Zanny Mula

Zanny Mula is an eclectic rapper in a rap group from Montgomery Village, MD offering designer clothing and decent videos. He'll be in our first issue in the hip hop category. Links to his clothing line will be provided in the article. For more information, contact the magazine. . . .

(click the title to watch a video . . .)

Zealous, Mula Mula, Mula TV

I just learned of a group that airs their own TV show on youtube called Mula TV. The show has about 1200 hits per episode and there must be over ten episodes you can find, right now. The links to each show and video for Mula Gang have lit up to the point where they pop up easily on google and the youtube search bar. After contacting one of the members of Mula Gang, Zanny Mula, I learned a lot more about the TV show concept and their music. Zanny has a clothing line available on www.iknowsmoking.com and is influential in getting promo kits out for the band. I sat down and spoke with Zanny . .and this is what he had to say: Azur Mag: You guys have a tour coming up . . in Atlanta . . .Tell me about the tour . . .Basically . . how did that come about? Zanny: Um . . .that tour was around . . .I believe . . .late July . . .That tour was for . . not really Morehouse college . . .but . .that was a performance for that region . . .that college area . . .and we were suppose to do the east coast straight down . . .from the east coast artists . . .and we're going to, basically, give them a sample of our sound . . .but things didn't go as planned . . in travelling . . .and . . .we didn't end up going to Atlanta . . we ended up going to New York . . . Azur Mag: So . . you didn't go to Atlanta . . you went to New York? Zanny: Yeah . . we went to New York . . .I paid a $25 fee . . .and we . . performed . . .I mean . .it was a pretty cool place . . .like U st . . .you know . .it was pretty recreational . . it had . . .Go Go bands . . it had . . .hip hop artists . . .rock bands . . .Pretty much a universal thing . . . Azur Mag: How did you hear about the event? Zanny: The crazy part of it is . . .I heard about it through craigslist . . . Azur Mag: (Laughs . . .) Zanny: (Laughs) . . .Yeah . . . Azur Mag: That's pretty cool . . .so . .how about Mula TV . . How did that come about? Zanny: Mula TV was always an idea . . .that I had . . imagined in my head . . .and . . I used to play around . . and make a cover . . .or a art cover for it . . .and I was like . .man . . I need to make this come to life . . .The Mula TV is one of the ideas that came from my brain and actually came to life . . .It's not exactly . .each and every moment I imagined . . .but . . through what I imagined . . .those moments came along . . . Azur Mag: Wow . . .so . .how did you finance it . . .Did you . . .just go out and buy a camera? . . .How did you get this whole thing together . . .I mean . . you pay for it yourself . . .or . . . Zanny: Well we had our camera man at the time . . .Angel . . so he was part of our campaign but the we had did a contract where me . . .and my brother get 25% . . .each . . .and he'll get 50% . . . and now we're splitt'n it 50/50 . . .We pay him $50 each episode . . .Usually, he was charging people $100 becasue of his quality . .but. . .we did a contract . . so it's $50 every episode . . .we wanted to do . . .so . .then . .that was . .if we didn't have $50 . . .one day . . .I'll pay the $50 . . or my brother will pay the $50. . .or boom! . . . I mean . . I was bored . .and I said . .you know what . .I'll call my camera man . . .have an episode . . .and that's pretty much how we're doing it . . We're doing it pretty much on a day to day basis . . . Azur Mag: Right . . .ok . .What about . . .I mean . . .where can you find the show . . . .is it on youtube . . or . . how do I find out about the show? Zanny: Through youtube . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . ok . .Is there an advertisement for the show on youtube? . .or do people just know about it? Zanny: Um . . .there is an advertisement . . I mean . . .It got taken down . . but we did have an advertisement about a 15 second video . .that one's gone . . .I was spending on instagram . . . Azur Mag: I see how you did it . .That's pretty cool . . .I noticed the numbers on Mula TV . . it was 1,153 . . .the last time I checked . . How did . .it get up so high . . .You just advertised on instagram and people checked it out? Zanny: Honestly . .yeah . . .You advetise it on instagram . .and just . . .basically off the buzz that we were getting . . Everyone . . I'm talking about family . .friends . . .everyone . .just . .everyday . . .I've seen it on the bus . .they watch it . .or . .we have so many videos . . .it just comes on-line . . .plus . . .the music videos . . they probably pops up on the side . .and . .yeah . . .man they got a TV show . . . . so every one always telling me . .we've seen your TV show. . .or . .I be watching a TV show. . .so . .when I hear . . .the word watching . . .that means . .even to this day . .they're running it back . .and running it back . . .because they love it so much . . . Azur Mag: Dag! . . well . . .What about all your advertising . . .I noticed you have . . like a banner across your youtube . . .did you actually do that yourself . . or is it something some other advertiser did . .? Zanny: I think that came with the page. . . .I just chose the best banner possible . . but that came with the youtube page . . .or it's like . . it's a thing that's part of youtube . