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Zaid Tabani who, until recently, went by the handle RedrappeR is well-known in the fighting game community (FGC) thanks to his fighting game focused tracks. These include “Quarterhouse Kings,” “World Warrior,” “Evolve,” “Prime,” and the various intros he’s done for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO). Zaid has returned once again with the Limbo EP.
I heard of Zaid during past EVOs, but never really paid much attention, until I listened to “Evolve.” Afterwards, I went and got every track of his that I could find, including his free mixtape Bury The Body, Bag The Head. What I love about his music is that it’s not hard for the sake of being hard, like the mainstream. Instead, Zaid more often than not has deep/solid lyrics (“Real Piano Story”) or tells a tale (“Abigail Winters”).
Limbo is no different; the whole EP is full of great tracks, all of which containing the best characteristics of Zaid’s music. It also features a couple game-oriented tracks (“Prime,” and “Cross The Line”). The EP starts off very strong and keeps it up for the most part. The only exception is track #4: “Chapman University (Skit) featuring Keith Carrey”. While it leads into the next track, the skit is a jarring change.
Although there are a couple tracks that I’m not crazy about, I really like Limbo as a whole. It’s very hard to pick out my favorites, but I’d say the following: (1) “Black and White,” (2) “Live and Direct;” (3) “Move,” (8) “Prime,” (9) “Where I’ll Go,” (10) “Beautiful People in 2013,” (12) “Parker,” (13) “Cross The Line (SFxT EVO 2012 Intro),” (17) “Risk,” and (18) “Epitaph”. 1, 2, 3, 17, and 18 all have solid lyrics and beats; I love that the instrumentals of 9; 10 and 12 tell deep tales, while; 8 and 13 are game-oriented. “Prime” was not only used on the Street Fighter 25th anniversary soundtrack, but it was also featured for SoCal Regionals 2013. As the name says, “Cross The Line” was used as the intro for Street Fighter X Tekken at EVO 2012.
Would I recommend Zaid Tabani’s Limbo EP? Oh hell yes, regardless of whether you’re a gamer, like true rap, or just like good music in general. You also can’t beat the price. You can get the Limbo EP on Bandcamp for a minimum of $7, but if you want to support this excellent musician, you can pay more. In my opinion, just the lyrics and his skills alone make Zaid Tabani’s music worth paying a little extra for.
