Amp Live is the Bay Area producer best known as one half of Zion I, but after leaving the group a couple of years ago, he’s been working on solo projects and some other collaborative projects. Most recently, he made an album with Del The Funky Homosapien, Gate 13, which came out about a year ago. His most recent solo venture came two years ago, when he released an EP called Atmosphere. Now he comes back with another solo EP, MZOZO.

Named after the Swahili word for “conflict,” Amp Live has made a career out of blending conflicting genres, whether it be classical, opera, hip hop, EDM, dancehall, reggae, R&B, or any other genre that might pop into Amp Live’s head at any given moment. On this particular project, Amp Live is mostly bouncing between some hyphy hip hop beats and some EDM, which means, as you might have guessed, that this EP hits hard with some big beats. There are some moments of respite here and there, but they mainly feel like moments for you to catch your breath in between moments of huge bass, huge drums, and just huge energy. It’s an EP to listen to at full volume and just wyle out to like there’s no tomorrow. The kicker to all of this is that there is some really intricate production techniques happening below the surface, but the surface hits you like a tidal wave, so it’s not quite as easy as other projects to sit there and pick apart the layers. There are a couple of moments here and there, though, where you can pick up on the brilliance of Amp Live, whether it be with a clever stop-on-a-dime change in beats or call backs and layering of beats that work in some unexpected ways.

MZOZO is not for the faint of heart. Amp Live has made some truly excellent laid back projects before, this ain’t one of them. This one is meant to be turned up to eleven, and just let the energy wash over you.