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . you can create your own advertising on youtube? . . . Zanny: I mean . . you can pretty much choose a banner . . .You can just upload one . . or just use the . . one they give em to you . . That one . . . that was just given to me . . it was just right there . . . Azur Mag: Yeah . . .but there was an advertisment for . . .some business . . . You could click onto . . .and . .you can go to another business . . .and uh . . .you know . .it's like . . ahh. . . .it was like one of those Google Adsense . . .advertisements . .or what ever. . .I mean . . .Is that what it was . . or . . .was it just a banner . . . with words on it . . ? Zanny: No . . it was just a banner . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . so if you click it . .you didn't get a commission for it? Zanny: Naw . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . .ok . .I see . . .but . . do you have anything like that with your youtube? . . .or . . with a web site? Do you have any kind of commissioned advertising? Zanny: No I don't . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . ok. . . How did you link up with RudeBoy? How did you find out about them? Zanny: It was through an email . . .The guy from RudeBoy had emailed me . . .and . . .basically . .just offering free . . .promotions . . .I was like . .ok. . . .So I looked them up . . .and so . .I saw that they put up coming artists . . and . . .it was nothing . . I paid like $50 for them to promote me . . .for like . . .two weeks straight . . .and . . .they promoted my videos. . .and . . .he . personally told me that he liked Mula TV . . .and . . it was a good experience . . .I could have had better . . but . .RudeBoy kinda helped me get out there . . like. . .ok . . .now I've got another web site that's going . . .bios . . on Mula Gang . .or bios on Zanny Mula . . .and then that's when . . .they . . . .that's when I started getting the idea that . . .you just need your own little web site. . .or remember that web site I sent you . . . Azur Mag: Right . . . Zanny: Of my music . . that's where I got the idea from . . .RudeBoy . . ok . . .I need to do my own . . .one . . .but then I can have . . .that . . . and then I can have my own one . . .and then . .RudeBoy . . they actually have people . . .that write these articles . . .and . .then . you, basically, write a bio about yourself . . .if you email it to them. . .and they come back and check it out or you . . .say if. . .they . .correct it . . .punctuation . .and all of that . . . Azur Mag: Oh. . man . .so. .Let me go over that again. . . .How did you find out about RudeBoy? Zanny: Through craigslist . . . Azur Mag: Oh! . . .ok . .ok . . ok. . .That's good, though . . actually. . .You're getting a lot more informaion than I'm getting . . .um . . How do you guys record? Zanny: Record . . as in my music . . .? Azur Mag: Yeah . . .music . .I'm sorry . . . Zanny: Well . . .I try my best to go to the. . .actual studio booth . . . .depending on money situations . . .but . . .if my pockets are hurting . .I really just go to a neighbors house . .that's. . .a couple buildings away from me . . .My friend's house . . he has this Pro-Tools . . . He has this Mac Book . . .He has this mixer system . . .all of that . .microphones . . .so we're pretty much just in house . . .and I mean . .this is straight from scratch . . .a sound from scratch that I engineered . . .so . .that I know how to make my. . . craft . . how to perfect my craft . .too . . .a certain extent to where . . .the people really do the mixing. . . and mastering . . .oh . . this is decent . . you know . . .and there will probably be just one little tweek that we'll have to do . . . .trying to make my music sound professional . . or as more professional as possible . . .even though we're doing it from scratch. . .It's the quality that matters . . . AzurMag: Cool . . so you've done Pro-Tools . . .and everything . . so . .um . .What about the mixing board? What kind of mixing board did you work with? Zanny: I believe . .is it . .Audio One . . . Azur Mag: Audio One . .? Zanny: Yeah . . Azur Mag: All right . . .I'm assuming you're making money by advertising . .Are you making any kind of advertising money? Zanny: Well . . . um . . There was a clothing line . . .well . .I am a brand ambassador for a clothing line called . . .I Know Smoking . . and it's from California . . .yeah . . I am . .the brand ambassador for them . . .I do advertise for them . . .and each . .sale that comes through me . . I get . .like a 40% off the sale . . . so . .I get my 40% . .and it goes directly into my Paypal . . .so . . I can say . .yeah. .I'm getting money . .but . . .if one week . . every body wants to buy those shirts . . .I didn't even promote more . .but. . .I've been focusing on my clothing . . .That's why I haven't been promoting . . . or advertising other people's businesses . . . Azur Mag: Right . . well . .are you making more