Elmatic: Detroit State of Mind

May 10, 2011 1:14 PM

Seventeen years ago, Queensbridge prodigy Nas put out arguably the greatest hip hop album of all time. Today, Detroit lyricist Elzhi releases a loving and skillful tribute to the album with re-recorded live beats: Elmatic.

Free download: zip

Some previews (all youtube; explicit lyrics)

Halftime (official video) [original]

Life’s a Bitch ft. Royce da 5’9″ [original]

It Ain’t Hard to Tell [the incredible original]

Pete Rock Shout

posted by the mad poster! (41 comments total)

Oh marvelous, what I really needed was something else to make me want to go home from work as soon as possible.

Seriously, thanks for cluing us in on this. Can't wait to hear it!
posted by rollbiz at 1:33 PM on May 10, 2011

This is interesting, but I'm conflicted. I don't know if I can even listen to "One Love" – can you really... I mean, can you really do that song again?
posted by koeselitz at 1:38 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

bullshit, everyone knows this is the greatest hip hop recording of all time
posted by nathancaswell at 1:39 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this, I'm now anxious to get home and download it before it disappears.

Another fascinating album is Deconstructing Illmatic, a track-by-track breakdown of the samples that made Illmatic such a sparse, somber epic.
posted by 2bucksplus at 1:42 PM on May 10, 2011 [6 favorites]

Not a lot of people know that Nas recorded a b-side to "Life's a Bitch" called "It's Not the Heat, It's the Humidity."
posted by hydrophonic at 1:42 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I mean, can you really do that song again?

I know right? I haven’t heard Elzhi’s “One Love” yet, gonna do it in a minute, but sometimes—like I was listening to It Ain’t Hard to Tell and Elzhi just can’t hold a candle to Nas’ version—but the live band makes the track quite enjoyable in terms of the instrumental even when the lyrics lag a bit.

I'm kinda tempted to post the last verse of One Love here for the uninitiated but it's fairly long so I'll just post this official video of the song about his locked-up friends and this segment:

I took an L when he passed it, this little bastard
Keeps me blasted he starts talking mad shit
I had to school him, told him don’t let niggas fool him
Cause when the pistol blow the ones that’s murdered be the cool one

Tough luck when niggas are struck, families fucked up
Could’ve cought your man, but didn’t look when you bucked up
Mistakes happen, so take heed never bust up
At the crowd catch him solo, make the right man bleed

Shorty’s laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul
Only twelve trying to tell me that he liked my style
Then I rose, wiping the blunt's ash from my clothes
Then froze only to blow the herb smoke through my nose

And told my little man that I’m a go cyprose
Left some jewels in the skull that he can sell if he chose
Words of wisdom from Nas, try to rise up above
Keep an eye out for Jake shorty wop
One Love

When Nas acted in Belly later, they actually shot a scene similar to this verse; an enterprising youtube user put the One Love verse over that clip.
posted by the mad poster! at 1:51 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

Well, having downloaded the mixtape, and listened to his "One Love" and most of the other tracks, I can say this: indeed it isn't the masterpiece Illmatic was (how could it be?) but Elzhi has a pretty damned good flow. I like it. I'd kinda rather hear his own music, with his own beats, but the tracks sound really good.
posted by koeselitz at 1:58 PM on May 10, 2011

Another recent project in this vein (and by an MC of similar caliber) is Fashawn's Ode to Illmatic. He's from Fresno and more poetic.

CA State of Mind · Halftime · One Love · Life's a Bitch ft. Talib Kweli
posted by the mad poster! at 1:59 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I love that mefites love Illmatic, but I'll take this opportunity to recommend another classic hip-hop album that many probably have never heard or maybe have just slept on: Common Sense: Resurrection. Released in the same year as Illmatic, Common's sophomore effort is the Chicago version of Nas' debut. Instead of Queensbridge themes and narratives we have Southside Chicago ones.

