Elzhi Interview
People have doubted Elzhi since he started rapping. His family wanted him to get a “stable” job. After eight years as a member of Slum Village, rapper T3, the group leader, left Elzhi out of the group’s music video for “Reunion 2.” When he decided to go solo, his label said he wouldn’t make it.
For years, Elzhi discussed remaking Nas’ album Illmatic, and calling it Elmatic. Naysayers said it would never come. They questioned how he could improve on such a classic album. Then last May the album was released. It was a huge success. Despite being an independent release, both video singles “Halftime” and “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” each received over 500k views.
Before interviewing Elzhi, I looked at his album’s track titles like “Genesis,” “Detroit State Of Mind,” and “It Ain’t Hard To Tell,” and concluded they were like chapter headings to his story. At the end of each chapter, I asked Elzhi to provide a song that reflected his answer. This is his playlist.
This post was written by David Johnson-Igra, The SF Critic.
