A Different Drum

Dewey Decibel | A Different Drum

The pairing of emcee/visual artist Dewey Decibel and emcee/producer Zilla Rocca is an explosion of verbal psychedelia — they roar through South Philly like a pair of runaway trains and nothing derails them. A Different Drum, produced entirely by Zilla Rocca, is psychic fuel for the insolent hip and the grimly square - an incense-heavy evocation of the euphoric vibes of reading Alan Watts, bumping Heiroglyphics and Camp Lo, and sipping french pressed Columbian coffee.

The beats mix the golden era thump of Marley Marl with surreal ferocity of dub and electro. Decibel's hallucinatory imagery on the mic is akin to his burgeoning commissioned collage work for various indie labels -- playful, vibrant, and enthusiastic. A Different Drum deals with the existential issues of modern artists: fair-weather friends, beatnik ethos, balling on a budget, and how to pick up women at museums.

Unlike their gritty and blue collar hometown contemporaries, Dewey Decibel and Zilla Rocca don't constrain their styles within the asphalt of Philly - their slang is existential, their beats are colorful, and their brunches are wavy.