While Nas was quite advanced as an MC, especially for a teenager (when he recorded a lot of the songs on Illmatic) Common already had a full album under his belt and was a couple years older than Nas. This is reflected in Common's lyrics. We have more mature and personal themes and advanced rhyme structures. More extended metaphor and more subtle imagery and word play.

The Common on Resurrection was at the top of his game and lyrically there might not have been a better MC before or since. The production was all handled by one producer and is extremely solid throughout, and imo just as good as the production on Illmatic. Just an extremely underrated album and one that I return to much more often than Illmatic and after hundreds of listens still get something new out of it every time. The most perfect hip-hop album ever, except for maybe Aceyalone's Book of Human Language.
posted by AceRock at 2:06 PM on May 10, 2011 [6 favorites]

youtube playlist of Resurrection
posted by AceRock at 2:13 PM on May 10, 2011

Sweet. I heard Elzhi for the first time on Black Milk's awesome Deadly Medley. He had all the best lines in the song and he sounded incredibly similar to Nas. It makes me like him even more knowing that he's made this - thanks for sharing it.
posted by partywithoutboundaries at 2:15 PM on May 10, 2011

I'd kinda rather hear his own music, with his own beats

Check this out: Motown 25 ft. Royce 5'9". I couldn't believe how good this was when I heard it.

Also: Deep, Colors. I can't lie though he has an obsessive focus on syllables and words that can be a bit grinding.

I'll take this opportunity to recommend another classic hip-hop album that many probably have never heard or maybe have just slept on: Common Sense: Resurrection

A fair pick! “How could I ever let your words affect me, / They say hip hop is dead, I’m here to resurrect me.” What’s your take on his career progression? I think he’s fallen off a lot of people’s lists over the last decade but I liked Be.
posted by the mad poster! at 2:21 PM on May 10, 2011

My favorite Elzhi: "What I put down in the sound coil is Crown Royal. It's like I dug in the ground soil and found oil. I'm known to terrorize, paralyze a pair of guys or prepare to rise off the land, sea, air, and skies."
posted by cashman at 2:36 PM on May 10, 2011

Oh MAN. I totally read this as "Queensrÿche put out a hip hop album."

My mind was blown.
posted by Madamina at 2:47 PM on May 10, 2011

I think he’s fallen off a lot of people’s lists over the last decade but I liked Be.

Agreed on both counts. Be is a great album, "The Corner" and "Testify" are both great pieces of storytelling.
posted by rollbiz at 2:53 PM on May 10, 2011

Yeah, I sampled your voice/ You was usin' it wrong
You made it a hot line/ I made it a hot song.
posted by klangklangston at 2:53 PM on May 10, 2011

oh really klang?

Jay-Z cries after hearing ether
posted by the mad poster! at 2:55 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh and as far as Elzhi goes, everyone really needs to hear Goatit. Elzhi's verse starts around 1:40 or so, and it's sick, but stick around for Bishop Lamont's because it will blow you fucking mind.

You can pick up the entire mixtape for free (legally) here, and I actually recommend it because the mixtape version cuts Phat Kat's weak verse from the beginning. Also, the rest of the mixtape is really good.
posted by rollbiz at 3:12 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I own illmatic (bought back when I was seriously into rap music) but I honestly don't get all the hype. Yes, it's a good record. Is it better than Strictly Business, Paid in Full, It Takes a Nation of Millions, etc.? De gustibus and all, but I'd give up Illmatic before I gave up even Return to the 36 Chambers or Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk.

Having that said, this mixtape is great. Thanks!

What’s your take on his career progression?

Seems like he just makes advertisements now.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:24 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

automatic coppage.
posted by bayani at 3:24 PM on May 10, 2011

mrgrimm, that's some tough competition when you put it against Paid in Full etc. so once we've established that it's in that stratosphere that's good enough I think. As for personal taste: one album that's approaching Illmatic level for me these days is Outkast's ATLiens
posted by the mad poster! at 3:34 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

For those who might find yourself in Detroit's vicinity, I heard/read somewhere that Elmatic will be performed in full at the 5/27 Funk Night (can't find a link but I assume it's at the Majestic, as per usual).
posted by ofthestrait at 3:45 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Is it better than Strictly Business, Paid in Full, It Takes a Nation of Millions, etc.? De gustibus and all, but I'd give up Illmatic before I gave up even Return to the 36 Chambers or Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk.

