"Zhigge means anything that's totally fly. If we were wearing dope clothes, we wouldn't say it was fly, we'd say it was zhigge!" Emerging from uptown New York in '87, the five piece rap outfit of the same name were originally a dance unit who frequented the hip-hop clubs that ruled New York... "It all started when Kayzo and Prince, who are two members of the band, began dancing at school. When they took it to the streets, the two other members Sound and Tonga joined. I saw what they were doing and I knew I wanted to hook with them," says Face (fifth member of the crew). At the time the New York rap club scene was thriving with new clubs springing up almost every week... Any crew that descended on a rap club was asking for a battle... "We'd just go out there and battle. You'd know if you won, because the crowd would just go wild... Zhigge soon moved from the clubs, which were constantly closing due to drugs and violence, to videos and tours. Special Ed, YZ and Public Enemy are just a few of the rap groups who enlisted their talents. But after being in the background for what seemed like an eternity, Zhigge decided it was time to do their own thang!"
"We used to fool around rapping, we just started taking it seriously," says Face, who insists Zhigge has something to offer to a dance-rap concept that has been flogged to death by the likes of Hammer. "The difference between us and other rap groups is that, while some dance rap groups can move well, but can't rhyme or vice versa, we do both good. We always had the flavor. We also ain't boasting about being hard with .9s and things, we just chillin' and kicking fly lyrics. Our stuff's from the heart. No one can dump us in there with Hammer, Vanilla Ice and Young MC. They made their money, but they have no longevity. They were gimmicks, no one want to see them no more!" With the release of their new single "Rakin In The Dough," Zhigge want to beat down anyone who questions their validity. "Our name ain't no gimmick. We are no gimmick, we ain't doing nothing we'll regret in the future. We're true to the game!" - Hip-Hop Connection, 1994. Shouts to the Lo heads!
