Junius Donald Rogers (born September 20, 1998), professionally known as ZillaKami, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and notable contributor to the

trap metal Rap metal is a fusion genre that combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables. History Origins and early development (1980s–early 1990s) ...

sub-genre. He is a member of the

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

duo

City Morgue City Morgue was an American hip hop music, hip hop duo from New York City, which consisted of rappers ZillaKami (Junius Rogers) and SosMula (Vinicius Sosa). History Prior to the formation of City Morgue in 2017, Junius Rogers, professionally k ...

, consisting of rapper

SosMula City Morgue was an American hip hop duo from New York City, which consisted of rappers ZillaKami (Junius Rogers) and SosMula (Vinicius Sosa). History Prior to the formation of City Morgue in 2017, Junius Rogers, professionally known as ZillaKa ...

, and was also a former songwriter for rapper

6ix9ine Daniel Hernandez (born May 8, 1996), known professionally as 6ix9ine (stylized in all caps and pronounced "six nine") and also as Tekashi 6ix9ine or Tekashi69, is an American rapper. His music has been marked by an aggressive style of rapping ...

Biography

Rogers was born in

Bay Shore, New York Bay Shore is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, adjo ...

. In his teens, Rogers formed a

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band called Scud Got Quayle, with some of his friends from school, influenced by the sound of

Gorilla Biscuits Gorilla Biscuits are an American hardcore punk band from New York City, New York, United States, formed in 1986. The band currently consists of Anthony "Civ" Civarelli, Walter Schreifels, Arthur Smilios and Luke Abbey, and is signed to Revela ...

. His involvement in

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

began by

ghostwriting A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literature, literary or journalism, journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and pol ...

for fellow New York rapper

. During this period, he wrote a song which he intended to feature two vocalists, to which 6ix9ine responded by telling him that he should feature on the track, which would eventually be released under the name "Yokai", and the pair followed up with releasing another collaborative track called "Hellsing Station". However, in August 2017, the pair had a falling out when Rogers posted a photo of 6ix9ine engaging in a sexual act with a girl that he claimed was thirteen, and bringing to light his prior guilty plea to using a child in a sexual performance. Shinners13

On April 30, 2017, he released his debut EP "LifeIsAHorrorMovie", which he later took down due to him no longer feeling a connection with the music that it contained. Soon after, ZillaKami got in contact with the son of the owner of the tattoo parlor that his older brother Righteous P worked at, who went by the stage name SosMula. A few days after his release from prison on drug charges, SosMula formed

with ZillaKami. In August 2018, after numerous singles scattered throughout the couple years before, they released their debut EP as a group, titled "Be Patient". On September 5, 2018, he featured on the track "Vengeance" from

Denzel Curry Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper. Born and raised in Miami Gardens, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape, ''King Remembered Underground Tape 1991–1995 ...

's third album

Ta13oo ''Ta13oo'' (stylized in all caps and pronounced ''Taboo'') is the third studio album by American rapper Denzel Curry. It was released on July 27, 2018, through PH Recordings and distributed by Loma Vista Recordings. The album serves as the follo ...

, which also featured

JPEGMafia Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks (born October 22, 1989), known professionally as JPEGMafia (stylized in all caps as JPEGMAFIA), is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Flatbush, Flatbush, Brooklyn, he signed with Deathbomb Arc t ...

, which was followed, in the same month, by a feature on Lil Gnar's track "Man Down". On October 12, 2018,

released their debut album "''City Morgue Vol 1: Hell or High Water''", and soon after, their headline tour in support of it sold out. On November 29, 2018, he featured on Powers Pleasant's track "Please Forgive", along with

Jay IDK Jason Aaron Mills (born May 24, 1992), professionally known as IDK, stylized as .idk. (also known as Jay IDK; a backronym for Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge), is a British-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Early life Ja ...

, Zombie Juice and

. From July 24 to August 23, he joined

Suicideboys Suicideboys (stylized as $UICIDEBOY$) is an American hip hop duo from New Orleans, Louisiana. Formed in 2013 by cousins Scrim (stylized as $crim) and Ruby da Cherry, the duo initially rose to popularity on SoundCloud for their abrasive, self-pr ...

' ''Grey Day'' tour as a part of City Morgue, along with

Turnstile A turnstile (also called a gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce One-way traffic#One-way traffic of people, one-way ...

, Denzel Curry,

Trash Talk Trash talk is a form of spoken insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their ability to wi ...

Pouya Kevin Pouya (born December 20, 1994), known mononymously as Pouya, is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. Considered as a pioneer of the early underground rap scene that began on Soundcloud in 2012, along with discovering the well known hip ...

, Germ,

Shoreline Mafia Shoreline Mafia is an American hip hop group based in Los Angeles, that was originally active from 2016 until 2020. Their debut mixtape, '' ShorelineDoThatShit'' (2017) garnered local success, leading to a commercial re-issue by Atlantic Records ...

and

Night Lovell Shermar Cuba Paul (born May 29, 1997), known professionally as Night Lovell, is a Canadian rapper, songwriter and record producer. He initially gained fame after his song ''Dark Light'' went viral in 2014. He has released four studio albums named ...

