Local Hip-Hop Group Muamin Collective Addresses Racism on New Album

Muamin Collective, one of our favorite local hip-hop acts, has been a steady force on the Cleveland scene for more than a decade. The group, which features MC Josiah “Zion” Quarles, producer Aaron “aLiVe” Snorton and producer James “Jungle” Quarles, will release Tailor Made, its seventh album, today.

It’s the second album on which brothers James “Jungle” Quarles and Josiah “Zion” Quarles have collaborated. Aaron “aLiVe” Snorton continues to provide production along with a few guest producers and instrumentalists.

The first single, “Outta Sight” features a thick bass riff and back-and-forth vocals that recall the ’90s alternative hip-hop group Jurassic 5.

“The song ‘Outta Sight’ is a pre-corona time capsule weaving two watering hole romances together over a deep bass line accentuated by a guitar riff provide by long time collaborator Mike McNamara,” says Josiah “Zion” Quarles. “[James] ‘Jungle’ [Quarles] provides an infectious hook to complete the song to tie it all together. The album’s title is a metaphor referring to Black culture being tailored by the struggle of surviving the history of racism and brutality since America’s inception. Though the album was complete before the current string of uprisings and protests, the title track and a few other [songs] were tailor made for this moment.”

The group plays a release party tonight at Now That’s Class. A patio party begins at 8, and the concert starts at 10. Capacity at the club is limited, so the show will be livestreamed on Facebook as well.

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This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2020.