Survival Scrolls

It’s taken me a long time to write this review for many reasons. The Zodiac is one of the most incredible minds in modern hip-hop, bar-none. I have followed his development for nearly a decade and a half and, with each new composition The Zodiac ascends to new levels of lyrical achievement. After receiving my copy of Survival Scrolls in the mail, I drilled each song into my head repeatedly for hours. Still in the tradition of the original Zodiac killer of whom his moniker is derived, Zodiac the rapper encrypts his lyrics, necessitating repetition to digest his buffet of concepts, metaphors and imagery. My conclusion was that I hated the album. Here are my reasons:

Reason 1

As the Zodiac says himself, rap is on some simple shit. This collection of music is like listening to a musical encyclopedia. The audience that would understand the complexity of his lyrics and appreciate the creativity of his musical imprint dwells among the halls of ivy-league institutions. He opts to not dumb down his music and appeal to a mass audience, restricting his listenership. This is an act of career suicide in today’s music industry. Where are the dance steps? Who wants to learn on their days off?


Actually, that’s my only reason. While Zodiac has spent his time as an artist growing and evolving, his arena has degenerated, reverting to a simplistic state of being. For example, Dr. Cornel West laces his speeches and books with powerfully charged messages and language. Unfortunately, not everybody can understand what he’s talking about or follow his line of thinking. Therein lies The Zodiac dilemma. When he slows down his flow, or breaks the poetry of his art into spoken word, you can clearly hear, follow, and understand his line of thinking. The trick is that Zodiac doesn’t wait long before he hits you with a Big Bang of conceptual bombardment. If you take your time to decipher his codes, the rewards are exponential. You’ll have enough material for debate and conversation to last you for months.

When I told The Zodiac I hated the CD, it was because I loved it so much that I wished the world would embrace it. The pessimistic part of me already knew that intellectual music such as Survival Scrolls could never assimilate into the mainstream, restricting it from the masses who would probably not even waste their time trying to understand. However, he wouldn’t be The Zodiac if he didn’t provoke critical thought and dare you to raise the stakes of your game to go "Deeper" and challenge him. Until then, he may very well remain All One.
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Immediately, you know that you are not listening to candy wrapped "radio" hip hop.  Spoken word legend assists The Zodiac on the Intro & outro to Survival Scrolls.  The Zodiac is basically of internet folklore.  Slightly disputed, The Zodiac developed the first medium for internet battling by designing the 1st Cash Money Millionaires website with a message board meant for fans to discuss releases.  It soon became a battleground for EmCees across the world.  Enough background.  "Rewind This," begins with the Zodiac verbally trying to decide what he is going to listen to and  melds into a homage for the golden age of hip hop  and the pioneer artists and classic songs.  "Alone" finds The Zodiac philosophizing about the human condition of being alone in the world.  It is easy to tell that The Zodiac is not your run-of-the-mill internet rapper, his subject matter is so obviously true to himself, it demands respect.  My personal favorite track is "I Hate What I Saw."  The production bounces, the lyrics sting and the chorus implants itself in your mind.  Overall, I like this album.  It's a refreshing break from the stale "radio" hip hop that saturates the mainstream
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