August 11 1973 Hip Hop was officially born in NYC. 50 years past that date the music has grown into a global artform, becoming one of the world’s most influential cultural forces, an integral part of social and racial justice movements, and a multibillion-dollar industry built on generations of rapping, emcees, DJs, breakdancing and graffiti.
Kamala Harris said hip-hop is “the ultimate American art form” that “shapes every aspect of America’s popular culture.”
“Hip-hop culture is American culture,” she told the crowd. Kamala hosted a celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary with appearances by some of the music genre’s pioneers and stars.
We have found a pioneer of our own, a hidden gem, a falling star, in a small humble blue-collar steel town. This artist’s name is ZIO which is properly pronounced as ZEE-YO. ZIO is an American rapper, producer and actor hailing from Pittsburgh,PA. We have been following him since Wiz Khalifa’s Star Power EP, since Mac Miller’s K.I.D.S EP but ZIO went rogue, ghost, and basically fell off of earth it seemed.
ZIO, like a comet, dropped out of nowhere with an EP this year titled BIZZY 2 which is an encore to his debut from 2019 BIZZY 1, turning it into a compilation. ZIO has radically changed the atmosphere of his music since we first heard of him in 2007 at the age of 17. A fresh audience is growing around his new music on Spotify and Apple Music. ZIO promises to release a song every other week at minimum until eventually the labels come to help circuit his music globally.
ZIO was born December 27 1988 as Mitchel K. Malizio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Growing up in predominantly a Hispanic and African American family. His father wasn’t around until the age of 12 due to a lengthy prison sentence for crack cocaine trafficking. ZIO was normally the only kid of his complexion in the schools, boys and girls clubs, or neighborhoods he grew up in.
“Racism is alive and we need to kill it” he said as he took a drag from a thick and perfectly smooth joint.
ZIO was drafted by a street DJ named DJ Schizophrenic in 2007 which led his trajectory directly to being nominated against Wiz Khalifa for best male hip hop artist. At 17 that’s BIG news for a kid from a town with less than 400,000 people. ZIO eventually was put in front of Atlantic Records, unfortunately, it was cut short due to ZIO’s run-in with the Broward Sheriff’s Office in an incident involving a shooting.
Taking a hiatus and getting his life on track ZIO vowed to come back with a vengeance. Starting in 2018 he came back with a slew of guerilla videos one featuring Nelly’s Artist on Derrty Entertainment T-RELL, in addition to meeting with Flo Rida at Studio 187, and finally releasing BIZZY 1. Then out of the blue, with no warning, he dropped BIZZY 2 on April 20th, 2023 which now is on its way to 250,000 streams.
For more information on ZIO like the newest music, tour dates, or just creeping on his page to see if you like what he’s dropping find him on his Instagram.
@LONEWOLFDTA
When we asked why he chose that Instagram handle for his page he replied, “Because I don’t trust a motherf%ckin’ soul.” The DTA stands for “Don’t Trust Anyone” and the Lone Wolf is because he knows he doesn’t need anyone except belief in himself and God.
