WHO IS ZARO?
/ Uncategorized / By hashnain
BLOSSOM by WHOISZARO was a sort of conundrum. An album unique as it sways between moments befit for a film, dreamlike and effervescence, yet grounded between moments of sharp honesty, cutting for its poignancy. In some ways, it finally answered the question that begets Zaro’s ethos. A question that lies between our themes, and how music becomes an avenue of catharsis for the complexity of life and the many relationships that mark it.
For the journey of WHOISZARO begins at the cusp of dawn, when his life looked as golden as our sunsets often do. When his dreams were lounging among a loved one, and basking in their brilliance.
But, rather than begin this article amongst the dreamers, it may be more poignant to discuss the reality of names and their ever-shifting scope. As names are what ground us within our realities. But they remain as fluid as ourselves, as we learn and attribute different meanings and connotations to them. They can become reminders of a bygone era or a return to one’s prime. They can masquerade as figments, or reveal one’s stark reality. As what we name and attribute becomes a reality within our minds. Yet, some names stand amongst the rest. For personal reasons, if nothing else. Age grants them a depth of understanding of the nature of one’s life. And within Zaro’s case, the name itself began as a double-entendre, as both a jest and a manifestation of a broader dream. One where WHOISZARO would become a title for an article oh so similar to the one that is being written.
But as I stated, the nature of names is an ever-changing dichotomy between the internal self and the external being.
Zaro states,
“As I grew older, as I met new people, especially with Frankie [Chris Franco], Renzo and my boy Isaiah and Lorra, I began to ask myself, who is, Zaro? What is it that I’m tryna tell in my music here? And I didn’t even know myself… But with BLOSSOM, I finally figured out, I don’t entirely know who I am. I think that’s a lifelong journey you have to go on to learn. But within BLOSSOM, I realized Zaro can be vulnerable, it’s not always putting up walls just to not have people know… It’s weird because I didn’t give it too much thought, but it’s crazy to see that my name started to be an actual question for myself. Me tryna learn more about myself made me realize that this is the one thing that makes me super happy. What is something I don’t know about myself, and that’s like this little addiction that I have, which is learning more, just tryna better myself.”
And so, for an artist whose central mode of artistry is self-discovery through an avenue of music, it becomes more than the stories or prophecies I’ve heard and covered thus far. It becomes an avenue for precise self-reflection, yet where others dedicate specific tracks for such a purpose, Zaro dedicated an entire album.
A body of work that transitions between realms; one mortal, and the other, as we dream. Fittingly, WHOISZARO begins his exploration of self with a memory tinged with gold. For “DREAM LOUNGE” has Zaro face his past, and the beauty he once held, as it wanes between moments of self-awareness, and the fierce longing, only fit for our pasts. For the track ends with a grave…
“But things like this only happen in dreams…It’s time to wake up, as the alarm bell rings.”
And as it pulses, we are left with distorted voices repeating the phrase, until the phrase manifests in reality.
The subsequent track, “IT SNOWS IN JULY” begins almost dissonant in comparison to the sweet atmosphere in “DREAM LOUNGE”, juxtaposing the warmth alongside a frigid bitterness that thrums throughout. Alongside our MC, bars from Chris Franco and vocals from Elisha Grace, compound the song’s most poignant traits.
Franco raps, “Can’t seem to love after my last chick, falling in and out of love regardless… Now I’m lost tryna make my way back now. I can’t lie, you make it feel like it could snow in July.”
Paired with Elisha’s angelic background vocals, the subsequent chorus rings with a dark polyphony as the trio coalesces their bitterness into an ultimately cathartic tonic. Yet, the moment of darkness is replaced by another night’s dreamscape as we’re led towards the lackadaisical “LUCID.”
But before we tread among the sandman’s realm, the nature of names must once again continue. For what is a name told in isolation? Only a whisper. Without those around us governing and shaping its clauses and descriptions, a name would be nothing more than a simple intonation. And for Zaro, who considers himself amongst the coziest in the city, those within the circle bear a similar warmth. For the east of Canada, and the windy lanes of Montreal are where Zaro honed his craft.
A tale that begins with a track titled “Cruise Control,” featuring the first of our Montreal connections, Eezahyah. The track evokes a keen sense of unabashed fun, as Zaro saunters on to the melody, as laid back as our very own Shel. Yet, Eezahyah’s verse rings with the hypnotic energy of youth when our days started at sunrise and end in the middle of the (K)night. Zaro laughs as I bring up the now-dated track, stating…
“Fun fact, that’s a classic for me and Zay out in Montreal. Whenever we would perform… I’ll never let this go. At the end of each show, he would tell me, ‘Bro, the crowd is singing back to you bro’, and I was like, there was no way. But at that time, I wasn’t even caring, cause I wanted to make sure I was giving them a great performance. So, I wouldn’t hear it. I’m always focusing on my presence, how I’m moving, my lyrics, and making sure I’m delivering it well. But the last show I did with him was back in 2019, in Montreal, something compelled me to say, ‘Fuck it,’ to myself, and I knew it was a long shot, but I pointed my mic at the crowd, and just seeing people sing the hook back to me, a hook that I wrote… I cried…”
And as the gang laughs in good fun about the now archived post of Zaro crying on stage, Zaro continues on his journey intertwining with that of Eezahyah, and our second French connect, Lorra, who he quotes as “the reason BLOSSOM even exists.”
“BLOSSOM
wouldn’t have started if me, Zay, Lorra and Frankie didn’t meet up for the first time. We were at Boola Lounge, and Lorra asked me, ‘The one thing I wanna hear from you, next, is something from your heart, something from your soul.’ And I knew from that point on, I knew I wanted to be more vulnerable, but she brought that to the forefront of my attention, and with the breakup, it felt natural for me…”
And as we return to BLOSSOM, and the intertwining journey that is Zaro, our central question begins to make itself clear. For our quandary is neither for the past, nor the future. To ask who is Zaro must then be a question for only the present. Of how Zaro feels, rather than did feel, or will feel.
And the track personifies this sense of immaterial time, as Zaro asks and answers his own questions. Zaro relies on the call-and-answer address to act as almost a mirror of his own fears and frustrations, as if stranded on a hill, “Can’t call for help, but I been mellow for way too long…”
And yet amidst a fading sun, and an end to its glow, the final track of BLOSSOM begins. Where “IT SNOWS IN JULY” and “CIRCLES” were of melancholy scope, “YVR2YUL” acted as a cacophony to rid the gloom, as Eezahyah returns for what can be best described as a crew cut, as PC!D gets their justified shout-out. And as the final chorus cuts, the collective voices can be heard screaming out the energetic chorus. An end to the melancholy fit for a man I’ve never seen frown in public. For the quandary of Who Is Zaro is an ever-changing question that will continue until the day he passes.
And so, leaving space for a future article I’ll end this one with a final salute to Zaro. Godspeed, for your path, is ever-changing and luck is only a fraction of what you are owed.