Bio

Born Mitch K. Malizio and raised in the Westside of Pittsburgh, Zio grew up in a single parent home. He was raised by his mother after his father had been incarcerated and spent over 8 years in federal prison for drug trafficking. As a young teen, he followed the lead of his older family members and began hustling. The hustle game proved lucrative for Zio, until he eventually encountered the law, and graduated from the streets to the judicial system. It's around this point in mid 2005 that he turned toward rap and away from crime. His break came in late 2006 when he was nominated for best male hip-hop artist in the city of Pittsburgh. During the next year and a half, Zio had moved from the Westside to the Southside of Pittsburgh with his cousin and uncle. Still hustling from his Arlington Heights residence he planned on making enough money to leave the risky lifestyle behind, which he did. Now with strong family support and a new illumination in his soul he was ready and returned to the studio with a new presence of ambition. He formed a collective and intricate style which would later on be the backbone to his success. After developing his own unique “swag” he worked closely with producer and close friend T-Roy and began cutting mixtape tracks. Releasing the mixtapes by hand instead of by Cd exchange, there wasn’t any proof of Cd sales, however, these mixtape recordings started earning the rapper an esteemed reputation on the streets as “The Bad Guy”. Some of the tracks featured Zio and his counterparts rapping over well known beats, others mockingly dissed rappers (namely Wiz Khalifa, who quickly became a known rival), and a few of the tracks discussed how people in Pittsburgh will rob Wiz. This presence generated a lot of local attention, but once again Zio had got pulled back into the life he swore to leave behind. On July 30, 2007 in Pompano Beach, Florida he found him self looking into the barrel of a colt 45 semi-automatic hand gun. There was an altercation between Zio and another man, the verbal confrontation quickly turned physical. Getting shot at 3 times and left bloody from the situation, Zio attempted to flee the scene but was quickly apprehended. Zio was charged on 2 counts of criminal mischief, battery-assault, and shooting missiles thru an occupied domain. He found himself in a Broward County jail looking at up to 15 years in state prison. Sitting in the cell like a caged animal he realized that’s what he was, he remembered looking at his father sitting in prison and suddenly seen himself in his fathers shoes. After being released he was determined to change, being on house arrest he had plenty of spare time so he did nothing but formulate and discover new ways to make catchy music. Stuck in Florida he had to adapt not only to the new surroundings but to new people. He found a local studio (Spectrum Recording) and started recording “Lyrical Motivation 2”, the mixtape is now in the process of finalization and promises to be the most electrifying release of his career. The tape is set to release January 2008, after his trail which is scheduled for January 17, 2008. This remarkable feat of courage, willingness, and determination of one persons dream just proves that anything is possible. So keep not only Zio’s dream alive, but your dream as well and don’t be afraid to cop “Lyrical Motivation 2”.