Elzhi - The Elmatic
This album has gotten a lot of press recently and it is absolutely deserved. If there's one thing i hate it's jumping on a bandwagon and just bumping up what other people have said without any original thought. That being said, believe what you hear, this is special.
The Elmatic, is not just a tribute, it's an update, a reworking, and a cover. It takes every track off of the Illmatic, a classic album for any genre, and rerecords them with a live band, and Elzhi rapping over them in a similar style, rhythm, or beat pattern to the original. No one is here to say that Elzhi is a better rapper than nas, or that this album is better than the original, but this album is great in its own way! Performing these songs with a live band gives it a much fresher feel, and Elzhi does a wonderful job emulating Nas while still telling his own story and leaving his own mark on the aalbum.
Halftime, one of my absolute favorites off the original, gets a spectacular rendition by Elzhi and his backing band, but also represents the two albums well. It sounds different in the best way possible. I just love both of them so much. Nas rapping, it's better, and more memorable ("You couldn't catch me in the streets without a ton of reefer//That's like Malcolm X, catchin the Jungle Fever"), but I LOVE Elzhi's smooth quick agile delivery. See and compare for yourself. The Original. The Update.
I don't think I even mentioned the best part. It's Free. All of it. It's not a pay as much as you want, its just free. I'm trying to find someway to buy it, because I want to support Elzhi now, but so far as i can tell this is free mp3 download only.
If you didn't click on any of the download links here it is.
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