Search - Elemental Zazen :: The Glass Should Be Full

When Elemental Zazen started working on his sophomore release The Glass Should Be Full, he envisioned the album as a political manifesto for radical social change - revolutionary hip-hop in the tradition of Public Enemy. Over the next two years, a series of tragedies in his personal life interrupted his plans and forced Elemental Zazen to shift his focus to survival. In 2006, Zazen lost a close family member in a tragic accident, and then lost most of his worldly possessions when his house burned to the ground in a five-alarm fire. The following year, Elemental Zazen (real name Jason Trefts, age 25) was diagnosed with a life-threatening tumor in his occipital lobe, which required immediate brain surgery. His new album narrates the fear, hope and anger of a disillusioned revolutionary struggling against both political injustice and personal tribulations. Elemental Zazen raps with an aggressive flow, attacking the mic with honest grit and athletic lyricism. With an urgent need to tell his story, Zazen limits his guest appearances to an elite group of veteran and emerging underground hip-hop producers: Kno (Cunninlynguists), Maker (Glue), Joe Beats (Non-Prophets), Gnotes, Scroll, J.Ferra and Confidence. Musically diverse, the album ranges from riotous fist-pumping anthems ("Handcuffs" and "No Survivors"), to subtle, reflective rhythms layered with lush instrumentation ("Silence of the Now" and "Machine" feature live trumpet, guitar, bass and violin). With intricate rhyme-schemes penned by an angry scholar, The Glass Should Be Full is explosive hip-hop with a revolutionary purpose: "I'm a socialist vocalist focused on roping the hopeless in."