Zulus Release Energetic Third Album 'This Is Not A Drill'

Brothers and core members Montae and Tre Martin are not yet in their 20s, yet have been writing music for almost a decade. Oldest sibling Montae started at 12-years-old and dropped out of high school to focus on music. Tre joined along in the songwriting process and the two formed the group and its dynamic — Monte focusing on production, while Tre wrote lyrics — starting off strictly as a rap duo until joining forces with the rhythms of members Capitol K, No Breaks, and the Martin brothers’ cousin, Dayvon. 

Self-described as formless and feel-good, Zulus' music has truly gone through many forms up until This is Not a Drill, something the duo recognizes as a direction towards growth as successful artists. Tracks from their 2019 debut Attack of the Zulu introduce the duo as newcomers with old school hip-hop rhythms, but also highlight the meaning behind the group’s name, after their bantu ancestry, and talks on the effects of white-washed history in schools. Three years later, This is Not a Drill’s lead single “Rollercoaster” has over 100,000 streams a month into its release, and is intentionally comical—with lyrics written around the title of the song, the beat created by Montae, and Tre writing the lyrics using ad-libs and punchlines that make its catchy rhythm.

“This has been a process of years of hard work and determination. You can go and listen to Attack of the Zulu, which was the first song we ever made as a group, and you can hear that our production wasn't all that amazing. We had high voices still, it's crazy,” says Tre. “And you listen to all this and you're like, ‘Oh, okay, that's good.’ But you can see that this wasn't how it always was. That's why we just keep all our old music on there because we know we want people to be like, oh, this is the journey, this was the adventure, this was the progress that we've made over the years.”

For Denver, CO, the hip-hop scene's notoriety is scarce. In terms of the music industry, Zulus have already reached top artist rankings in their hometown, but are looking to bring their stamina and energetic party anthems beyond their city, to the hip-hop Billboard charts, while looking to be the first Colorado artists to make it big. As young artists, they want you to know they are clubbing in the same spaces as their music and want to create hits that both resonate and can also be an escape for their listeners.

“We want to kind of shift to a certain genre: music that makes you feel good, party music, upbeat type of music. This project isn't deep because we didn't want it to be. This album was centered around the theme, and the idea is that we're young adults. We're still teenagers, what do we do? We party, we talk to girls, we go out to clubs. That's the type of thing that we do.So we wanted to rap about things that we're doing in life right now. Which was based more on partying and spending money, all the stuff that young people do, just feel-good type of music. And that's what we did,” says Tre. “It's escape music because a lot of times, I'm not trying to always listen to music. It's about reality and what's going on in life and what's really going on and all that stuff. The thing about it is life is hard, life is difficult, reality is tough. Sometimes you just want to put on the song and escape reality, not to just get transported back into your problems. You're trying to escape your problems and to feel good for a while, for 40-something minutes. “

While This is Not a Drill is fun and lively, mixing old school with new drill rap, Zulus look for authenticity and their sound gives sense of their determination to go big. Montae explains that he works on production like clockwork 18 hours a day. Which leads to their next release, an EP still in the works, and their upcoming video for single “Fasholie.”They are still freshmen on the court, but have the mindset that’ll keep Zulus going even when they become buzzworthy.
 
“We want to create our own sound. We want to have our own sound. When people think, who do the Zulu's sound like? The Zulu's sound like the Zulu's. We don't sound like this person or that person or this them and the other. I want us to be us. And originality is the best way to stand out.”

Make sure to stay connected to Zulus on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts. 

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This is Not a Drill 

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