''Shadowboxing'' is a studio album by

Zion I Zion I was an American hip hop project founded by MC and producer Baba Zumbi (real name Stephen Gaines) in Oakland, California. K-Genius and Amp Live were also project members. Career Originally formed as a group, Zion I released the debut ...

. It was released by Live Up Records on October 2, 2012. It includes contributions from

Collie Buddz Colin Patrick Harper (born August 21, 1981), better known by his stage name Collie Buddz, is a Bermudian reggae artist best known for his single "Come Around". Career Although Harper was born in New Dadyal Hospital, AJK. He studied audio enginee ...

Goapele Goapele Mohlabane (; born July 11, 1977), is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. Her name means ''to move forward'' in Setswana, a Southern African language. Early life Goapele's South African father Douglas Mohlabane was an exiled po ...

, The Grouch,

Eligh Eli Nathan Nachowitz (born February 28, 1978), better known as Eligh, is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles. He is a member of the underground hip hop group Living Legends. Biography Eligh's inspiration for making hip hop mus ...

, and

Bassnectar Lorin Gabriel Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar (born February 16, 1978), is an American DJ and record producer. Biography Ashton grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Bellarmine College Preparatory. He initiall ...

. It peaked at number 75 on the '' Billboard''

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

chart.

Critical reception

Rick Anderson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "One or two tracks hit less hard than the others, but in each of those cases it's because Zion I took a risk and it didn't quite pay off -- and the willingness to take musical risks is one that needs to be encouraged in today's hip-hop world." Meanwhile, Patrick Taylor of ''RapReviews.com'' gave the album a 6.5 out of 10, stating that "I wish they would experiment in music that I found less objectionable." Imran Khan of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' wrote, "The album was stripped down to mainly just beats and vocals, revealing the bare essentials of the duo's aestheticism."

Critical reception

Track listing

Charts

References

External links