Biography
Once upon a time....
Moe Z M.D. started singing at the age of 5 and learned to play a variety of instruments by the age of 10 - drums, bass guitar, guitar, sax, flute, and trumpet. At this young age, Moe Z's father saw the talent in his children and moved the family to California. The family began singing Gospel and toured the country for a few years as a group. This exposure to the Gospel industry created a relationship with Edwin Hawkins, a pioneer in the Gospel recording industry.
Moe Z's first experience in mainstream music was singing back up for Earth, Wind and Fire. He performed five nights a week with them and established a relationship that would lead to more opportunities down the road.
In 1988, rap hit its stride and Moe Z was driven to make a rap track. Combining all the elements of his musical influence - his tracks incorporated rock, R&B, funk, blues and reggae. He began writing pop music and producing such acts as Tracey Spencer, Small Change, Joey Diggs and Troy Hinton. Moe Z had met rapper Snoop Dogg shortly after his family relocated to California, but when Snoop Dogg called to ask for Moe Z's collaboration, he declined. Instead, he continued with pop music production. Moe Z returned to Rap a few years later, circa 1994, collaborating with Radio, an up-and-coming rapper. Tupac Shakur heard the tracks Moe Z had done for Radio and requested a meeting.
Moe Z got his big break when he became part of the circle of rappers and producers contributing to Tupac's landmark album, Me Against the World. Moe Z also worked with Tupac on his CD, Thuglife.
Soon after his contribution to Tupac's music, John Mellencamp was trying to reach Dr. Dre to help incorporate loops into his music. Moe Z's publisher found out and suggested that Moe Z would be perfect for what he was looking for. Moving from rap and hip hop to rock and roll wasn't that much of a stretch. In fact, it's his diversity between genres that stretches Moe Z's creativity and makes him the successful producer he is. Moe Z played and toured with Mellencamp for 7 years. He was afforded the privilege of writing with John Mellencamp, himself; a privilege only one other member of the band has experienced. During his tenure with Mellencamp and during their tour with The Wallflowers, he found opportunity to work with The Wallflowers on their Red Letter Days CD, singing backup on the CD and on tour.
Moe Z M.D.'s list of writing and production credits is diverse. In addition to touring with Earth, Wind and Fire, producing and writing for Tupac, and touring, singing back up for and writing with John Mellencamp, his credits include The Panther Soundtrack, a song for Spice 1, and his own group N.G.N.'s CD, with a guest appearance by his sister, Killa. For the movie Sprung, Moe Z wrote a song, Sexy Thang. He wrote music for New Edition and sang backup for Michael Bolton's Christmas Special and Phillip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire during his career. Moe Z also worked on soundtracks for the movies Tales From the Hood and Fear of a Black Hat. The remake of Snoop Dogg's "What's My Name" called Ice Froggy Frog, brought Moe Z and Snoop Dogg together at last.
