eLZhi: The Preface (Album Review)

Since the late 1990s, eLZhi has been a monster in the Detroit hip-hop scene. With a slew of underground guest spots, mixtapes, and his work with the group Slum Village, eLZhi’s dues have officially been paid. Yet, outside of his home city, eLZhi’s solo career has not received the same level of attention that his skills merit. He seeks out to change that with his first proper solo album, The Preface.

eLZhi unabashedly lets it be known on the album’s opening track, “Intro (The Preface),” that he’s trying to show the people “what a classic is.” This bold claim may sound farfetched, but any skepticism should be quickly erased once eLZhi starts rapping. Even with only a twenty-second teaser verse on the intro track, eLZhi’s fierce delivery and intricate rhyme schemes should get listeners hitting rewind.
What really sets eLZhi apart from other emcees are his rhyme patterns. Embedded in many of his verses are seemingly unlimited internal rhymes that most rappers seldom use to the same effectiveness. And while it would take the average emcee weeks or months – if not forever – to create a similar rap, eLZhi makes it sound effortless. The only way to highlight eLZhi’s unparalleled ability is to highlight a section of his first verse of “Brag Swag,” as follows:

“The day that hell snowed is when eL fold, poetry’s well told / It’s entertaining, keep niggas training like the railroad / Stinging, what I bring in is dope as the kingpin / Slinging, OGs through me, beneath the wingspan / Expert, through the wet dirt, but still my tech squirt / Bucked, and niggas tucked in, just like a dress shirt / Been a beast in the winter fleece, come for your dinner feast / With the pen unleashed, I’m like a priest, with inner peace.”

The amazing thing is, though, that every song has lyrics on par with this. “Motown 25,” a rehashed track from his EuroPass mixtape, is an absolute lyrical onslaught, with eLZhi reciting the kind of clever punchlines that make you say to yourself in amazement, “Did he really just say that?”

One common worry about The Preface was that eLZhi was not going to have enough creative concept tracks. Rest assured that this problem is non-existent on The Preface. “Guessing Game” is one of the more innovative rap songs of the year, with eLZhi spitting incomplete lines, thus giving the listener a brief moment to guess how he will complete the previous line at the beginning of the next one. “Colors” features eLZhi rapping in the form of a teacher, instructing his students about color schemes. Though relatively elementary, the method which eLZhi goes about rapping the song helps it pose as interesting.

With fellow Detroit beatmaker Black Milk handling production on all but two of the tracks, The Preface makes for a very complete and consistent album. From start to finish, the album serves as a how-to manual for aspiring (as well as established) emcees. Since he has been rapping, eLZhi has known he is better than the vast majority of the rhymers out there, and with The Preface, he has proved it to everyone else.

Rating: 8/10