Cover Up spans from The Stylistics to DJ Quik) to stand out as a more hip-hop-indebted heir to the classic ’80s Minneapolis sound—the classic DIY funk roots fused with a sample-searching cratedigger’s ear. Think of their mission as the geographical inverse of Jam and Lewis’s early production gigs that helped define the vintage boogie-funk sounds of L.A. and Atlanta; their Twin Cities g-funk feels like TDE and Organized Noize refitted for the Cities’ Midwest art-rap sensibilities. “Black excellence is always our goal, to inspire greatness through sonics and to pay homage to our ancestors,” explains co-producer and MC Greg Grease. “Our inspirations come from the tradition of great black music, jazz, soul, R&B, hip- hop, and reggae. We’re all students of this music and want to continue the legacy and culture.”- Nate Patrin, Bandcamp