money . . .or . .is it easier to make money through the clothing or the MP3s . . .Are you making money on the MP3s at all . . .? Zanny: Naw . . not yet . . .I'm going to start making money off the Mp3s after everything is patented . . and copyrighted. . . I just really got to make sure my music is protected . . . before I start really getting out there to people . . .you know . . Azur Mag: Right . . I understand . . .ok . .What about your manager . . .Tell us about him . . . Zanny: Our manager is Omar . . .and . .he's a pretty good friend of mine . . .Basically . . he saw that . . .he saw us separately . .Duda Mula and me . . Duda Mula is my brother . . .He saw us separately . . .and met us separately . . and found out that we . . .were individual artists . . . but . .then he didn't know that we were together . .he just knew that . . .well . . .that other guy is good, too . .. John . . .Oh yeah . . that's who I make music with . . .and he said . .really . .and boom! . . .I believe he heard Duda sing . . .Duda is a singer . . .He heard him sing and rap . . .and one day he asked me to do the same . . .and I told him. . .I'm a lyricist . . .I don't really free style . . .I said . . .that's more . . my brother's thing . . .Let me pull it out from my phone and show you . .or let me pull it out from my library. . . that I have in my brain . . .and pull something out for you . . so that . . .when . . .I did that . . he was amazed . .like . .wow. . .you . .just did everything . .just like that . . and I said . .yeah . . . I said . .that's how you become a very good free styler . . like . . .One of the best free styles . .you gotta write . . .That's how I feel . .so then . . .I see that we have talent . . .he saw that we had talent . .and drive . . .so that . .that's when he started funding . . .things for us . .like . . .If it had to be clothing . .it would be . . like . . .fund us . . if he had it at this moment . . .but . .he would fund us . .like getting rides to the shows . .and . . .making sure we paid for what ever we needed to pay for. . .like . . just making sure we're eating . . .and . . .inside the studio . .like he makes sure we're inside the studio . . .instead of going to home boy's house . . you know . . .so .. he basically . .. he's like a big brother for us . . .and . . he had an eye for music . . .He was doing music way back in the day, too . . .basically, he's working through us . . .the stages where he already passed or didnt; pass yet. . .he could see that . . there's a way to get through those stages through us . . .Right . . he was our age at one point . .now that he can see . . .he can drive through us in ambition . .and . . .just pushing behind us . . just making sure . . .we capitalize on certain ideas. . .If he throws in an idea . . .like Italy . . .we're going to rap . . .about something that involves Italy . .but. . .at the same time . .it's got to resemble something in our life, right now. . . You know what I mean . . I love spaghetti and pasta . . . and all that . .and Italian food is my favorite . .you know . . .I'm going to rap about Italian food . . .or eating Italian food . . .with an Italian female . . .or something. . like . . .He throws ideas out there . . to see if we can capitalize on it. . .He wants to see . . how we are egocentrictly . . . and . .he wants to compare those two different sounds . . from the Mula sound . .to the egocentric sound . . .are we mainstream material . . or are we underground material . . .and I remain underground because . . I'm not a mainstream artist . . .I have a mainstream drive . . like . . .I don't want to make something that's already out there . . .I want to . . .be different . .and make sure. . .I tried my best to sound different . . . Azur Mag: Right . . .Is he financing anything for you? Zanny: Um . . .as of right now . . it'll be studio time . .and . . booking the shows . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . .so he's doing that . . that'll be good . . .Alright. . .How about the barber shop . . .Did you meet him in the barber shop . . .? Zanny: Yeah . .cause I witnessed. . .alright . . in Montgomery Village . .we . . .had a YMCA we got broken down . . .For a little while . . there was nothing there . . .and then I witnessed . . people construct new buildings . . .A carry out came . .a cleaners . .and all of that . . .and, finally, a barber shop came last . . and we said . . . hmmm . . . Ya know . .the whole neighborhood is right next to carry out. . .and . . ."Black People!" (laughs) Azur Mag: (Laughs) . . . Zanny: and . . you know . . .they're building a barber shop . .and what not. . . .and the first day it opens . . .I see that there's . .. a line of people. . . .I mean . . this line was crazy . . like . . .It had to be about eighty people stretching out down toward the beer store . . .but like. . .are you serious. You really want to get your hair done, that bad . . .and then . . there was another barber shop that was right around the corner . . .It's been in Montgomery Village for a long time . . .every body grew up going to . . .Once they came along . . .there were all the clientele . . .I was walking pass . . .and Omar walks up to me . .and . . .he passes out a