NEWS
EVENTS
New sound crush: Zebra Katz
RnB/Hip Hop | Tuesday 24th July 2012 | Osh
Brooklyn-based MC Ojay Mogan, otherwise known as Zebra Katz, has been having a rollercoaster year. Five years ago, whilst still a bright-eyed college student, he put together a then little-known track Ima Read. Fast track into the present and the song has blown up to mass adulation, surpassing the kind of response even he probably predicted for it.
Anyone listening to his single may at first wonder whether it is an anthemic message to the youth of today to tuck away their beer bottles, put down their iPhones and attempt some honest, cultural exertion in the form of good old traditional reading? Not quite. What at first appears to be fairly simple actually has a few layers to it. The track is more accurately described as an homage to the underground ball culture of the 80s, where people would compete for trophies through voguing and getting geared up in drag. ‘Reading’ actually refers to the act of dissing another with a whiplash, bitchy comment – the rawer, the better. The music video is a concoction of dark, disturbing and seductive visuals, and ZK’s cutting lyrics set to the incessant pulsing of the bass line makes the song pretty much headed for cult status.
Ima Read, now with female rapper Njena Reddd Foxxx lending her own flows to the track, was catapulted into the fashion world when Rick Owen’s used it as the only song on 12-minute soundtrack for his A/W 2012 show in Paris. This isn’t the first instance of sartorial-musical marriage, for example Azealia Banks teaming up with and Alexander Wang, who championed 212 prior to it storming the charts, before going on to form partnerships with Mugler and Lagerfeld, but that doesn’t make this particular one any less special.
Previously working as a caterer, Katz has since quit his job to focus full-time on developing his music with Diplo’s imprint label Jeffree’s (part of Mad Decent) behind him, and he will be joining the potty-mouthed Miss Banks on her UK tour this September. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery and, if this is the case, she’s already shown herself to be a fan of his work through including a remixed snippet of Ima Read on her recent EP Fantasea. One thing that can be said with certainty about the 25 year-old rapper is that he’s breathing new life into the rap scene and his unique direction is sure to leave a lasting impression.
You can watch the video for Ima Read below and look out for his next single release and video W8WTF.
For more information visit www.zebrakatz.com and to hear more tracks go to www.soundcloud.com/zebrakatz
Angie Moneke @angiejudeLDN
