ZILLA

A creative artist spanning music, film, performance, entrepreneurship, design, and community activism.

Born in Erie, Pennsylvania and raised between Washington, D.C. & North Carolina, Zilla illustrated comics and painted staging back drops, & ran with a graffiti gang as a teen before becoming a performance artist in the early 2000s. Intent on pursuing a solo career as a hip hop artist, he released his debut album 2 Hevi 4 Heaven in 2006 under the name ‘Caktuz’. The album introduced his unconventional writing style and sound, ‘Carolina Bluez’, while weaving live instruments and performance art into his stage shows.

Well known for his unique visual art, Zilla has worked closely with fashion brands (Rocawear, Timberland, Apple Bottoms), comics (DC Comics, Melvin Van Peebles), and storyboarding (Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes)

He went on to pursue a variety of styles on subsequent albums & mixtapes; Skinz Vs. Demonz (2008), Tha Pursuit Ov Happynezz (2009), & the controversial GOD*Z PORNO (2010). ZIlla first received attention for his collaborations with artists Akon, Bilal, Kardinal Offishal, dead prez, Boot Camp Clik, & Sa-Ra on his Bread Breaks Vol.1 (2007) mixtape.

As an indie artist, Zilla has accomplished a great deal with little to no major label support, organizing 2 European tours (A Summer In Paris (2007), Today The World (2015), releasing a string of mixtapes, 4 studio albums, 100s of viral videos, and movies. From 2011-2013, over 450,000+ online users tuned in every week to Zilla’s comedic Radio One web show ThatsWhatsUp! and Sports Stoop. A bonafide web star, Zilla’s creative content held the top rated spot at TheUrbanDaily.com for over 3yrs.

In 2012 Zilla met Billy Danze of the rap duo, M.O.P., while working as an internet radio producer for Wheatbread Radio. After letting Danze hear his newly finished album, How To Dress Well For Suicide (2013), the veteran rapper signed him to his We Build Hits (Sony/RED) record label.

In 2014 Zilla began working closely with several legendary Washington D.C. go go bands including E.U., The Junkyard Band, Trouble Funk, Rare Essence, T.C.B., & T.O.B. as a producer & documentary film maker for over 3 years. His experience and knowledge of the D.C’s beloved indigenous art form would lead to an appearance in VH1‘s original network series, The Breaks (2017), as the lead singer of a go go band. In the same year he released his fourth studio project as a visual album, W A N D E R L U S T: A Musical Noir, to rave reviews from critics and fans.