Continuing on with the big news surrounding some of the most anticipated and long overdue new albums, it looks like one of the game's most underrated lyricists; Elzhi will be releasing his solo album "The Preface" later this month. For those unfamiliar, Elzhi is better known as one half of Detroit's Slum Village. Although the group originally consisted of T3, Baatin, & producer J. Dilla...'Zhi joined the crew in 2001 during the recording of "Trinity (Past, Present & Future)", and became a permanent member once both Baatin & Dilla parted ways with the group.
Ever since, Elzhi has become a staple in the underground hip-hop scene and has been quietly building quite the following over the past few years thanks to both his work with S. Villa and by releasing his own solo material on the 'net. But despite the growing buzz, El went for a pretty long stretch without releasing any new music up until just recently when he put together a new compilation "Europass" which originally was passed out at his shows overseas, but ended up dropping stateside in May. Ever since, the guy's been back on the grind and will finally release 'The Preface" on August 12th. It was also just revealed that fellow rock city brethren Black Milk has produced 14 of the 16 tracks on the LP.
So for those of you who have let this guy slip under your radar...please take this opportunity to get acquainted with one of the sickest lyricists in the game today. I made the mistake of overlooking 'Zhi until one of my boy's put me on and I've been a die-hard ever since. Just to get the point across, I've decided to hit y'all with some essential listening from Elzhi's discography in addition to the cover, tracklist, and leaked tracks from "The Preface"...
Elzhi - Colors
Elzhi ft. Ayah - The Leak
Elzhi ft. Royce Da 5'9 - Motown 25
Elzhi ft. T3 - Save Ya
Elzhi - Transitional Joint
ELZHI - THE PREFACE (TRACKLISTING)
01. Intro (The Preface)
02. The Leak (ft. Ayah)
03. Guessing Game
04. Motown 25 (ft. Royce Da 5′9″)
05. Brag Swag
06. Colors
07. Fire (Remix) (ft. Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Fatt Father, Danny Brown, & Fat Ray)
08. D.E.M.O.N.S.
09. Save Ya (ft. T3)
10. Yeah (ft. Phat Kat)
11. Transitional Joint
12. Talking In My Sleep
13. The Science (ft. Fes Roc)
14. Hands Up
15. What I Write
16. Growing Up (ft. A.B.)
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ELZHI - EUROPASS (2008)
01. Intro
02. That's That One
03. Fire feat. Black Milk
04. The Reason feat. Phat Kat (Cuts By DJ Dez)
05. Talkin' In My Sleep
06. Save Ya feat T3
07. The Know
08. High Off Life
09. Heart Of The City (Cuts By DJ Dez)
10. The Transitional Joint (Baby Girl Glow)
11. Dedicated feat. Trip
12. Motown 25 feat. Royce Da 5'9"
13. Audio Cinematic
ELZHI - OUT OF FOCUS EP (1998)
01. Theory 13
02. Scattered Pictures
03. Musick (The Last Days Of Hip-Hop)
04. Horney Joint
05. S.A.R.A.H. Intro (ft. Dwele)
06. Someone As Real As Her (ft. Dwele)
07. Interlude (ft. Dwele)
08. Choose
09. What I Am
10. The Big F.U.
11. Boomerang Slang
12. Where It All Begins (ft. Big Tone)
ELZHI - WITNESS MY GROWTH (2CD) (2004)
(link will be up shortly)
*Disc 1*
01. 2000 Intro
02. Over Wit
03. Hands
04. Days And Nights
05. Haters f/ T3 & Nick Speed
06. The Alchemist
07. Goin’ Out
08. Get It Up
09. Boomerang Slang
10. Stroll
11. Let’s Talk
12. All I Want f/ Dwele
13. Bugz Joint
Disc 2*
01. Nix Productions
02. Gunna (Are U Ready)
03. Kiddo
04. Don’t Be Alarmed
05. Concrete Eyes
06. Love It Here
07. How I Feel
08. It’s Your World
09. Stunted Growth
10. Writer’s Block
11. Friends
12. The Letter
