Ojay Morgan (born 1987), better known as Zebra Katz, is a

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

-based

Jamaican-American Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican commu ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, producer and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

who has collaborated with artists including

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

and

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...

. Fashion designer

Rick Owens Richard Saturnino Owens (born November 18, 1962) is an American fashion designer from Porterville, California. In addition to his main line, Owens has a furniture line and a number of diffusion lines. Early life and education Richard Saturnino ...

featured Zebra Katz's song "Ima Read" at his show at

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (french: Semaine de la mode de Paris) is a series of designer presentations held semiannually in Paris, France with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the French Fashion Federation. ...

in 2012. Morgan self-identifies as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

Musical style

Throughout his career, Morgan has openly spoken out against the " queer rap" genre coined by

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

and other publications used to classify Zebra Katz, and artists like

Mykki Blanco Mykki Blanco (born April 2, 1986) is an American rapper, performance artist, poet and activist. She has collaborated musically with artists including Kanye West, Teyana Taylor, and Dev Hynes, Blood Orange. Early life Blanco was born in Orange ...

and

Le1f Khalif Diouf, known by his stage name Le1f (), is an American rapper and producer. He also founded the record label Camp & Street, with Boody, DonChristian, and Chaz Requina. As a gay rapper he's garnered attention for his musical and perform ...

. While stating that if it weren't for his sexuality, he'd be generally classified as a "rapper".

Ima Read

Despite not having a strong personal relationship with

voguing Vogue, or voguing, is a highly stylized, modern house dance originating in the late 1980s that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1960s. It gained mainstream exposure when it was featured in Madonna's song and video "Vogue" (1990), ...

, Morgan says the movement was pushed onto him as a means for creating context for "Ima Read". The connection between voguing and the track was fueled by the 20th anniversary of the ballroom scene documentary film '' Paris is Burning'' and popularization of voguing in 2012. That said, Morgan loves ballroom culture/voguing. He performed at the 2012 GMHC House of Latex Ball, supports House of Vogue founder, DJ

MikeQ Michael Cox, known by the stage name MikeQ, is an American DJ, musician, music producer, and prominent figure in the ballroom community. He is the founder of the record label Qween Beat. In 2020 MikeQ was the DJ for HBO's Legendary. Early life ...

, and is a forming member of the House of Ladosha.

''Less Is Moor''

Inspired by

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

, and

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

, Zebra Katz's 2020 debut album, ''Less Is Moor'' pays homage to the minimalist approach often demanded from artists of color. Morgan clarifies this by saying that non-white people are commonly expected to be more resourceful than their white counterparts. With elements of hip-hop, drum 'n' bass, and electronic music, ''Less Is Moor'' is said to channel Katz's caustic lyricism into its biting rhythms. The basis for the ''Less Is Moor'' album started while Morgan was studying at the

New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, commonly referred to as Lang, is the seminar-style, undergraduate, liberal arts college of The New School. It is located on-campus in Greenwich Village in New York City on West 11th Street off 6th Avenue. ...

. His senior thesis project, "Moor Contradictions", was a performance featuring monologues and raps, including "Ima Read", from different personas created by Morgan. Among these characters is Zebra Katz, who Morgan says, was formed as a result of his thesis on identity obsession. Since then, Morgan has been fighting against the various boxes and typecasts created by those around him. The title of the album is inspired by the

Moor Moor or Moors may refer to: Nature and ecology * Moorland, a habitat characterized by low-growing vegetation and acidic soils. Ethnic and religious groups * Moors, Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during ...

people.

Discography

Studio albums

Notes * All track titles are stylized in all uppercase letters.

Mixtapes

* ''Champagne'' (2012) * ''Drklng'' (2013)

EPs

* ''Winter Titty'' (2012) * ''Tear the House Up: Remixes'' (2014) * ''1 Bad Bitch: Remixes'' (2014) * ''Nu Renegade'' (2015)

Singles

* "Ima Read" (2013) * "Tear the House Up" (2014) * "Hello Hi" (2016) * "Blk & Wht" (2017) * "In In In" (2019) * "Lousy" (2019) * "Ish" (2020) * "Upp" (2020)

Guest appearances

* Tanika – "Thoughts of Love" from ''Thoughts of Love'' (2013) * Kura – "Our Sun" from ''Our Sun'' (2015) *

– "Sex Murder Party", "The Apprentice", and "Out of Body" from ''

Humanz ''Humanz'' is the fifth studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 28 April 2017 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and in the United States by Warner Bros. Records. The album was announced on the band's official Instagr ...

'' (2017)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Zebra Living people 1987 births Date of birth missing (living people) People from West Palm Beach, Florida Eugene Lang College alumni African-American rappers American performance artists Rappers from New York City LGBT rappers American LGBT musicians LGBT African Americans Queer musicians Mad Decent artists 21st-century American rappers Queer men 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people