"I know it sounds like an ending.....this is a beginning...." -Thomas JonesZo is like my musical brother from another. Our relationship goes back to around 2005 when we hooked up after an LB show in Ann Arbor. He gave me a copy of his instrumental album "Passion...Definition" and I was an immediate fan. This nigga is the KAING of 'Saturday clean up/Sunday driving/chillin on the couch and havin a draink with wifey' music. He's also one of the few producers I know that is able to walk the line between 'hip hop beatmaker' and 'trained musician,' and we constantly push each other to get better and work harder:
Zo: "Nigga, I played the hi-hats on that "Africa" joint live all the way through.."Tigallo: "Nigga, I did six-part hahminy at the end with all that Marvin shit....six-part hahminy (c) Duck MatthewsZo: "Nigga, I had to practice that bassline on "Holdin You, Lovin You" for days til I got it right...."Tigallo: "Nigga, I had to squeeze my nuts to hit that high note on Take On Me..."That competitive spirit and mutual love for music led to us doing a whole 80's EP together ("Zo! and Tigallo Love the 80's" coming soon), as well as him co-producing a joint for the upcoming Foreign Exchange album. "New" was originally done as the intro to Zo's (www.myspace.com/zo and *cough* www.myspace.com/zoandtigallo) forthcoming production album. I did it for him and sent it back, but Pooh heard it and was like, 'nigga we gotta have that one!'
By this time in the album, me and Pooh pretty much had all the other songs done, but still felt like it was missing *that* something. I thought 'Dreams' was a gorgeous song, but I wanted to end the album on a joyous note. I knew that if I woulda ended with "Dreams" y'all woulda been lookin at the CD player like this:
Looking back, I really don't think we could've done a better job of ending the record. Everything we wanted to say about our group, our careers, and lives in general up to that point; we put it all on the track.
Zo speaks on it:
God bless and good night,
Tigallo