Yes, It's a better album than Strictly Business and Paid In Full (If you ask me, Follow The Leader is a better album than Paid in Full)

If I had to choose 5 albums from that era, they would be Illmatic, 36 Chambers, Doggystyle, Ready To Die, and Buhloone Mindstate. I think those 5 are all about evenly awesome.


Nation of Millions not just the best Hip Hop album, It's one of the best Albums of my lifetime,period.
posted by billyfleetwood at 3:57 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

also...If I had to pick a top 10 from that 90s, the final 5 would be Outkast, Outkast, Outkast, Outkast, and Midnight Marauders.
posted by billyfleetwood at 4:00 PM on May 10, 2011

Yeah, I sampled your voice/ You was usin' it wrong
You made it a hot line/ I made it a hot song.

You? What?! You love my style.
posted by milarepa at 9:25 PM on May 10, 2011

I own illmatic (bought back when I was seriously into rap music) but I honestly don't get all the hype. Yes, it's a good record. Is it better than Strictly Business, Paid in Full, It Takes a Nation of Millions, etc.? De gustibus and all, but I'd give up Illmatic before I gave up even Return to the 36 Chambers or Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk

To me, Illmatic feels like a more complete piece of art than many other "best ever" rap albums, though it also doesn't feel all that comparable to Paid in Full or Nation of Millions in so much as it (and 36 Chambers) seem more like a change in the wind direction for hip hop. I wouldn't say its better than what Eric B or PE brought, but I definitely find it difficult to enjoyably sit down and those records today. Illmatic, like few records I can think of, still feels fresh and relevant.

I suppose if I were to pick a list of best rap albums in the 90's they would include: Illmatic, 36 Chambers, Ridin' Dirty, Ready To Die and I go back and forth between ATLiens and Aquemini, though my profound love for Aquemini probably results from its release coinciding with my senior year of high school.
posted by ndfine at 9:37 PM on May 10, 2011

I love Aquemini and Buhloone Mindstate, but they seem like odd inclusions. Aquemini is darn good, I suppose, and yeah, so it ATLiens. But once you start throwing in 5-10 best, you might as well expand it to include Goodie Mob's Still Standing or Digable Planets' Reachin' or Afrika Bambataa's Planet Rock.

I suppose arguing about the best rap/hip-hop album is a cottage industry in and of itself.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:45 PM on May 10, 2011

I think it has something to do with which people are currently/politically seen as the best artists of the genre which informs the albums people pick out as representative. This is why people talk about Reasonable Doubt as a top-10 album whereas candidly I doubt it was seen as such in its own time. Andre 3k has a lot of credibility as a top-5 contender as does Nas so people gravitate towards throwing in a 'Kast album. Also these 90s artists are still selling as much or more than the new kids so they haven't faded like the 80s artists. Clearly an objective take would start separating out the time periods so you don't have to have strange comparisons like "Posdnuos vs. Lupe Fiasco"
posted by the mad poster! at 11:26 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Andre 3k has a lot of credibility as a top-5 contender as does Nas so people gravitate towards throwing in a 'Kast album.

I don't know. When was the last time Andre rapped more than sang on an album? To me, Aquemini was when Outkast hit their peak. That album is amazing. Andre's verse on the title track after the beat changes is ridiculous. Andre was dope on ATLiens, but wasn't quite at that Aquemini level.

A Top 10 of the 90s list is difficult. So many great albums, and really, you have several different hip-hop eras in one decade. Does it not seem like Aquemini came out like 30 years after efil4zaggiN? Both are great albums but they seem like they are from different eras. Same with Aceyalone's Book of Human Language compared to say Tribe's first few albums. So much came out of the 90s that you can't help but do a disservice to someone by doing a Top 10 list.

