Genre: Rap / Hip Hop

Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Born Mitch Kane on December 27, 1988. Zio was raised in Pittsburgh, Pa. by his single parent mother. As a young teen, Zio graduated from the streets right into the judicial system. Z started hustling from his Arlington Heights residence. He planned on making enough money to leave that lifestyle behind, which eventually he did.

After developing his own unique “swag” he worked closely with producer and close friend, T-Roy. They began cutting mixtape tracks, and building up a local presence. After selling 5,000 nonchalantly, he figured it was time to start seriously pushing his mixtapes. He got them to the general public by hand instead of by the conventional way of CD Exchange. This he discovered was a bad thing as there was no proof of his CD sales.

However, these mixtape recordings started earning the rapper an esteemed reputation on the streets as “The Bad Guy” or “The Trouble Maker”. Some of the tracks featured Zio and his counterparts rapping over well known beats. Others mockingly dissed rappers (namely Bow Wow, Jibbs, Mike Jones and Wiz Khalifa, who quickly became a known local rival). This presence generated a lot of local controversy back in 07’ which actually catapulted him into the Pittsburgh Hip Hop Awards. He’s used that buzz over the years to fuel his desire to go even harder.

Now independently taking control and residing in the beautiful sunshine, palm trees and beaches of South Florida; Zio is looking to put his stamp on the talent laden SOFLO market. He has put together a collection of mixtape material that he plans on marketing to the world quarterly, until the big fish swim in. He’s now working with singing coaches, new producers and new facilities (such as The Studio Center, Miami, FL) to step his game up to even another level. Zio is shooting for the stars and only time will tell what the future holds. 2011 promises to be a huge year for this youngin’! Goto his official website at www.iamzio.com and check out his music & video swagg for yourself.