
Super unique & talented, albeit generally slept-on, longtime San Francisco emcee
Z-Man flew out to New York City last week to do a couple of gigs including opening for the
Alkaholiks at the
Knitting Factory last Thursday (4/10) when the Gurp City former
99th Demention emcee, down with the
Hieros, totally wrecked it on the mic (pictured left), much to the delight of the numerous San Fran transplants in the NYC audience that night, proudly representing in their
SF Giants gear (no doubt they showed up to see both
Z-Man and the other SF rapper on the bill
Starski who is on the current
LIKS tour).
Z-Man, as well as pleasing fans, managed to convert many East Coast-ers unfamiliar to Z-Dazzle's fluency in the Bay Area spun
Gurp City** slanguage (
word billy) for a tight set that included his song "
OJ Simpson & Courtney Love." A great set, with
DJ Thanksgiving Brown ably backing up the MC, from a true lyrical talent who I rate up there with
E40 and the late
Mac Dre when it comes to being a truly creative wordsmith, creating new words and always telling stories in a most engaging way -- a far cry from the usual tired clichés that pass as rap/hop-hop these days. For proof, pick up his CD "
Dope or Dog Food" (
Refill/Hiero - 2002) or any of the other releases of his available at Amoeba including his "
Z-Mutiny" 12" vinyl release. Z-Man never disappoints.