MJ Peters

The ZYG 808 (pronounced Zee-Why-Gee 8-Oh-8) is definitely one of your genre bending kinds of artists. A fierce Hip-hop artist on the mic and asa beat maker; a world-class jazz percussionist; drummer for a multi-Grammy nominated soul-funk band; and top level producer... all as somebody was was born in 2003.



The ZYG 808 is a Grammy nominated musician, producer, songwriter, MC/rapper, and vocalist; spanning the genres of Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul-Funk, and World Music. Receiving his first drum set from his grandmother at age 4, ZYG played his first studio session at age 7, and by age 11 was headlining the Boston Jazz Fest. At the age of 13 he became the percussionist for The GroovaLottos and went on tour with them. Around the same time he began rapping with his cousin, making demos in the basement and posting them on Soundcloud as the TMK Squad. At 14 he began busking (playing on the street form money) as a summer job, where he would play a cocktail drum kit and rap at the same time. ZYG -or Zyg, as he's called by family and close friends- , It was around this time that an audience member in Boston threw a fifty in ZYG's bucket and said, "You're a human 808!" (a reference to the classic hip-hop drum machine, the TR-808). From there, he was called The ZYG 808. With his earnings from a summer of busking (he made a whole lot more than his friends did cutting lawns or washing dishes) he launched his own record label, Soul Poets Records, and released a mixtape called "At The Party" and began handing out download scan cards when he played. A member of the Recording Academy got a card and nominated two of his songs for Grammy consideration.

In 2019 he release "BoOMBAPJAZz" demonstrating his prowess as an MC, drummer and vibraphonist and growing a steady fanbase throughout New England and New York City as well as Atlanta. In the summer of 2020 he released the COVID bedroom party banger "THUMPIN'" where he introduced his term for the Southern New England regions hip-hop sound, "Southcoast Thump", recognizing that the local flavor contains Cape Verdean and eastern Native American influences as well as rappers from those heritages.

The ZYG 808 is currently a staff producer, apprentice engineer, and session musician at Polyphonic Studios in Buzzard's Bay, MA, home of the 'Southcoast Sound'.