New Music: Zo! Man Made

The immensely talented ZO! has recently released another album that’s full of gems. “Man Made” from Zo is so incredibly chuck full of back to back bangers, the only way to do it justice is to give my impression of every single track. The genesis of the album pulls into a proverbial music station with the song, “The Train” featuring Sy Smith and is an up beat opening tune. “The Train” is sure to be on my summers’ ever evolving grilling, gardening and no doubt cruising playlist. The second track “Count To Five “ features Phonte and the light and fun vocals of Gwen Bunn. I’m especially loving the modern broken beat, jazzy vibe of this track…a major plus is my kiddos love this song and GFMLoVes the kids. Next up is “New In Town” featuring 1-O.A.K. & Carlita Durand. Carlita’s sweet and sultry vocals are beautifully matched with the tenor of 1-O.A.K.’s. “Making Time” featuring Phonte and Chokolate is the fourth song on the album. You can’t help but nod your head to this catchy tune.

Jean Jolly is featured on track five titled, “Tell Me Something New” which seems to be a jazzy a love song for sure. The writing and delivery is so intimate is makes me want to snuggle with my spouse… The album titled track “Man Made” is easily a standout for me. The song is balanced in every way. The vocals are amazing courtesy of Phonte. The lyrics are very well written as they raise a poignant point and question how we individually identify and represent who God is. “Man Made” is an excellent mix of a jazzy, r&b, and hip hop flavor which is always a win in my book. I am a huge fan of artists who aren’t afraid to stretch the boundaries and genre cross with their music. Song number seven is “We Are On The Move” featuring Eric Roberson (Eros) and is another hit track on this album. This is a headnodder with a mean bass in the back. Flutes, bongos, and maracas come in with a myriad of additional instruments and lend a strong Latin influence at the latter end of this tune. This is a beast of track. “Show Me The Way” featuring Anthony David is a great tune as well.

At this point anyone can appreciate all the love and care clearly put in this album. Next is “Out In The World” featuring the delicious singing of Chokolate and Phonte working together again. In this track we have Chokolate taking on a hip hop vibe by rapping a bit and we get Phonte showing us his skills too. What a treat for the ears with its spacey jazz, hip hop and r&b mash. Yet again we are given a crazy outro at the end of the song….good things come to those who listen for sure;-)  All too soon we are at the final track of the album, “Body Rock” featuring Sy Smith. This is a sweet laid back 80’s feel type of song. Grown Folks Music certified indeed. Appropriately titled, “Body Rock” is quite the love making ballad and its flawlessly executed and the beautiful vocals are icing on the cake.

Zo!’s “Man Made” album is fire, it’s a pleasure to experience and listen to ~ as albums should be! “Man Made” is more than worth the cost of the download and further shows evidence of the dopeness that is consistently being served to us from the +FE label. The album features an array of amazingly talented and quite frankly underrated vocalists. Zo! has managed to unite so many great writers, singers, and producers together in a lovely package. This entire album can be played from beginning to end…no need to skip tracks!!! Do yourself a favor and give Zo!’s “Man Made” album a full listen and pick it up from:
+FEMusic, iTunes, Amazon or any other well stocked music source.

With that being said here are just a few treats for the road.

Zo! ~ Man Made

Zo! ~ Count To Five feat. Phonte and Gwen Bunn

Zo! ~ We Are On The Move feat. Eric Roberson