How about a list of albums that frequently get left off Top 10 of 90s lists, but would be perfectly valid selections?

1. Black Sheep - A Wolf In Sheeps Clothing - To me this album is just as good as Tribe's Low End Theory, which you will almost never see left off a Top 10 of 90s list.

2. Masta Ace - Slaughtahouse - About as good as any of Biggie's albums, but you'll never see it on The List.

3. Xzibit - At the Speed of Life - Seriously slept on album. Better than any of 2pac's albums imo.

4. Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda - You can put this in instead of say Liquid Swords or Doggystyle.
posted by AceRock at 8:21 AM on May 11, 2011

It you're throwing out Xzibit's Speed, I'll throw out Mobb Deep's The Infamous. Also Organized Konfusion yes. Let's throw in Das EFX just for fun. Loved Black Sheep.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:56 AM on May 11, 2011

"oh really klang?

Jay-Z cries after hearing ether"

I'm not stanning too hard for Jay-Z here, but maybe he got stuttered up over the weak beat and that Nas can only drop dick-sucking disses. That shit worked on Cam'ron, and "Don't Body Yourself" trumped 50, but "Takeover" is still a jam, and "Ether" is closer to "Super Ugly."

And none of them touch "Kick in the Door" (though if there was a Biggie recut that dropped all the fucking skits, I'd be all over that).
posted by klangklangston at 10:21 AM on May 11, 2011

Yeah, there are a lot of groups that deserve to be on the top ten lists because lyrically they're just as good as each other. It's kind of hard to do it album wise for a lot of them because they didn't have the production backing them. Nas had some of the top names producing cuts for his album and that's not an easy feat to get together for your first album, much less any album, unless you have the money to back it up like Puffy or Kanye.
There are obviously a lot of landmark albums that you could easily put in the top ten merely because they were breakout albums with stylings that no one had heard before, and Nas' album is definiteley one of them. Along with Pharcyde's first album, Wu Tang's first, Outkast's first, and on and on.
As far as Dre and Snoop's contribution you could make all kinds of digressions on that argument. Dre has always had a distintinctive style that he just kept building upon. If you follow all the Dre produced NWA songs up through The Chronic and Doggystyle, there really isn't anything surprising there. From the first time Snoop put something down I've always thought his style was at it's best in the begining and has basically degraded since. Maybe it's because his flow is best complimented by Dre's production or maybe he got lazy, but he's evened out in the past 10 years or so.
posted by P.o.B. at 11:09 AM on May 11, 2011

Coincidentally, Common is in the news. Conservatives are upset that he was invited to the White House for a poetry reading, with some calling him "controversial" and "vile", and Karl Rove calling him a thug.
posted by AceRock at 2:03 PM on May 11, 2011

Hopefully Common will call out Karl like he done Cube.
posted by klangklangston at 3:41 PM on May 11, 2011

Takeover is a jam because Kanye laced it with a incredible beat. Don't Body Yourself barely registered though so I'm not sure how that trumped anyone. Nas never quite dissed Cam except for subliminals here and there. But really you replied far too late for me to follow up on the Ether vs Takeover thing I was ready to go a dozen rounds back when I replied lol
posted by the mad poster! at 6:22 PM on May 11, 2011

P.o.B. it's pretty safe to say that Snoop fell off hugely after Doggystyle. He had a few flashes of brilliance here and there but he openly uses ghoswriters now
posted by the mad poster! at 6:33 PM on May 11, 2011

Follow the Leader is the greatest rap album ever.
posted by cashman at 7:22 PM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I don't know. When was the last time Andre rapped more than sang on an album?

I believe the regional thing has something to do with it.. so when people want to pick the best of the south they go for Scarface for the 'soul' and 3k for the lyrics (and UGK)

As for Pac, he was always much more of an 'artist' than an MC.. besides Xzibit I also thought Kurupt was a better MC. I think if we're looking for lyrical skills the best west coast album that dropped in the 90s was by Xzibit's pal Ras Kass: Soul on Ice.
posted by the mad poster! at 7:41 PM on May 11, 2011

Follow the Leader is the greatest rap album ever.

