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eLZhi Interview - The Early Days
Detroit's own eLZhi has been a legend in the making for sometime. Over the years the world has recognized him has something special. From the early days of his career as part of the legendary hip-hop group Slum Village, he has now finally broken free and unleashed his mind on the world. eLzhi recently released his debut solo album, The Preface. We've caught up with him for just a moment to talk to him about his early influences, life lessons, as well as his new album.
La Famiglia-What were some of your early influences in music?
eLZhi-Some of my earlier influences….in music…were a lot of the Motown era. My moms used to play the Supremes, she used to play Marvin Gaye, a little Luther Vandross. My auntie used to play Jack the Ripper, ya know.. LL Cool J, Planet Rock. Actually one of my first cassette tapes that was ever given to me was, The Fat Boys, Fat Boys cassette tape, and that was given to me by my grandfather. And when I really started getting a love for this music was when I started listening real close to, not just RUN DMC, but Rakim and Ice Cube. They had a real big influence on my pen when I started getting off at some poetry for real. So yeah man, I had a real eclectic beginning.
La Famiglia-What influenced you to start writing and rhyming?
eLZhi-What inspired me to start writing and rhyming was one day my cousin, Chris Bud, a kat on the block. Him and his crew were doing music or whatever, the name of his group was C.O.A. And my cousin Chris Bud was rapping over this instrumental, what’s the name of that group…Digital Underground. It was called Do What You Like. So, he was rapping over that instrumental, I think he rapped over that and rapped over a Milky D instrumental. And from there it was just like wow, that’s crazy, he sounded real good doing it. I was dibbling and dabbling in it before, ya know freestyling, just listening to Cube and all that, but he’s really the one that really made want to pursue taking it to a whole other level. Just to see how he did his thing and everybody respected him on that level, it was like wow, I want that type of respect. So, I would definitely say that Chris Bud is the one that inspired me.
La Famiglia-What do you remember starting out in the scene starting out in Detroit
eLZhi-With the scene in Detroit, the Hip-Hop Show is something I always bring up in every interview because, not only did it mean so much to everybody in the community as far as hip hop goes, but it was just personal to me. Before The Hip Hop Shop, I was in high school ya know, young, rapping here and there on the karaoke machine, mending beats together and trying to create songs that way, rapping in the lunch room and all that. I guess I really didn’t have a pride in my city as far as when it came down to hip-hop. I’m thinking why is everybody rhyming so whack out here? And I’m like man, do I have to leave out here and go somewhere else? I’m thinking I had to go to New York. But my man Shelby was telling me about he The Hip Hop Shop. He kept trying to get me to go and I never did, so finally one day on a Saturday he was just like, “Yo, I’m about to scoop yall up.” So he scooped me and my crew up, at the time I was in a crew called F.O.D. So he scooped us and we went to The Hip Hop Shop and it just changed my whole point of view on my city. Not just off the fact that I saw there were people just like me that took the craft real seriously, but I met Proof. Ya know what I’m saying, and Proof just gave me jewelz. He gave me a lot of life lessons and just gave me jewelz as far as we used to conversate a lot about our poetry and how to make patterns and that sort of stuff. I was already on that, but he ended up taking me to a whole other level there, and you can here that in the music that I make to this day.
La Famiglia-How did you get involved with Slum Village?
eLZhi-Well, I got involved with Slum Village through a guy named Waajeed. And Waajeed was real close friends with J Dilla, Baton, and T3. He actually gave them the name, Slum Village. At the time, Waajeed, he was an artist. He was like a jack-of-all-trades. He used to do art, create jewelry, work on houses, he was all over the place. So at this moment in time he decided to make beats. So while he was getting back into making beats, cause he dibbled and dabbled in the past, me and him linked up at a place called the Mediterranean Café. We were working on songs together, and we basically six or seven songs, there’s probably two songs that everybody heard out of the six or seven. T3 heard some stuff, and at the time T3 was trying to manage somebody so Waajeed was like, “You gotta holla at eLZhi.” So he’s the one that put the meeting together, we ended up just going to the pizza parlor and chopping it up, the rest is history.
La Famiglia-What trials and tribulations have you had to deal with through out your career?
eLZhi-Yeah, there’s a lot of trials and tribulations that happened. When Slum was with Capitol, I was new to the whole game, so I didn’t know how to work it right. I felt like at that time I could of did a little more networking, I don’t think I was networking at that moment in time. Then, there were certain things that I signed on the dotted line that I should have had attorneys look at. So, what I would tell anybody out there that’s trying to get into this game, make sure that anything you sign you get your own attorneys to look at. You don’t get attorneys that your label may present or give to you, you find your own. I think that was a mistake that I had to live with and I got through it, but most definitely networking is the key too. That’s the thing, I was just talking to T3 about that, I remember when were at the Eminem’s release party for the Eminem Show. We were up in there, everybody was up in there from Jay Z, to Primo, ya know, all that. Looking back on it I kinda felt crazy that I didn’t try to network with these people. Who knows what could’ve came alive out of that situation. So yeah, networking is the key.
