Jesse Boykins III and MeLo-X are about forward movement; the singer/songwriter and rapper/producer make every song a journey. Collaborating together previously on solo projects, the two have joined forces to present Zulu Guru, a rumbling, floating, passionate trip inside the mind of a man, the space-age blues of romance and the complication of life’s issues.
A thinking album, Zulu Guru is lyrical, full of poems and scenarios, proclamations and futuristic historical accounts. The gripping intro of the same name featuring Trae Harris, along with “Schwaza” (a word Boykins uses often to describe “an amazing occurrence that leaves you with a lack of words to express the gravity of the moment”) parts one and two featuring JoeKenneth and Kesed, respectively, offer explosive spoken word narratives that sweep you up, forcing your mind to open and your soul to feel.
If you are still unclear, there is the towering outro, “Schwaza Culture” featuring Street Etiquette, an almost orchestral explanation of The Romantic Movement, the artistic collective that has birthed this music, where each member, self-proclaimed culture kings and queens, “lives to fight for love.”
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