Prototype

For 15 years MuAmin  DJ/ Producer aLive and MC/Poet Zion,  have been creating and performing their unique and heady brand of hip-hop all over Cleveland and beyond. Muamin Collective started with a concept - rapid fire critical thought over beats. simple? Not actually as easy as it is said, but what started as a concept, has become praxis. 

The two recently collaborated with a live band in a string of performances and recording sessions to interpret MuAmin's catalog. The fruits of their labor are evident in the 8 song EP DiG (2016) released on ABSNFC (Amsterdam). The title track featured Zion's brother and LMNTL emcee, Jungle, and the blood-bound alliance continues on their latest album The Hues Brothers. 

The album is very much in the zeitgeist of the moment, but through the lense of prodigious directorial duo Hughes Brothers. Incorporating samples from movies like “Menace II Society”, “Book of Eli”, "American Pimp," "Dead Presidents" and "From Hell” Hues explores a plurality of issues and emotions with wit and verve against a vibrant backdrop of guitars, horns, keys and drums.  

Asked about the structure of the album Zion replied "I love an album that feels like something at the end, like you went somewhere or did something, not just a bunch of a songs. I feel like, today, people don't engage with things they like for extended periods of time. Everything's a playlist - it's got sonic continuity, but not necessarily narrative. This album is definitely taking that to the extreme, and I'm all about going against the grain, as long as it means something."

Over the years they have had the opportunity to open for well known acts like DeLa Soul, GZA & Reakwon (Wu Tang), Diplo, Del the Funky Homosapien, Talib Kweli, Van Hunt, and Pete Rock, J Rawls, Kool Keith, Blueprint, Ratatat, Das Racist, Mob Deep and More. 

Their discography includes their cult-classic debut INDUSTRY STANDARD featuring underground hit "WhiTea", A strong follow up with 2007's WHEREMYPEOPLES@?! featuring the Hendrix tinged anthem L.S.D. Their third album World B. Free was a nod the former Cavs great and a trip through nostalgia and future. on their fourth studio album, SO BLUE ITS BLACK, the musicality is much richer with A-Live delving into music theory and the narratives penned by Zion reflecting a mellowed militancy of a culture concerned for its children. Writing instructor and Soccer coach in Cleveland’s Slavic village by day and MC at night and a newly minted father, art imitates life and vice versa.

all these albums are available for download at www.muamincollective.com
aLiVe's beat tapes are available for download at www.clevelandtapes.com

email any inqueries to faretraderecords@gmail.com

Prototype

GWENMAUL