album review: europass.
slum village, as hip-hop fans all know, is a top-20 all-time hip-hop group. of course, elzhi came in as j. dilla [yeah, top-5 all-time hip-hop producer– and my second favorite after premier] was departing the group, joining the group as they flirted with a couple hit singles [”tainted’ and the kanye-produced “selfish”], and longtime member baatin left the group, leaving slum village to become a duo.
to be honest, i didn’t even know elzhi was dropping a solo album until zilla made a post about his showstopping verse on “motown 25,” featuring royce the 5′9″, an artist most of you know is one of my favorite rappers ever. since then, i must have listened to “motown” like 90-100 times, and still find it unbelievable that elzhi completely merked one of today’s best working rappers. then, i was provided with the advance for europass, elzhi’s solo debut, and here we are.
the bulk of the album was produced by black milk, who my man jeff weiss feels is the likely successor to j. dilla, which, given his near-preternatural beatmaking talent, is very feasible. most of the album’s most jaw-dropping beats are provided by black, including the muffled horns of “fire,” the eerie sonics of “talkin’ in my sleep” [the highlight of the album both musically and lyrically], and the soul sample and hard-hitting drums of the aforementioned “motown 25.”
elzhi himself uses these beats [and the others, provided by DJ dez, slum village’s T3, and others] as a canvas to not only spit top-shelf verses, but to wax philosophical [”how would you feel if somebody shot at your close friends?”], to not give handouts [”save ‘ya,” “dedicated”], getting high to escape problems [”high off life”], to break up [”the transitional joint (baby girl glow)”], spit the best hip-hop lyric of the year [”you couldn’t get signed in a cast(!!!!)”], and to tell stories of his past [album closer “audio cinematic”].
the album’s high-point comes from “talkin’ in my sleep,” featuring a ghostly sample of floating and cascading keyboards, and with elzhi floating and cascading from dream to dream, flying through clouds, hands punching in slow motion, and being chased by a child in a jason mask, trying to reach for his gun, only for it to squirt out water. it’s actually riveting stuff, and the type of horror/fantasy type stuff that not many rappers have the creativity to try.
europass, as a whole, is everything i wanted black milk’s album from last year to be; a consistent, infinitely replayable hip-hop album from an artist who deserves to be billed as “the next great rapper from detroit,” a barrage of tightly-wound rhymes and hard-hitting beats, and enough emotional variety to be considered a great record. there are quite a few highly-anticipated hip-hop albums coming out this year, but i can safely say that europass is 2008’s first GREAT hip-hop record.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:01 pm
“I get higher than the jeans on Urkel, then I murk you”
“Say my name three times in the mirror, and if I hear ya
I appear clearer, extend both arms and pull you nearer
May 21st, 2008 at 10:28 pm
The “jeans on Urkel” line was a close second for “Hip-Hop Line of the Year,” but YOU COULDN’T GET SIGNED IN A CAST?!??!?! That line would have totally MERKED somebody if he said it in a battle. That line would make the DJ turn the beat off!
Speaking of, I’ve had that happen to me, I’ve said a line that made the DJ totally fuck up the record he was playing, scratching the vinyl, and completely shut down the battle: “You stay on the block, but scared to shoot like Dikembe.” Zilla, I KNOW you’ve shut down a battle or two in your day. What was your best line?
July 30th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
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