I’m actually laughing while listening back to this interview as if I wasn’t a part of it. Shouts to mah man Merc80, Chris and Kim Lehman all of BlackIsOnline.com for allowing me to come into their house and clown out for a couple hours before my show in LA on March 2nd. What a fun time of COMPLETE “let-loosedness”…. Enjoy!!!
Category Archives: Media
Zo! Interviews with Insight News (Minneapolis)
Zo! of Foreign Exchange Music coming to Minneapolis March 12 at The Pourhouse
Author: Harry Colbert
Source: Insight News
From time to time, life will throw us a curveball or two.
Fans of soul, neosoul and organic hip-hop, are probably pretty thrilled that Zo! of Foreign Exchange Music wasn’t as good at hitting curveballs as he is at producing and creating timeless melodies and arrangements for the many artists who he’s featured on his three released projects. Now that’s not to say that Zo!, born Lorenzo Ferguson, was a slouch at hitting. The multi-talented producer was drafted out of high school in the 13th round of the MLB Amateur Draft to play center field for the Toronto Blue Jays. But Zo! passed on the offer, opting for college instead at Western Kentucky University, with dreams of securing a higher draft spot. While Zo!’s draft spot didn’t improve, his keyboard playing did.
“My first love was baseball,” said Zo!, who will be in the Twin Cities for a Wednesday, March 12 performance at The Pourhouse, 10 S. 5th St., downtown Minneapolis. “I’m a really passionate person and I was passionate about playing baseball. But I never let that get in the way of my music. I always kept playing music to keep my chops up.”
Visuals from Zo! featuring Carmen Rodgers in LA • Photos by Dominique Easton (03.02.14)
Visuals from…
Zo!
featuring Carmen Rodgers
AND Sy Smith
At The Virgil in Los Angeles, CA
March 2, 2014
Photos by Dominique Easton for KÏNGDØM Photography
Personnel:
Zo! – Keys
Carmen Rodgers – Vocals
Sy Smith – Vocals
Tyler Croomes – Drums
Tarron Crayton – Bass
“Count To Five” Makes Its Video Debut on VH1Soul
It’s always better when you get to watch it on TV. I’m just as hyped up as I was when I first saw “This Could Be The Night” on Vh1 Soul for the first time three years ago almost to the day (February 14, 2011)… Trust me, this never gets old. Shouts to everyone involved, particularly Phonte, Gwen Bunn, Kenneth Price, Darion Alexander, Chris Boerner, Nick Baglio, and Aimee Flint for pushing the video through the process.
It will be shown on Vh1 Soul’s Sub Soul program.
Zo! Interview on Music Emissions
Author: Carlita
Source: Music Emissions
INTERVIEW: Zo!
Remember when video channels actually played videos and you came across a new one that made you want to know more about the artist and the album attached? Yeah, me too. A few weeks ago, I encountered R&B artist Zo’s new video ” We Are On The Move” featuring Phonte (who I’d interviewed a few months ago with with his partner, Nicolay, in FE), Eric Roberson and Darion Alexander that lifted spirits, brought the funk, made me want to get down via the underground interweb (which has great taste, btw) and I needed to know more. I discovered a talented (music and baseball wise) producer, composer and musician from the D that delivered a 2013 album , “ManMade” combining with other R&B singing talents, that deserves all the accolades it’s received.
‘ManMade’ is #3 on CentricTV’s “Best R&B Albums of 2013”
Ok, ok… I know we’re already two weeks into the new year, but uhhh… I had no idea CentricTV chose ‘ManMade’ as the #3 Best R&B Album of 2013…. Dope!!
Zo! – “We Are On The Move” featuring Eric Roberson and Phonte (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
There are only two rules I have for watching this new video:
1. Leave your cool at the door…
2. HAVE SOME FUN.
The day before this video shoot, I was catching up with Eric Roberson in the car where we had the heat blasting as it was cold as shit outside (of course with today’s ‘Polar Vortex’, it probably seems like nothing now). Anyway, as we were talking… almost in mid-sentence Erro stops and said, “Hol’lup, we’re shooting (the video) outside tomorrow?” …To which I responded, “Yeah.” It was supposed to be 30-35 degrees (F) in the morning and top off at about 40 in the afternoon. We all met up at around 7:30a the next morning, threw a couple of dance moves together, looked at each other like, “It’s cold as hell, but we’re out here… Let’s have some damn fun.” And that is EXACTLY what happened…. Enjoy!!!
Zo! “We Are On The Move” featuring Eric Roberson & Phonte (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Directed by: Kenneth Price
Purchase ManMade HERE • Or on iTunes
Eric Roberson, Darion Alexander, Phonte, and I on set in NC (Dec. 2013)
‘ManMade’ Listed as one of SoulBounce’s “Best Albums Of 2013”
Zo! ManMade [Amazon][iTunes]
The “jheri curl jam” connoisseur had a great 2013. After releasing the album ManMade in May, Zo! took the year by storm with videos (muppets included), a tour and even a documentary. The album stood out for its execution and production, staying true to Zo!’s brand. Injected with funk, soul and jazz, ManMade was a relaxed, yet exciting project, which solidified Zo! a spot pretty high on our favorite producers list. With appearances from soul royalty Phonte, Eric Roberson, Sy Smith, Jeanne Jolly, Carmen Rodgers,Anthony David and many more, ManMade had some great, organic moments that easily made it one of the best albums we’ve had the pleasure of listening to this year. — Mercy
Revive Music places ‘ManMade’ at #4 in their “Revive’s Top 5 Albums of 2013”
This is a nice look from Revive Music… They placed ManMade at #4 in their “Revive’s Top 5 Albums of 2013”.
4. Zo! – ManMade (+FE Music; May 21)
The Foreign Exchange has carved out a great piece of the rock for themselves that continues to grow with each project from their expanding camp of collaborators. Chief among them is Zo!, Nicolay’s and Phonte’s keyboardist and key production collaborator. His debut Sun Storm was a gorgeous extension of +FE, only with own brushstrokes of soul. His follow-up, ManMade is nothing short of an amazing record. With Phonte co-captaining much of the ship in co-production and vocals (lead and backgrounds), this album is a cohesive work of inspired song craft. ManMade has songs that make you dance (“We Are On the Move” with Eric Roberson), get you hot (”Body Rock” with Sy Smith) and make you praise the Lord (title track with Phonte).
Zo! Named One Of CentricTV’s ’13 Best Indie R&B Artists of 2013′
I wasn’t quite expecting to read this tonight…. But Centric TV has placed me on their ’13 Best Indie R&B Artists of 2013′ at #6. Feels pretty good… Merry Christmas to y’all!
Zo! 