Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Zack de la Rocha: Keep It Zipped (2004, 2011)


The former Rage Against The Machine front-man Zack de la Rocha doesn't need a lot of introduction: After leaving the band in the year 2000 he went on to focus on a hip hop career. He appeared on a variety of projects. However, he never released a solo hip-hop record on his own. In 2004 de la Rocha started a collaboration with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, in which about 20 tracks were produced but never published (maybe if either one runs out of money one day). Thus, the rock oriented One Day As A Lion project together with Jon Theodore remains de la Rocha's only inter-RATM release.


In the absence of an official release I prepared this compilation back in 2004 and added some minor updates for this version. My favorites are the great Blackalicious' "Release (Part 1,2,3)" and the excellent collaboration with KRS One and the Last Emperor on the track "C.I.A.". Lyrically, most tracks deal with various aspects of politics: "Mumia 911" for instance is about the ill fate of Mumia Abu-Jamal who is on the death row right now and "March Of Death" is a strong anti Iraq war song.
Surprisingly, I discovered that someone else made a simple cover for this compilation and now, in the wake of the RATM reunion I don't think that an official release is highly likely so please enjoy the track listing after the break!


Preview | Buy! | Web