Eric B and Rakim? ... or Korn? ^_^
posted by mrgrimm at 12:25 PM on May 12, 2011

Not to derail (more) here, but I have never understood why the Nas/Jay beef is always viewed as Ether vs Takeover/Superugly.

First, let me lay clear my bias: I absolutely loathe Nas. Illmatic is good, of course (bought it the day it dropped and wore it the hell out), although I would argue that AZ had the best moment on the album. I also really like Jay: always have, always will. So, right off the bat, it's no contest for me. However....

I can not imagine how anyone can be an observer of that feud and ignore Blueprint 2, which is by far the most potent attack in the entire battle. Sure, the hook is a bit wonky, and the beat is nothing to go nuts about, but my God, Jay completely dismantles Nas. Not only that, nearly every Nas-directed line in the whole thing is real, true, meaningful, personal shit. He tore down Nas' long history of directionless hypocrisy in a few bars. I think it may be the most on-point and potent dis record in rap history.

Look:

"I call a spade a spade, it just is what it is
But you can't give cred to anything dude says
Same dude to give you ice and you owe him some head
(Shortyyyy!) It's time to wake up the dead
You sound a little naive in them articles that I read"

Jesus! Right off the bat, Jay calls Nas on his bullshit. Not a "Cockafella" joke, not a "Gay-Z" line, but actual substance (which can be rare in battle records).

Moving forward...

"Can't y'all, see that he's fake? the rap version of TD jakes
Prophesizing on your CDs and tapes
Won't break you a crumb of the little bit that he makes
And this is with whom you want to place your faith?"

More Ether (pardon the pun).

"These dudes is all politics, depositing checks
they put in they pocket, all you get in return is a lot of lip
And y'all buy the shit, caught up in the hype
Cause the nigga wear a kufi, it don't mean that he bright
Cause you don't understand him, it don't mean that he nice
It just means you don't understand all the bullshit that he write
Is it "Oochie Wally Wally" or is it "One Mic"?
Is it "Black Girl Lost" or shorty owe you for ice?"

^That strikes me as some to-the-bone shit. In my eyes, a lot of Nas' success is attributable to overeager people misreading his meandering and confused lyrics as poetic genius. Jay basically lays that out in 2 lines, and then goes hard on Nas by mentioning the disconnect between songs like Black Girl Lost and You Owe Me. And, just for good measure, he points out the gap between Oochie Wally and One Mic.


I really fail to see how lines like "That this Gay-Z and Cockafella Records wanted beef
Started cocking up my weapon, slowly loading up this ammo
To explode it on a camel, and his soldiers, I can handle" or "Rockefeller died of AIDS, that was the end of his chapter
And that's the guy y'all chose to name your company after?
Put it together, I rock hoes, y'all rock fellas
And now y'all try to take my spot, fellas?" can even be considered to be any competition. The whole "beef" was weird to me, because it was just so totally one sided.



As for Elmatic, I'm (you guessed it!) not interested. Slum Village has always been lame, and Elzhi is just the strongest link in a weak chain. On top of that, the countless attempts to recapture the magic of Illmatic have all failed. It's kind of ridiculous that an entire genre has been stuck on a single album for nearly 20 years, especially when you consider the huge list of albums that came before and after it that are, in my opinion, at least as good (if not better).
posted by broadway bill at 4:00 PM on May 12, 2011

Blueprint 2 is the album where Mr. Carter takes a Tupac gun metaphor riff for a song with Beyonce right? The whole Blueprint 2 track is a hurt concession song just from an objective point of view ("even in defeat..") Ether was full of the truth--that Jay is a Nas fan, that Beans is as good as Jay, etc. The fact is that Nas came back from the crypt to strangle Jay. Just cause you like bopping to The Doors doesn't change that.

Also, I'm still waiting for the "flutes" on the BP2 track.
posted by the mad poster! at 4:25 PM on May 12, 2011