Thursdays – ‘One to Watch’ – RZO
RZO first emerged on the Manchester music scene in 1999 within the UK Garage revolution under the simple alias Rowen MC. He found local success by performing in small venues until the UK Garage scene died down around 2003. It was at this point that he turned to his first love… Hip Hop.
RZO started writing to popular U.S Hip Hop instrumentals until he had an offer to work with fellow Mancunian and Hip Hop producer Mankub. The pair worked together on RZO’s (who was still known as Rowen MC) first EP which was a massive success online through MySpace with tracks such as Welcome, Army Dreamerz, It’s Over, Main Man and Goodbye (Sampling U.S Rapper, Freeway’s track of the same name). The EP helped raise RZO’s profile enough to land him a spot to compete on Flava TV’s ‘Britain’s Next Urban Superstar’ along with a headline story in the Middleton Guardian Newspaper.
In 2008 RZO met Jonathan Nelson (who later became Jay Faith) and was asked to attend the Nice Nice Studio’s in Manchester to meet Jonathan’s brother Matthew ‘Maffa T’ Nelson. After a brief audition the three started working together as a collective to create a catalogue of music along with fellow artists ‘Fykus’ and ‘Von Marcus’ under the supervision of an experienced PR executive with a view to release individual solo projects aswell as a collective effort.
Due to popular demand, RZO, released a Mix Tape in July 2012 through Datpiff, which generated over 4000 downloads and proved to be RZO’s path into more mainstream opportunities. Tracks such as ‘Hot Town’, ‘Naggin’ Me’ and ‘M9 Breadline’ were played on numerous Radio Stations such as Manchester’s across the North West as well as online. Interview opportunities came in the form of Bloc2Bloc and Rago Magazine where RZO’s message was consistant “There’s plenty more to come” and there was.
Catch RZO in the ‘Ones to watch’ and listen out for his ‘Crowd Reaction’ which has generated nearly 138,000 plays on Soundcloud. The track was released through Spinnup Distribution and is available on digital outlets such as iTunes, Google Play and Amazon, as well as popular streaming sites Spotify and Deezer, and provides a little taste of what Destiny Music has been holding back and ready to blow in 2015!!
Tune in to Breakfast with Scotty from 8 am to catch RZO live in the studio.
