By Odeisel
Sometimes a rapper can be around for a while putting it down in relative obscurity until his skill becomes impossible to ignore. Elzhi is one such rapper. Planet Ill took in many shows last year in our quest to show you the real life. We were blessed to see Slum Village about a week or two after Baatin’s death and Elzhi kicked a few freestyles that hipped me to him (yeah I got a late pass). Though I wasn’t too hyped from the stage show itself, when he went a capella, I knew that there was something there.
A few months later, we got sat down with legendary emcee Masta Ace, who has represented this music on a high level over many eras. We asked him who was the best rapper he had ever heard. His response:
Masta Ace: I hate that question because it could change from day to day. He said Kane and I would agree with that, but just to throw another name into the pot, Elzhi from Slum Village is one of the best rappers that I ever heard spit because he bends your mind a little bit as an MC. He makes you think about rhyme combinations and ways of combining words that rhyme that you maybe didn’t even think about or cadences that you didn’t even think about.
He plays around with it and that’s what I like about him, because rappers like that stretch my imagination and make me try to get trickier and crazier with it. When I came out, all I wanted to do was show skill and make people bug their brains out, so I like dudes that get intricate with the patterns and he’s one of those guys.
That’s high praise from a rapper who has seen it all. I don’t think I could do him better justice. Needless to say, I had to get hip. Well Elzhi dropped his Leftovers mixtape and among the many ill tracks and one of the tasty morsels there was the track “Deep.” He now has a video. Enjoy. You can borrow my late pass.
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