Elzhi - ELmatic (2011)

Anybody who knows hip-hop at all knows Illmatic.  The 1994 album by Nas is almost universally hailed as one of, if not the greatest hip-hop album ever made.  What MC, Elzhi, along with fellow Detroiters, Will Sessions, have done with ELmatic is taken the old beats off Illmatic, tweaked them a little bit, to bring them into the modern era and recorded his own vocals over these re-imaginings of the Illmatic beats.  A project like this is inevitably going to draw comparisons to the original, and Elzhi had big shoes to fill here.  Even Nas, himself, has never managed to escape the shadow of Illmatic.


The beats are classic, but the original DJ Premier and Large Professor versions were classics, so I don’t want to give too much credit to Will Sessions.  They were given gold and basically just polished it a little.  Live instruments are always refreshing to hear on hip-hop albums, though and they did make a few tweaks to make the aging Illmatic beats a bit more appealing to modern listeners.  The original samples are all still present, allowing ELmatic to maintain a similar vibe to the original.  The biggest problem I have is that for whatever reason, several of the tracks include extended periods of just the instrumentals playing, including over three straight minutes at the end of “One Love.”  I’ll never understand why artists include these extended instrumental portions, I’ve never met anybody who enjoys them.  I don’t mind when they’re use to segue into the next track, but that can be done in ten seconds; anything over a minute just detracts from the album.

While the beats on Illmatic are classic, the lyrics are legendary.  Elzhi has had a reputation as a great lyricist since his days with Slum Village, but when I first heard about this project, I scoffed at the idea of him being able to successfully recreate the feel and technical skill exhibited in Illmatic.  I assumed that, at best, it was going to be of a similar caliber to Fashawn’s similarly themed Ode to Illmatic mix tape, from last year.  That is to say, merely an above average tape.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Elzhi absolutely owns every track on here, at times rivaling and (I’m about to commit heresy here.) even surpassing Nas’s original rhymes.  Most of the tracks share a similar lyrical theme to their Illmatic equivalent, the notable exception is “It Ain’t Hard to Tell,”  which turns from a very braggadocious track into a narrative about Elzhi’s early life and rise to fame.

Remaking Illmatic was a risky move.  This could have very easily been an absolute disaster for Elzhi, especially if it had been a weaker release than Fashawn’s effort.  The gamble payed off for him, though and we’re treated to a stunning re-imagining of a legendary album, which succeeds in both paying homage to and building upon the original.  Elzhi shows off a level of lyrical ability that we have never seen from him before, making ELmatic arguably the best hip-hop release of 2011.

Best Tracks: Detroit State of Mind, Halftime, Memory Lane, Represent, It Ain’t Hard to Tell

Overall: 91/100