MC Zappa

**Elyjah Rah McKoy** (born November 21st, 1999), better known by his stage name **MC Zappa**, is an American record producer, rapper, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Atlanta, Georgia. He is most notable for being the inventor of the subgenre Bit-Hop, a fusion subgenre of Hip-Hop music and video game music.

### Occupation

rapper · record producer · songwriter · multi-instrumentalist · entrepreneur

## Musical Career

### Genres

Bit-Hop · Hip-Hop · hardcore Hip-Hop · conscious Hip-Hop · old school Hip-Hop

### Instruments

drum machine · sampler · keyboard · synthesizer · piano · turntables · vocals · electric guitar · bass · harmonica · percussion (maracas, djembe, congas, bongos)

## **Career**

### **Career beginnings: 2015-2017**

MC Zappa had always been a fan of classic Hip-Hop artists such as Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Slick Rick etc., but it wasn't until seeing the biopic film "Straight Outta Compton" in 2015, at the age of 16, that he started creating his own music. Using nothing but a Samsung SGH-1497 and a pair of earbuds, he started creating his own rudimentary beats and rhyming over them, with the intent of releasing an EP (🎮💯🔥)

The first song he ever recorded was "4Kikz". He also created the stage name "**MC Zappa**" for himself, after the **NES Zapper**, the light gun accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

As time went on and his production skills improved, he used his love of classic 8-bit video games to create the subgenre of Bit-Hop. His Bit-Hop beats initially consisted of simple 8-bit loops over drum breaks, but as time went on, he would incorporate scratching, drum programming, and original 8-bit synth patterns, among other elements.

Despite his makeshift DAW suffering technical difficulties, MC Zappa spent most of 2016 honing his production skills, refining his new subgenre, and selecting material for a full length album.

### **It's All A Game: 2017-Present**

Having declared 2017 "The Year Of The Rising Funk", MC Zappa started the year off by continuing to compile what he called "These Are The Breaks!", a project he had started in late 2016. It was originally intended to be a selection of drum breaks for use on his album "It's All A Game", but evolved into a general collection of any and all drum breaks.

In mid-June, during a trip to New York, he procured a copy of Logic Pro X from his great-uncle, who was a renowned music producer himself. This was to become his DAW of choice from then onwards. During the same trip, he also bought a crate of over 90 records for 20 dollars at a Yonkers flea market. In addition, he secured a needle for the turntables he had gotten the previous year but had been unable to use. With these new acquisitions, he was finally ready to start recording his debut album, "It's All A Game".

## **Artistry**

MC Zappa is best known for inventing **Bit-Hop**, a fusion subgenre of Hip-Hop combining 8-bit video game music and Golden Age hip hop.

Many of his lyrics address subjects associated with gaming, such as girls who game, console wars, price-gouging and DLC, and assertions that video games are a harmful influence. He also deals with socio-political topics like racism, classism, police brutality, right to privacy, government, the Constitution, and Afrocentricity.

MC Zappa has stated that his main influences as an MC are Rakim, MC Ren, and Ice Cube. As a producer, he cited James Brown, Dr. Dre, and The Bomb Squad. He has also stated that the following were his five favorite drum breaks.

1. Wilbur Bascomb & The Zodiac - Just A Groove In "G"
2. Take 6 - Spread Love (The 45 King Remix)
3. FBI - FBI
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Little Miss Lover (Live)
5. Sly & The Family Stone - Sing A Simple Song

One of his signature production techniques is sampling lyrics from both the explicit and clean versions of songs in order to craft a chorus. An example of this can be heard in the unreleased "Bang Bang".

## **Discography**

### **Extended plays**

* *Let The Games Begin* (2018)
* *Hindsight* (2020)

## See Also

* Bit-Hop
* It's All A Game

## External Links

* MC Zappa on Twitter
* MC Zappa on YouTube
* MC Zappa on Instagram