. On December 13, 2019, City Morgue released their second album ''City Morgue Vol 2: As Good as Dead''. The deluxe version of said album, featuring several new tracks, was released on May 15, 2020. On July 31, 2020, City Morgue released their mixtape ''Toxic Boogaloo''. On October 15, 2021, City Morgue released their third studio album ''City Morgue Volume 3: Bottom of the Barrel'' On September 17, 2021, Rogers released his debut solo album ''Dog Boy''. On September 15, 2023, they released their final studio album which was called "My Bloody America". This album was the last one that City Morgue worked on as a duo.

Musical style and influence

ZillaKami's music has been described as merging elements of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

and heavy metal with

trap music Trap music, also known simply as trap, is a subgenre of hip-hop music which originated in the Southern United States, with lyrical references to trap starting in 1991 but the modern sound of trap appearing in 1999. The genre gets its name from t ...

, by incorporating electric guitars and guttural shouted vocals and aggressive lyrical themes. His lyrics often depict themes of extreme violence, death,

masochism Sadism () and masochism (), known collectively as sadomasochism ( ) or S&M, is the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French author known ...

and drug-use. In an article by

Complex magazine Complex Networks is an American media and entertainment company for youth culture, based in New York City. It was founded as a bi-monthly magazine, ''Complex'', by fashion designer Marc Eckō. Complex Networks reports on popular and emerging tr ...

, writer Jacob Moore described his music as "the most merciless rap music since Necro". He cites his biggest influences as

Title Fight Title Fight is an American rock band from Kingston, Pennsylvania, formed in 2003. They released three studio albums —''Shed'' (2011), '' Floral Green'' (2012), and '' Hyperview'' (2015) — gradually shifting from a hardcore punk–oriented s ...

's albums '' Floral Green'' and '' Hyperview'', DMX, as well as

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

's album ''

In Rainbows ''In Rainbows'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a download, followed by a retail release internationally through XL Recordings on 3 December 2007 and in North America t ...

'' and

Onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...

Discography

;Studio albums ;Extended plays

Guest appearances

– "Yokai" (2016) * 6ix9ine – "Hellsing Station" (2016) * $ubjectz – "GangShit" feat. Cameronazi (2017) * $ubjectz – "War Paint" feat. Cameronazi (2017) * ITSOKTOCRY – "SHINIGAMISTARSHIP" (2017) * Cameronazi – "AREYOUREADYKIDS?" feat. $ubjectz (2017) * Cameronazi – "Squad Up" (2017) * Cameronazi – "Devil Horns" (2017) * Saint Poncho – "FVKKK" (2017) * XZARKHAN – "Jungle Klipped" (2017) * BROC $TEEZY – "Want Em Dead" feat. fl.vco and KXNG (2018) * Yadrin – "Demonscall" (2018) * Yadrin – "BHUM BUKKET RMX" feat. SosMula (2018) * Stoney – "Runnin'" (2018) * BurnKas – "Red Rum" (2018) *

– "

VENGEANCE Vengeance may refer to: *Vengeance (concept) or revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance Film * ''Vengeance'' (1930 film), action adventure film directed by Archie Mayo * ''Vengeance'' (1937 film) or ''W ...

" feat.

(2018) *

Lil Gnar Caleb Samuel Shepard (born February 24, 1996), known professionally as Lil Gnar, is an American rapper and singer based in Atlanta. Career As of December 2023, Shepard has released one studio album, two mixtapes, two collaborative extended p ...

– " Man Down" (2018) * Powers Pleasant – "Please Forgive" feat.

, Zombie Juice and Denzel Curry (2018) * Danon The Producer – "Shootinphotos" (2018) * DrownMili – "Kid Soulja" feat. BurnKas (2018) * ESKIIIS – "I Solemnly Swear" (2018) * RAMIREZ – "BAPHOMET / MOSH PIT KILLA" (2019) *

POUYA Kevin Pouya (born December 20, 1994), known mononymously as Pouya, is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. Considered as a pioneer of the early underground rap scene that began on Soundcloud in 2012, along with discovering the well known hip ...

and CITY MORGUE – "Bulletproof Shower Cap" (2019) * Denzel Curry – "EVIL TWIN" (2020) * NYCL KAI – "Incredible" feat. $NOT (2020) * IC3PEAK – "TRRST" (2020) * DJ Scheme- "Thor's Hammer Worthy" (2020) *

Trippie Redd Michael Lamar White IV (born June 18, 1999), known professionally as Trippie Redd, is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Canton, Ohio, he has contributed to the progression of emo rap and rage, a subgenre of trap music. His de ...

– "DEAD DESERT" feat.

Scarlxrd Marius Lucas Antonio Listhrop (born 19 June 1994), professionally known as Scarlxrd (pronounced "Scarlord"), is an English rapper, singer-songwriter, and former YouTuber. He is known for his unique musical style and is considered a pioneer of th ...

(2021) *

– "Boogaloo" (2021) * Jeris Johnson – "RAINING BLOOD" (2022) * ONI and CITY MORGUE - "War Ender" (2022) * $NOT - 0% (2024) * BLP Kosher - "Scarecrow" (2024)

References

{{reflist Living people 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians African-American male rappers American hip-hop singers East Coast hip-hop musicians Hardcore punk musicians Musicians from the New York metropolitan area People from Suffolk County, New York Rappers from New York (state) Republic Records artists Trap metal musicians People from Long Island People from Islip (town), New York People from Bay Shore, New York 1998 births