Good musicians stick to the routine that made them successful. Great ones follow their artistic muse, wherever it may take them. Long heralded by critics as one of the finest home-grown products to emerge from the Bay Area’s burgeoning and legendary underground hip-hop world, Zion I has always chosen the latter route and in the process, solidified their position in the eyes of their fans as one of the most creative independent groups ever to emerge from the West Coast.

Now, on the heels of two critically acclaimed albums, the group is poised to prove that not only have people been sleeping on their immense talents for far too long, but that there’s no longer any other independent group out there that can make music like Zion I.

Indeed, Zion I’s third release, True & Livin’ is a powerful, oft serious and always soulful journey tracing the influence of hip-hop culture throughout the group’s childhood and adult existence. Created in the same vein as such legendary albums like Aquemini and Things Fall Apart, True & Livin’ --which features Talib Kweli, Gift of Gab, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Aesop Rock and social activist Fred Hampton Jr.--will undoubtedly become one of the most important and talked about independent releases of the year. And for good reason: Easily the group’s most political and emotionally-charged work to date, True & Livin’ is a musical amalgamation of rap, soul, jazz and blues, which runs the gamut from saxophone soaked reflections of life in ghetto America, to synthesized, upbeat, socially conscious anthems to acoustic guitar-driven southern blues ballads. And in a marked break from their previous two albums, True & Livin’ is full of serious subject matter, tackling issues like relationships, social injustice and perhaps, most striking, whether the love of hip-hop is really worth the struggle to make music and survive doing it.

“Since this album is coming out on our label,� explains MC Zion, “this is the exact record we wanted to make. We didn’t cater to a particular fan-base or any aspect of the industry, which allowed us to be totally true to ourselves.�

In another break, Zion I has opted for a combination of live instruments coupled with a stunning array of sample-driven, soul and funk heavy beats, as opposed to their trademark drum-and bass driven soundscapes.

“This is the type of production that I have always wanted to do,� explains Amp Live, Zion I’s producer. “For production on True & Livin’ I used gritty samples, live music and bangin ass drums, topped off with a little electro sauce. It really all came together perfectly on this record.�

The result is a beautiful, organic and at times downright moving sonic odyssey—enough to make even the shallowest listener contemplate, dance or get up off the proverbial couch and take to the streets.

The first single, the ethereal, classical piano-driven “Bird’s Eye View,� is an ode to the group’s torrid love affair with hip-hop, reminiscent of Common’s storied “I Used To Love Her.� One listen and it’s clear that this is one of the more memorable songs the group has ever created and seems certain to move listeners from coast to coast, whether heard on the radio or in the club.

Never shying away from difficult subjects, the dark and brooding “Stranger In My Home,� featuring Gift of Gab is a shocking and sad commentary on the gentrification of hip-hop.

“There’s a stranger in my home infiltrating my throne/start messing with my crib, won’t leave me alone/ There’s a stranger, it’s danger, the stranger’s pop culture/ When you’re feeling hot, when you’re not she’s a vulture,� spits MC Zion over a haunting snare beat and melancholy symphonic arrangement.

Notes Zion: “Over the past decade, hip-hop has gone from a Black and Latino musical form to a largely white movement… and we address the inherent contradiction in that.�

“Temperature,� featuring Talib Kweli, is an unabashed political head banger—MC Zion and Talib trade reflective verses about the state of the hood and how political and social ills continue to hound ordinary Americans everyday. The track is backed by a catchy and deeply layered fusion of electronic organs, drums and heavy bass.

Zion I showcase their talents not only as rappers but as pure musicians and singers on the southern fried, mournful blues guitar driven “Oh Lawd Blues,� an astonishingly powerful and mournful hip-hop blues/spiritual which is virtually unprecedented in hip-hop and speaks to dealing with the darkest of dark days.

Of course, making beautiful, provocative music is nothing new for the Oakland-based MC Zion and Amp Live, who exploded onto the national hip-hop scene in 2000 with their debut LP Mind Over Matter. The record melded hip-hop with drum & bass and jazz elements and is now viewed by many as an indie classic.

In 2003, the group dropped their much anticipated follow-up, Deep Water Slang, which garnered both Source and VIBE award nominations for ‘Best Independent Album of the Year,� and pushed the group on tours and live appearances with the likes of Kool Kieth, Lyrics Born, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Mos Def and The Roots (Zion I has also been a mainstay on the MTV 2/Mountain Dew Circuit Breakout tour the last two years.)

Still, throughout it all, mainstream commercial success has avoided the group despite recognition from peers and critics alike. And so, on their third album, Zion I has opted to build their in-house label and record on their own, despite burgeoning interest from major imprints.

“We had interest from Atlantic, Sony, Def Jam and other majors coming in and they were really interested in the guys,� comments manager Robert W. Collins. “But the fact is, Zion I wanted to finally do a record on their own, free from any label or marketing constraints. A record that showed everyone what they were capable of.�

Sure enough, through True & Livin’, Zion I has proved defiantly, once and for all, that it’s impossible to underrate MC Zion’s sharp poetics and Amp Live’s varied and original production; that it’s impossible to dismiss the group as simply ‘underground hip-hop; that it’s impossible to ignore their musical call to arms…. That this is good, soul-healing music. Period.

And there are not many in today’s hip-hop world who can do it better.

Listen, learn and recognize.