Following his unceremonious and somewhat confusing departure from Slum Village, Elzhi has been on a relentless quest to rebuild his buzz by slaughtering any instrumental that dares to cross his path. Earlier this year, he undertook the ambitious and some say downright crazy task of remaking the classic Nas album, Illmatic. Elzhi hit the lab with live band Will Sessions and produced an Illmatic tribute album called Elmatic, which some fans and critics say is as good as Nas' universally heralded debut.
Last week, Elzhi made a highly anticipated stop at the Jazz Cafe to not only promote his Elmatic project but to also prove that his newly ignited buzz is real and that lyrically, he is "not to be fucked with".
Clad in all black sporting the symbolic "D" hat, Elzhi bounced on stage like he was ready for war. He was firing from all cylinders and hitting all targets with sniper like precision. For an emcee that is known primarily for punch lines rather than personality, Elzhi did a grand job of connecting with audience. This was most evident when he performed Detroit State Of Mind and the entire crowd chanted "Elzhi is in your area, about to back slap and bury ya" in perfect unison. Along with his live band, who was tighter than a virgin, he presented us with some choice cuts from Elmatic namely Life's A Bitch, It Ain't Hard To Tell, Represent and Memory Lane. It didn't stop there however; as Elzhi knew he had to appease the fanatic Slum Village fans in the building. It was then, he relentlessly spat some of his best verses from the SV albums such as 1, 2 and Set It.
The most poignant moment of the evening was when Elzhi thanked the fans for their support citing that Detroit is like the "apocalypse" and not many people make it out of there. He continued his impromptu tribute by saluting his fallen comrades J. Dilla, Baatin and Proof as well as bigging up his fellow rhymes slingers Phat Kat, Danny Brown and Royce Da 5'9". It was a truly beautiful moment. As if our minds weren't already truly blown, Elzhi closed the show with an a cappella freestyle where he claimed he would "serve a nigga like a waiter with subpoena papers". With rhymes like that deadly, any stage that Elzhi steps on from now on should be labelled as an "unsafe working environment".
Overall, it was a huge and enjoyable night for all of the fans in attendance. No glamour, glitz or unnecessary bells and whistles. Just beats, rhymes and life. The band was amazing, the crowd was electric and Elzhi proved DJ Houseshoes right when he said earlier in the night that "Elzhi is one of the best emcees to ever come out of Detroit". Yes, Hip Hop was born in New York, but right now it lives in Detroit and Elzhi is the land lord.