flyer . . and . . the home boys I knew from a whole different part of the city were like . . yeah . . .a good friend of mine just opened a shop. . . tell me about it . . .we were having a cook out . . .They were giving free cuts for the young ones . . . Oh . .ok . ..so that then . . .like a whole week . .they were like shutt'n everything down. . .it was then . .with their first two months . . .they ran the other barber shop out of business . . . Azur Mag: Dag . . . Zanny: Yeah . . it's crazy . . .They had been here for 15 years . . . .they only came for two months and got rid of them . . .so . .. I was looking at it like . . who is the boss . . .you know . . I did already see Omar . .but who . . .was the boss . .who owns this one . . .or who's the part owner . . or something . . .So . . I find out Omar is the part owner . .so I said. . . .You know you guys ran out the other dudes . . . that have been here for 15 years . .they gone . . . .You know . .no body goes to Lakeforest mall to get a hair cut, anymore . . . .but everyone comes to the barber shop. . . then . .that's when I started helping them. . . pass out the flyers . .and then he asked me . . .I met your brother . .and he told me y'all make music . . .He really wanted to know . . what can I do . . .with . . promoting . .and basically just to see what I can do . . .I could promote his shop. . . .and he saw that it was more than a shop . . . .so . .if I could promote them to get me out there. . you know what I mean . . .and . . he's Omar the barber . . .which . . he owns . .or part owns . . .Image Makers Barber's Lounge . .he got the. . .360 in there . . .People were chill'n watching TV . . .and all . .it was pretty cool . . .you know what I mean . . . .and . . .he, basically, he . .just like . . .respected the hustle and grind . . .we're going through. . .and like . . .look . .I want to help you guys. . .cause . .when I first moved around here. . . .just a few of you guys from the neighborhood . . .that's all it took . .to make. . . that line filled with eighty people . . . you know what I mean . . . you just spread the word . . .and he saw that . . I'm not going to say because of me there were eighty people . . .but. . . .I was amonsgt the first of the people who knew there was going to be a barber shop . . .and I was telling people . . like .. . .there's going to be a new barber shop. . .there's going to be a new barber shop. . . .there's a new barber shop across the street . .it's like crazy. . . .and what ever . .you know . . .and . .I saw them like . .yeah . .there's a new barber shop. . . and . .you put in a good word for the barber shop and I'll put in a good word for your music. . . and like . .through the barber shop . .he got real people coming to the barber shop . . . .some of them . . celebrity type people . . .so . now . .every time they come to him. . .talking about us . . .through that . . he's got our flyers in there . . .Just like for I Know Smoking . . . .the clothing line I was advertising . . He was advertising it in the barber shop . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . man . .that'a good . . .He's actually doing a lot for you guys . . . . Zanny: Yeah . . he was helping me out . . .I was selling my shirts . . in there . . .He did a lot . . . Azru Mag: So . . .I noticed that he's pictured with you . .that we're featuring on the web site . . .Does he like the spot light as much as you guys . .or. . . Zanny: No . .he really doesn't like the spot light . . .as much as us. . Azur Mag: Oh . . ok . . . Zanny: We just respected him being amongst the group . . .he likes the spot light . .but when it comes to me and my brother doing our thing . . .he kinda like wants to be the guy in the back light . . yeah . . .you know . .me and my boys . . . he'll watch over us. . . Azur Mag: Yeah . .because . . most managers are in the background . .they're not really . . .up front . .you know . . .but he sounds like a good guy . . . Zanny: Yeah. . .he really is . . .very genuine . . Azur Mag: Alright . . . oh . . is there anything you want to add? Zanny: . . um . . . Actually . .what does Mula Gang stand for?. . . . Azur Mag: Yeah . . I had that written down . .it was . . .Money Under Loyalty Always . . . Zanny: Yeah . . . Azur Mag: Ok . .and your real name is John Shakembo . . . Zanny: Right .. . . Azur Mag: . . .and we have www.iknowsmoking.com . . . . Zanny: Yup . . Azur Mag: . .and that's you . .too . . . Zanny . .Yeah . .that's the one that I was advertsing . . that's the one business that I was advertsing . . . . AzurMag: OK . . . . So . .Mula Gang plans to film more episodes of Mula TV . . .and I was told Zanny has invested more money into the production of the show - enabling him to create more episodes and, most likely, visuals related to his music. He also plans to release another mix tape called Gloctober2 . The first mix tape was called Gloctober . . .Azur Blogspot and Azur Magzine will report on future releases for Mula Gang. Keep checking us out for information about them and also keep an eye on new Mula youtubes for both videos and TV shows. . .advertisements for new releases will appear in their programming . . .

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