Back in the summer of 2004, as I did almost every Tuesday night around that time I ventured down to the Carbon Lounge in Hamtramck, MI. Carbon was a spot that would showcase different local hip-hop artists every week and would follow their performances with a cipher of freestyling emcees that would show off their best or simply sharpen up their skills. Being that I have never been an emcee, just laying low and watching the overflow of talented kats pick up the mic in that place was satisfying enough for me. One night in particular, I was in the spot checking out this duo who called themselves The Runaways. Now normally, being that I’m always so immersed in the music and trying to take a song apart and put it back together in my head I have never been one to really pay attention to lyrics like that (it takes me forever to learn the words to songs) – but one of the kats by the name of Asylum 7 stood out as he rhymed with the hunger of a young LL (circa 1985). His wordplay, stage presence and command of mic was undeniable. So after the set, I walked up and introduced myself and suggested that we should work. The next day we were on the phone scheduling a time to meet up…a couple days later 7 was at my house picking out music we should work on (I ended up constructing the beat right then and there for him to take home and write to)…and a few days after that, we were in a studio in Ann Arbor, MI recording our first joint together, “Listen Up.” We ended up working together on another joint that ended up closing A7’s debut EP Brown Study entitled “Observe (Remix).” With the feedback we received from these couple of songs and the ease at which the results came, it was almost a no-brainer – we need to start on an album, or at LEAST continue working. We talked about that even before I moved east in early 2006…

We recorded the first song for the album back in July 2007. At that point, we were both working on other projects and we decided to let the music dictate the flow of the album without forcing creativity. Soon after all of the production work was finished for the Zo! & Tigallo Love the 80’s album and 7 finished working on his Lights Out project with producer Eddie Logix, the production for our album was then put into overdrive. I basically went from Phonte‘s great work ethic to Asylum 7’s…and what an easy transition that was. Everything I was sending A7’s way was being turned around in 24-48 hours with a, “Send the next one through when you get a chance” message attached to it. Those who we asked to be a part of the album recorded without even a second thought – This lead to contributions from emcees such as: Asheru, Buff1, Finalé, Miz Korona, Metasyons and talented vocalist AB. DJ’s Roddy Rod, Dirty Ice and Crate Digga came through for us on the cuts…Hundreds of back and forth emails, thousands of tweaks and 13 songs later, we now have a complete product on our hands….

Stay tuned as we have some special things planned for this project. Next, be on the lookout for the cover art and tracklisting…

Zo