Albums, HIP-HOP/RAP, Music Reviews, New Artists, New Fire Music, NJ
Zoloft Zombie ‘Revenant’ Review
Aug
New Jersey-based rapper, producer, sound engineer, and poet, Zoloft Zombie, orchestrates his sound in an authentic and relatable fashion. He does so by speaking on personal experiences and the things he’s witnessed. The topic of conversation centers on the importance of self-expression, mental health, speaking your truth, and having some downtime to unwind from life’s demands.
Additionally, the musician takes a moment to advocate less drugs and more hugs.
“I’m not demonizing drug users because certain drugs can be beneficial or used as tools,” he adds. “But when they are abused, they can become a problem. Moderation is essential, and the first step to recovery is acknowledging you have a problem.”
Unlike modern rappers who glorify popping xans and sipping lean, he wants others to take accountability for overusing paraphernalia. Instead, Zoloft would like for those individuals to seek help before it becomes a severe problem.
Born in Trenton and raised in Ewing, Zoloft Zombie began to make music in the New Brunswick scene during college. His moniker, Zoloft Zombie, was created after he started taking an antidepressant called Zoloft.
“Honestly, it started as a cry for help during a manic episode and morphed into the perfect way to describe my vibe, message, and experience that I’m trying to share with my art. I was at my lowest point when I created the name. I changed my name, not even thinking I’d even be alive much longer. I said, screw it. I’m going to die anyway, so I don’t care what people think,” he continues. “I felt like no one cared about me. I developed a wild martyr mindset where I would tell myself if I don’t survive, at least no one will forget my name/music or the experience attached to it. I thought, ‘maybe then people will pay more attention and not invalidate mental illness,’ how I felt it happened to me. I was very sick. Since I was very manic, it wasn’t logical. But it made sense in my head at the time. It stuck because I am not ashamed of my experience, and it’s the reason I’m here today.”
Zoloft saved his life by taking away his suicidal thoughts, and he felt like it symbolically brought him back from the dead. Hence, Zombie. “Since taking it [Zoloft], I haven’t felt the same. The experiences I’ve had mean so much to my humanity. It feels like a revival, or I came back from hell.” He also goes by Zoza for short, but this name was inspired by Chief Keef’s nickname “Sosa.”
Although music was entirely in his life, he didn’t pursue it until he was a freshman in college. Growing up, Zoloft was apart of the choir, bands, and theater. He even was the drum major for his high school band. Once attending college, Zoloft found a love for spitting hard bars and doing freestyles. From dusk till dawn, he would rummage through beats via YouTube or SoundCloud. Yet, Zoloft wanted to make a unique sound. Following this, the emcee made his first few beats on a producer application called Audacity. Then, he used FL Studios before deciding to stick with Ableton.
He adds, “The energy I bring when you see me live, face to face, can never be truly captured on any track I release. I would host monthly basement shows in New Brunswick at The Undrwrld, a venue I created to give local artists some shine. There is absolutely nothing like moshing in a hot ass basement or making eye contact with someone in the front row of the audience.”
Zoloft Zombie’s latest 20-track album, Revenant, gives listeners a backstory of what he’s experienced over the last two years. “Each one is a different chapter of my crazy ass experience with mental illness and substance abuse. As you turn the pages, you’ll see how various aspects of my life were affected (jobs, relationships, academics),” he says. “The songs are raw, and most of the lyrics were left untouched from when I originally wrote them. My idea was to leave the album as authentic as possible to represent my experience, without too much fine-tuning.” In essence, Revenant details Zoloft’s encounters with previous relationships, drugs, mental illness, suicide, and racism, to name a few. Sonically, Revenant carries dark, spine-chilling elements that put the “spook” in “spooky.” The beats also pair different genres together, like hip-hop and rock. Cadence-wise, Zoloft crossovers between singing and rapping.
Standout tracks include “Drop Everything, “Candyman,” “Fight It,” “Wrath,” and “Runaway.” The song, “Wizard,” would be his theme song because it’s a “melancholy vibe and the perfect background music for an existential crisis.” In terms of car tunes, he recommends you bump “Candyman” or “B4.”
“Drop Everything” uses a dark, booming bassline and eerie organ loops. Zoloft’s flow is bouncy, and amidst every word, he breaks down the lyrics so you can hear what he’s speaking about. The tonality, however, is monotonous. Primarily, he talks about battling inner demons, which in turn, keep him up at night. Lyrics like “I been having all these nightmares, got me dropping all my eyelids/Every minute a dead case of conscious auto-pilot/Convinced by my rage, and I ain’t realize it,” show that Zoloft was in turmoil. Elsewhere he’s transparent about how mental illness once turned him to drugs. He raps, “Looking, I don’t even got a soul/All these pills got me on a roll,” and “So to sleep, I really got to smoke.”
“Candyman” plays off the 1992 supernatural horror film in the beginning. Shortly after, video game elements seep in with a heavy bassline. Between the lines, Zoloft references a few horror figures like Candyman and Freddy Krueger. Then, he shows that his spirit cannot be broken! To summarize, Zoloft has found light out of the darkness and refuses to be brought down by others. In a way, this is deemed as a self-love song. “Ain’t gonna settle down/Know God is true/With all my drug abuse, don’t got no time for you. Don’t accept them,” he spits. His register in “Candyman” is akin to Andre 3000’s.
“Fight It” couples a dark guitar loop with a bellowing bassline and heavy kick-snares. The message is nothing but bawdy as Zoloft unveils his naughty escapades. Though he should resist temptation, Zoloft decides that life is too short and goes for it. “Fight It” is a mesh of rock and hip-hop.
“Wrath” speaks about depression and drug abuse. Granted, the production is minimal, but it does heavily focus on a dark, organ chord. And toward the 50-second mark, drums are thrown in. On a vocal scale, Zoloft sings then raps in a fast rhythm. “Don’t want nobody help/Self-obstruction is the only fucking way/Don’t feel like myself/Actually I ain’t know who I was anyway,” he raps. As the song continues, Zoloft showcases his optimistic nature. He spits, “You can cry, it’ll dry, I can’t die cause I came this far, yeah.”
Lastly, “Runaway” sees Zoloft reminiscing about a previous relationship. He says, “Got me thinking about you shawty and it hurt me/Was is all worth this? Was all the pain worth it?” Production-wise, the song upholds a melancholic soundscape full of sporadic hi-hats, piano arpeggios, and steady bass. From the elements combined, it can be said that this song is Reggae inspired. As “Runaway” closes, listeners hear a girl express how she regrets breaking up with her then-boyfriend.
In other Zoloft news, expect a collaboration with him and LJ The Alien. Zoloft will also drop more visuals and verses. His advice to upcoming artists who are crafting their first album is to take their time.
“There is no need to rush. Don’t forget why you started making music in the first place. Remember, this is your first album. There will be plenty of room for growth throughout your music career.”
Listen to Revenant by Zoloft Zombie below:
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