La Famiglia-Do you feel as your music has evolved?
eLZhi-Most definitely, my writing keeps evolving and that’s all I focus on. Really I just battle myself. But ya know whats weird man? I don’t know man…Sometimes I look at these message boards and it kind of shocks me sometimes. Like, I heard someone say that I was too perfect. By me being too perfect I might be a rappers rapper, what ever that means. My thing is, I’m always trying to reach that next level. And sometimes I might not be satisfied with certain stuff that I’ve done after a week or so because I’m trying to get to another level. I don’t know man…I look at these message boards and I would think that certain kats in the underground would understand, the level of love I have through what I write. I honestly don’t think anybody can listen to what I say and what I do and say that ok, this kat is whack. I put a lot in what I do and I’m always growing. The new stuff is crushing the last thing you heard from me. Sometimes I feel like, when I read certain comments, do these kats really appreciate the love that I put into my craft, and the love I have for the movement. I’ve been carrying the hip-hop torch for years, raising that flag up. Even when so many people told me, “eL, you just need to leave that alone and go ahead and do something else. Go ahead and take it to that mainstream level.” No disrespect to the mainstream level, that’s cool too, but I’ve always envisioned myself breaking through on the hip-hop game. But sometimes I don’t feel like certain people appreciate that. It is what it is. I’m gonna still keep trying to take it to the next level when I write. If it aint perfect, I’m gonna try to make it near perfect.
La Famiglia-Tell us about your new album..
eLZhi-The Name of the album is, The Preface. Basically, it’s just the beginning of my story and me coming into my own. I’ve put things out in the past through a label I created with my partner Nick Speed, called Lobed Sounds. So, so I’ve put out like Mixtapes, like Witness My Growth and the Blend tape. And there’s certain stuff circulating around the internet, but I’ve put out an official release as an album, this is my first album. It was something that I did with my boy Black Milk. Black Milk produced the majority of the record, in addition to beats by my man DJ Dez and Denmark Vessey. It’s a crazy album, it’s me just kind of showing off what I can do. Cause certain people think, if they listen to Slum Village, they think that all I do is girl songs or certain people listen to what I’ve done with Little Brother and think that I’m just good for a hot 16. I just wanted people to know that on this record, that I can do that and a lot more.
La Famiglia-What inspired this album?
eLZhi-I had a CD that I put together to go out on tour with. Like rough drafts of songs that I created. Actually I was going over seas to Germany, and I needed something with me to make a little money. So I went over there and realized the harsh truth that people want to buy shirts and posters over buying the music. I don’t know if its cause when they look at you having a shirt out on the road they feel like they can’t get anywhere else so they buy that, I don’t know. So, I wasn’t really selling the CD’s like that. There was a record store that I went to over in Berlin that bought some CD’s from me. I didn’t know that they had an online store, they put it on their online store and people ate it up. From there, it started circulating around the internet. So basically through that buzz, it was like, I gotta put out a record and fast. And all I had was two and a half weeks so I buckled down in the studio.
La Famiglia-Anyone other than Black Milk that had a big part in putting this record together?
eLZhi-The record came out on Fat Beats. Hexmurder played a nice part on there, ya know that’s my manager. And Tommy, the engineer. Me and Tommy were in the studio sweating, trying to get it together. Looking watch, looking at the calendar, he was in the trenches with me man. I’d say Tommy was really my ace, my sidekick on this project.
La Famiglia-Can we expect anything from Slum Village in the future
eLZhi-Slum Village, we actually have a mixtape that we are working on right now for DJ Whoo Kid. We’re in the process of finishing that up. I don’t know when that might coming out. It may come out this year, or it may come out at the beginning of next year. You’re definitely going to hear some new music from Slum over the next year.
La Famiglia-Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?
eLZhi-My advice for aspiring artists and emcees is, sometimes people make it over night, and sometimes people don’t. And usually the people that don’t, are people that stay in it for the long hall but they go through a lot of trials and tribulations. It’s all about keeping your head to the sky, stay on your toes, and strive to take it to that next level. Like I said before, when you have the opportunity to be in front of people that are able to change your life as far as you career, you get to network. The internet is like the new streets, it’s best to use the internet at your advantage and just try to work your angle from that point. If you’re trying to make a name for yourself in the city, go out to these open mics and show them what you can do. If you’re aspiring to do this you can’t just stay home, you gotta be out and about doing your thing. And if you are at the crib you gotta be on the new streets. Just keep it going because sometimes it just doesn’t happen over night.
La Famiglia-Last words.....
eLZhi-Be on the look out. I gotta a lot of things in store right now. I’m doing a tribute to one of the greatest emcees to ever bless a mic. I’m in the process of doing this mixtape called Illmatic, and basically it’s a tribute to the Illmatic album that Nas did. It’s kinda like my personal way of giving my man a hip-hop honor. Through the years I’ve had a lot of influences, and he was one of the influences, and he’s still doing his thing. Me and my man Houseshoes were just discussing it, and were like that would be kinda ill if we did that. I’m also on Fat Kat’s new record, it’s about to come out. It’s called the Katakombz that should be coming out either at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Be on the look out for the S.V. ya know what I’m saying. Me and Royce are doing a project together, so I’m going to stay busy. And if I’m in your city, I’m talking to the people listening to my music, if I’m in your city come support man. We can kick it or hang out or whatever…it’s all about the people and that’s what counts to me, straight up and down. Be on the look out for some great music. That’s it.
Links
eLZhi's Official Myspace
www.fatbeats.com
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