Life & Work with Zebulon Griffin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zebulon Griffin.

Hi Zebulon, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Newnan, GA, just southwest of Atlanta. At the age of four, I fell in love with music, more specifically, hip hop. I was obsessed. I would rock with anything I could get my hands on. If my parents wouldn’t let me buy it, I’d borrow the tape from a friend and sneak it in the house. Nine times out of ten I got caught, too. Apparently, I wasn’t all that slick.

I listened to groups like The Fugees and Outkast and west-coast artists like Dr. Dre and Cypress Hill. For a while, it was just a deep appreciation and connection to the music but, the moment I heard DMX’s ‘It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot,’ I knew I wanted to rap. I started writing rhymes in the sixth grade. My dad passed when I was thirteen. Up until then, I played a lot of sports and hadn’t really explored music beyond rapping in my bedroom. In freshman year of high school, I started playing the drums. My drum instructor at the time put me on to so much music, from jazz to reggae to afro-cuban. He took me some of his gigs in Atlanta as his roadie/drum tech and introduced me to jazz legends like Marcus Miller and Dave Weckyl. I started listening to less and less hip hop.

In 2001, my sophomore year, my family and I moved across country to Auburn, CA. My stepdad and I built a proper recording studio in the garage. I taught myself how to use Pro Tools and began recording different types of artists. Around this time, my friends started putting me onto underground hip hop groups like Hieroglyphics and Atmosphere. One day it just clicked. I can rap, I can record, why not make my own music. I began to collab with other local artists and book shows around the Sacramento area. In 2006, I formed a hip hop/reggae band with a few friends called Soulifted. We toured around California and Nevada and opened for hip hop artists like Gift of Gab of Blackalicious, members of Hieroglyphics and Living Legends, and reggae acts like Collie Buddz, Michael Rose from Black Uhuru and Prezident Brown. The band parted ways in 2010 and keyboardist and producer Brian Fleshman and I broke off to form our own hip hop/electronic duo, The Poor Ghost. We dropped our first official project ‘Self Diagnosis’ under that moniker in 2016. We just released the follow up ‘Self Medication’ at the end of 2020. After getting married in 2009 and welcoming the birth of my son in 2010, I started to discover another passion, and one with a clearer path to a career, video production.

In 2012, after the birth of my daughter, my wife and I decided to pick up and move to her hometown of Orrville, Ohio so that I could go back to college for video production. We had a better support system there to raise two kids while going to school and working multiple jobs. The last year of my program I met Cory Messer. We instantly clicked and pushed each other creatively. We started making short documentaries, brand videos, music videos and pretty much any project we could find to shoot. In 2018, we made our first award-winning short film ‘The Chair’ with we settling into the role of writer/director and Cory as director of photography. Since, we’ve shot multiple award-winning short films, a full-length documentary in Kenya, Africa, and are currently developing our first narrative feature. In 2019, shortly after Cory moved to LA, I followed suit. Here, I have continued to develop my music as a solo artist and as a part of the duo The Poor Ghost as well as produce film projects with Cory and group of other collaborators as Columinati Films.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest challenge over the years has been having multiple pursuits and trying to keep them all moving forward. As a rapper, drummer, and filmmaker, it’s incredibly difficult to gain forward momentum across the board at all times. Due to this, I’ve seen a lot of starts and stops over the years. I find myself on the cusp to never quite making it over the hump. I wouldn’t have it any other way though. I’m sure if I put all my eggs in one basket, I could perhaps get from point A to B faster but each of these things provides different opportunities and bring me different levels of enjoyment and happiness. I could never give one dream up to chase another. All three shape who I am and set me apart from anyone else.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a rapper, drummer and a filmmaker. I’ve performed up and down the west coast and parts of the midwest as both a rapper and a drummer. I have music out under Zebulon and The Poor Ghost. I’ve had the privilege of sharing stages with a few of my influences over the years. I’ve also worked with producers overseas like Spain native Piek and recently Grammy-nominated Holly. As a filmmaker, I’ve written and directed several award-winning shorts and continue to find my voice and build my own path in the film industry. One of my most recently projects “7 Steps to Inspire Creative Writing” was featured at LA’s Independent Short Awards. I’m most proud of maintaining my energy and passion for film and music and continually put out creative work in both lanes. Being a triple threat is what sets me apart. I don’t just rap. I co-produce my music and handle all the creative including artwork and music videos. On the flip side, I scored my last two films. So, my skills in music and my skills in film and design go hand in hand.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
In recent years, filmmaking has been at the forefront of my creative work. A majority of the people who know me in that space either have no idea or don’t know to what level I rap. Like, I rap, rap. Like, “challenge me to a battle and make sure your people are there to see it because you might get embarrassed” rap. Jokes aside, if you want smoke on the mic, come and see me. LOL

Contact Info:

• Website: zebulongriffin.weebly.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/zebulonmusic
• Twitter: twitter.com/zebulonraps
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqSBOWtY4FxzZsCH639CJFg
• SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/zebulonmusic
• Other: spotify:artist:6J4qoETlLsRRoKAQsvBKx1

Image Credits
Justin Holdstock, Chaysen Beacham, Robyn Griffin, Breanna Messer, Cory Messer