Review: Elzhi - Elmatic

So in comes one of the most anticipated projects of the year: Elzhi’s Elmatic.

Even from the title it is an obvious reference to Nasir Jones' classic genre changing classic Illmatic album that celebrated its 17th year release anniversary the other day.

On paper the I must admit that the idea sounds corny: redoing an album that is widely considered as the benchmark of lyricism and not to mention the production work that was done by legendary beat-makers DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Pro and Q-Tip. Basically Illmatic was always going to be a tough act to follow (ask NaS)! 

Will Elzhi pull off the re-making of Illmatic and still make it sound modern and relevant?

Well employing the services of the music band Will Sessions was a great idea. Their live music set brings a new dimension and freshness to the very familiar melodies.  The production therefore escapes sounding dated and then as a special treat some of the songs are extended with longer interpolations from the sampled tracks such an on Life’s a Bitch (featuring Royce 5’9) where after the muted horn solo the band breaks into the classic Roy Ayers’ sampled track –nice touch.  The same goes for the next track “One Love”.

Lyrically Elzhi holds his own:  He follows NaS’ cue on most of the tracks keeping the same song title and chorus. Inside the bars he follows that formula rather loosely, referencing the original verses here and there but   giving himself enough room to express his own point of view and carve his own story-lines. "Detroit State of Mind" is a dedication to his native city interpreting the narrative about the struggles of surviving in the projects of the infamous streets of Queensbridge, New York.

Elzhi is on point on many tracks on this here. Taunting his critics on "The World is yours":

“I’m spiting iller rhymes,
Rougher than gorilla palms,
you softer than chinchillas,
You albums full of fillers,
…
(my) delivery like shipping mail”

 Verdict: Elzhi and the Will Sessions band pulled it off! This joint is an enjoyable listen and it is a fitting tribute to a monumental hiphop release.
On the first few listens it does sound out of place to hear different rhymes to the ones burned in our memory (-lane) with the Illmatic beats but we soon get used to this because the tracks are so dope it doesn’t matter.

After hearing this album I am definitely looking forward to hearing ’Zhi release his own classic one day soon but for now it’s Elmatic...!

Rating: @@@@1/2

I'm OUT!
Chiefmlu

·         The album is available for free download courtesy of xxlmag.com.
or directly through my blog post http://chiefmlu.blogspot.com/2011/05/elzhi-elmatic-mixtape-out.html

·         One Love