You can catch Elzhi this week on tour in Australia, and we catch up with him for a chat.
Elzhi
Elzhi, a Detroit MC that started off recording tracks in '98, grew up with hip hop at places like the infamous The Hip Hop Shop in
Detroit, through the last 12 years Elzhi has worked with the likes of J Dilla and was part of the crew Slum Village, and has recently
launched into the spot light, and onto the Australian shores off the back of his recent mixtape "Elmatic", a unique tribute album to
Nas's "Illmatic". OzHipHop.Com had a quick catch up with Elzhi in anticipation for his upcoming Australian tour.
[OHH] Tell us a little about yourself..
[Elzhi] To the core, Elzhi is a wordplay wizard, a syllable sensei, a mic mechanic, a verbal vigilantly, but you know, as far as my ear
for music goes I enjoy all different types of music, from alternative to jazz, to punk, so you know, when I really try to sneak in a do a hip hop
album or an album for hip hop, I like to bring different types of genres into it, weather it may be alternative or may be techno or whatever. I like
to just expand on my sound, I come from Detroit city, you know, same birth place as Jay Dilla and Eminem, I would consider both of those two cats my
brothers, especially because I used to rock with them at this place called The Hip Hop Shop back in the 90's. Well known in the Detroit underground
scene, well known in the underground scene all over in hip hop, and that's me.
[OHH] You recently been labelled as an "emerging artist", after being in the game for over 10 years, how does that make you feel?
[Elzhi]Man it feels great! Man, it feels like I got a second wind. Like you say there's people that still don't know who I am, which is
cool, because this year, and through the years to come, I plan on correcting that mistake, so people can be more hip to what i do. It's a blessing to
be in the game for so long and be along side of cats like Lil Brother, Jay Dilla, Kanye West, and even Dre, and you know, still be looked at someone's
that's new and fresh in the game. Which I still am, I'm still a new and fresh artist, because the power of the mind and the power of thinking is
infinite, so I'm always going to have something fresh for the listener.
[OHH] Now Will Sessions, the band that recorded the live instrumentals for the "Elmatic" album, is not touring with you to Australia,
what can we expect from the live show?
[Elzhi] A lot of energy, high energy, you know, still going to be the same minus the band, still going to be emotion in the house, still
going to feel good, still going to be an incrible experience and I can't wait.
[OHH] Elmatic's been out for a minute now, what has been the response so far?
[Elzhi] Oh man, the response has been incredible, man as you can see I got the Jeep deal with Chrysler, a couple other deals coming
through that I don't want to speak on yet, a lot of labels are looking at me right now, a lot of like, big name producers who I respect is looking at
me now and want to work with me, and you know, my fan base has gotten bigger from it which is a great thing. And what is wild about that is I wasn't
even going to put it out because it took so long for me to do it because of other things that was going on in my life. I had the Slum Village drama
going on behind the scenes that didn't know one know about, as well as other other little things, so I took time away from it, and once people kept
asking me to come back to it, and I was like "I don't know if I should" and then my manger was like, "there's really a demand for it". So I'm glad
that there was people on Twitter and on Facebook that kept asking me through the years to put it out, because if it wasn't for them I probably
wouldn't have.
[OHH] You're not the first one to put out a Illmatic tribute release, have you found any negativity with the project?
[Elzhi] Finding the negative statement on this project is kinda like finding the needle in the haystack, yaknowwhatImsaying, it may be
there, but you know, it's not much at all, matter of fact it's none really. It's a lot of people that truly understand that I'm a fan of Illmatic. So
by me being a fan and me paying a homage, they knew that was what it was all about when they heard the mixtape. I can't really say I'm getting any
negative response from it.
[OHH] You mentioned Social Media helped to push you to put out Elmatic, has and how has this sort of thing changed the game?
[Elzhi] I definitely think it's changed from the last few years, I mean, if you work the internet right you can become a star, there's a
lot of people doing that, like, Wiz Khalifa, Odd Future, these are people that put out mixtapes and infinite amount of music online and shooting
videos for them, and you know that's not all you need to do to get yourself on, but that's a couple of things you need to do if you want to be a part
of the hip hop game. And it's not like how it used to be, a lot of people striving to go for major deals, when it's a lot of people going for
independent deals now, so it's so many different things and we go on and on you know, those are a few things that I've noticed that are different from
years back.
[OHH] So the new album, who are you looking at feature wise?
[Elzhi] Maaan right now I am in the beginning stages, there's a couple people that I've been conversing with and kicking it with, like The
Alchemist, I'm just starting to kick it with DJ Khalil. Who knows, it's the beginning stages right now so you don't know what's going to make the cut
or not, but as far as right now it's coming along lovely.
[OHH] You mentioned back in 2002 that you would like to work with Andre 3000, what about now?
[Elzhi] Still Andre 3000, I think he's incredible, as well as like Chris Martin, these are two people that I'ld love to work with
youknowhatImsaying and yeah man it would be nice to get them in the studio and create some great work with them.
[OHH] What makes you preserver with making hip hop?
[Elzhi] Because I love it! You know if I was working at a pizza place, working at a car plant, I'ld still be writing rhymes, going into
the studio, freestyling, the whole nine, no matter how ugly the game get or how beautiful the game get, I'mma still be writing and tryna put my
thoughts in the music and make songs basically.
[OHH] If you could do something besides hip hop, what would it be?
[Elzhi] Probably like making movies. You know like I get a high off looking at like a Quentin Tarantino movie or a Coen Brothers movie or
even a Hughes Brothers movie, I like their art direction, I like the dialog that's in there, I like how they set up certain scenes to tell a story. I
mean, that's the kinda stuff I like to do when I put the pen to the pad or tryna write a rhyme or whatever, like, I try to be visual like that, have
incredible dialog, write things that people can see and picture for themselves.
[OHH] Thanks mate for chatting with OzHipHop.Com, looking forward to seeing you out here!
[Elzhi] I can't wait to come out there and kick it with y'all, last time I kicked it will y'all was like 3 years ago, the energy was high
and I'm looking forward to that energy again, it's going to be like a party, hope to see you there!
You can catch Elzhi performing this week;
Wednesday 7th September - San Francisco Bath House, Wellington
Thursday 8th September - Fu Bar, Auckland
Friday 9th September - The Espy, Melbourne
Saturday 10th September - Rocket Bar, Adelaide
Sunday 11th September - Tone, Sydney
Unsure of age mate, I would say he is about 30 however. Real good to chat to aswell, good dude, I'm bummed that he didn't make it to Perth as I think
this is going to be a great show.
He is pretty undeniable. I'd say it'll probably be one of the top gigs of the year.
[quote][i]Originally posted by ClosedSession[/i]
When I was younger I would always make someone else press the crossing button at lights, cause i was sure people had rubbed their penis on it the
night before[/quote]
As am I. Unsure of what to do re: support acts. Should I go and sit through an hour or two of crap or should I risk it by turning up at 11:30 and
there being no tickets left.
Someone posted set times in the gig forum, I won't be hitting up the supports.
Will anybody I know be going to this?
[quote][i]Originally posted by ClosedSession[/i]
When I was younger I would always make someone else press the crossing button at lights, cause i was sure people had rubbed their penis on it the
night before[/quote]
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