Ziplock Music – Q&A Interview
Tell us a little about the group. Where you are guys from? How long have you been making Hip Hop together?
The group is nearly three years young but we have known & worked with one another for nearly 10 plus years now. Prolix and Feo are actual cousins; Feo and Sol met during their freshmen year in high school, thus connecting Prolix and Sol early on. Having grown up between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo (805), Prolix bridged the gap in introducing Feo & Sol to his child hood friends Headake and Digi, unknowing that we would eventually come together as a crew. After years of making music as individuals we realized the power in numbers & unified under our common passion for Hip-Hop. Our focus is to represent the West Coast with an original and innovative sound/style seldom seen or heard in today’s culture.
What influences you in making Hip Hop as group?
We definitely gain influence from one another in terms of creativity. We enjoy the competition that exists within the group, because it only brings out the best in each of us, thus leading us to make quality music together. We also draw major influence from our personal lives, our own experiences as individuals and a team, society as a whole & other artists as well. We are very supportive of one another & always aim to inspire one another in every aspect of our art.
Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?
“I’d say it’s hard to put a label on our music or categorize it in a certain way. Our music is our mood and our energy from the past and present, so it’s really limitless. It is a representation of ourselves in the form of dope ass bars, and that is what ultimately separates us from other MCs. We have different experiences, different views or even different ways of describing the same thing. Everybody in the group has their own fingerprint, highlighting the variety in styles and diverse approaches we have within the group.” – Sol
Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?
Currently we have yet to collaborate with major artist as we have set our focus on building our own brand of music & being recognized for that. As the recognition for our music grows we hope future collaborations we have in mind can happen more naturally for us. We’d rather work with artists based on the mutual respect for one another’s music, as opposed to having something arranged for the sake of appearance or sales.” – Feo
Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
“To us underground hip hop is music made for the people, not for corporations. Hip Hop music can go mainstream or be popular but not necessarily created with that intention. Underground hip hop is pure, no cut or artificial flavoring, and something we are proud to represent as artists who respect the art & the culture.” – Sol
Production wise, who are your influences? Who does your production? And who would you like to work with?
“Production Influences? We got mad different influences here. Each member has a different flavor they bring. From Dr. Dre to RZA to Hi Tek to J Dilla to these new cats mixin the old with the new, bringing that real street sound into the game. Cats like TDE’s Digi+Phonics production team. We don’t put any restrictions on the style of production we work on. But we definitely have that signature Ziplock sound we look for and seek out when we vibe together.
Currently group member @WeBeDigi is our in-house producer. He’s been there since day one, when the Ziplock Music idea was conceived, and has a clear vision of the sound that was dreamed up in the trap house 7 years ago. That being said, we are not self-limiting and have plans to increase the size of the production team. We’ve just recently began this process.
When we do mixtape work we rock a lot of !llmind beats, so off tops…that would be dope to get an official collab with him done! AraabMuzik is another cat who has a sound that we really vibe with. And I know that Prolix or Sol would love to eat up Mustard beat. So that’s that!” –Digi
Any current or future projects you are promoting?
We currently promoting and preparing ourselves to release a solo Digi EP entitled #WhiteRaven entirely produced by French producer @KeorMeteor. We are working towards releasing the project towards the end of October, given everything goes according to plan. Following the #WhiteRaven EP will be the first full length solo album out the camp from group member Prolix. The project is entitled #AMatterOfTime & is entirely produced by Digi, with assistance from the crew throughout. No set date has been decided on this particular project, but we hope to drop it before the year ends.
Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of EXTRA GRAMS EP? Also/ what was the idea or concept description about your EP Art Cover.
“Our creative process is simple. Hit the lab, grab some brews & trees, throw some beats on and spit. Kick verses to each other, just vibe out and have a good time. We joke around and throw ideas around; if someone has the hook idea they handle it and we add to it sometimes. Collaboration is a key word with us, we always aim to spit clever wordplay along with creative & ill deliveries, the type of shit that gets us excited about hip hop. Our energy as a team drives us to kick the dopest bars we can. If someone spits something dope as fuck, it makes us all want to spit something just as good or better. Most of all we just have a good time though. We like to make an event out of making our music. The idea behind the cover art was to play off the metaphor ‘extra grams”. The obvious thing that comes to mind when they hear that is some type of narcotic. So we threw bud on a scale and had it read “extra” emphasizing the metaphor in the music, and because it was a short EP of some tracks we didn’t want to waste. It’s really the same metaphor behind “Ziplock Music” which is to turn this music into dope and hustle it. Hopefully the people find it addictive and want more. The color of the cover art was to pay tribute to Dr. Dre’s Chronic 2001, which was a big influence on all of us as West Coast artists.” – Prolix
Where can we find your music and info?
Our entire catalog is available at [ziplockmusic.bandcamp.com]. You can follow us via twitter & instagram @ziplockmusic, as well as checking us out on FB [facebook.com/ZiplockMusic].
Any shout outs?
We want to shout out any and everyone who’s been supporting the crew and our music. Whether it’s sharing the music, coming out to a show or purchasing some merch; we greatly appreciate yall! We wouldn’t be this far down the road on our journey without yall!
