Out Da Box TV recently caught up with Detroit veteran Elzhi to discuss his widely successful Illmatic-inspired mixtape Elmatic. Elzhi spoke on whether he’s gotten any feedback from the God’s Son himself Nas on the project. Although he hasn’t spoken directly with the Queensbridge legend, he said that his and Nas’s managers spoke and that Nas’s camp is feeling the project.
“As far as feedback from [Nas’s] camp, my manager spoke with Nas’s manager and he’s heard through [him] that they’re over there loving it, ” said Elzhi. “That’s a blessing because when I set out to do the album…I wanted to pay homage and pay tribute to the classic album that Nas did. As far the fans, it’s been incredible. It surpassed my expectations, and it’s still growing.”
El also spoke on some of the side benefits he’s received from releasing Elmatic. He said that not only have a number of high profile labels been knocking on his door based off the success of Elmatic, but that it led him to collaborate with Chrysler cars as a part of their “Emerging Artists” series.
“Through Elmatic, I was able to get a situation popping off with Chrysler, where they got me in their new campaign called ‘Emerging Artists,'” he explained. “It’s just been incredible, the labels are calling. It’s a great thing, and like I say, it went beyond my expectations and I’m glad I put it out.”
The full interview can be seen below.
RELATED: Elzhi & Will Sessions Bring “Elmatic” To Retail CD Release On July 22
eLZhi is a Lyrical demon.
Good to hear that the labels are gettin at him.
I ca see him wit Interscope.
Imagine him and Eminem ona track together.
Over a Dre beat.
That would really suck some booty
Ah yeah, thats a bad idea. If he signs to interscope, that would be a waste of time, like when he was on capitol. The whole major label deal seems to be a mess with the integrity of good artists music and hes all about good music, so no thank you.
U comparing Interscope to Capitol records?
Name ONE successful rapper that came out on Capitol.
If he came into Interscope, Im sure the Shady camp would get at him and put him wit Yelawolf n Slaughterhouse.
Get Ya Money eLZhi. Get on that Detox shit and show these cats that lyrical dudes ca still get money.
Nas is my favorite rappers favorite rapper
Stop sucking dick for a second and pay attention u faggot motherfuckers!!!!!!!! 12/13/11 it goes down Rick Ross “god forgives I don’t” the track record speaks for itself; port of miami#classic, deeper than rap#classic, trilla#classic and the ear milk that was.teflon don#fuckingclassic!!!!!! #mmgbestlabelever
Yeah dude, keep listening to a grown ass man tryina act hard by reciting poetry about guns on the mic over a beat.
Good, “Elmatic” made me a fan and he deserves all the accolades he’s been receiving. That was a great mixtape.
ELZHI IS SICK WITH IT.
DO YOUR THING MY NIGGA
This must be for the “grown and sexy mature rap fans” aka FAGGOTS!!!!!!!! The BAWSE drops 12/13/11 “god forgives I don’t” cop the disc sissies!!!!!!!! #mmgauthenticmusicthatmakeslifeworthliving
And the award for the biggest Ma-ma-ma-Maybach Music dick sucker goes to… ohmymistake… you probably can’t relate to real cuz u so digital.
Your “comeback” was the most homo shit I’ve ever read in my life, it read like u have a lisp faggot!!!!!! 12/13/11 “god forgives I don’t” Rick Ross the BAWSE #elzhiandhuh69edlastnightmmgontop
*TROLL ALERT!!*
This wack ass garbage nigga needs to take Nas’s dick out of his throat.
Fucking faggot ass dickrider.
Fuck Elzhi
sthu
*TROLL ALERT!*
jason take lil wayne and drake and search for donuts under ricky’s chest…u homo
Elzhi is nice but at the end of the day dude is a Nas clone he doesnt have any originality did you hear him on phontes new song? He sounds exactly like nas…flow,cadence etc he needs to come up with something that he himself created.
listen to Elzhi’s album “The Preface” and then tell me that
Like Jaz said Its been about 13 years. I heard him 6-7 years ago. You probably heard him when he released Elmatic(this year), go figure……..
which is mind boggling to me like okay your argument is he’s been in the game for 13 yrs and still using a style that Nas fathered? the fuck? ok if he was under 22 and just got it the game then I would say contrary ok he dope and i cant wait until he grows into his own style etc but he’s been in the game too long for that furthermore he’s saying he had to resort to mimicking Nas totally to align himself with chrysler how can that be an achievement?
stfu
Really Olympia? I said go figure. Your intelligence should have told you that since you heard him just this year, his other projects that you know nothing about(or have not bothered to check out) hold more weighting to his unique techinical rapping style(patterned rhyming) Nas today hasnt got shit on Elzhi. Out of the 10’s of albums he made only about 2-3 of the cds equate to Elzhi’s solid discog. Stop dick riding, you dont want to end up like jason, living in your moms basement talking shit on the internet all day.
so you are saying that if someone was exaclt like michael jordan they would suck? if you are gonna copy someone and sound just like them in rap might aswell pick nas
@Zues…if this dude is so much doper than Nas why the fuck is this dude trying to remake Nas classic today. This dude can’t fuck with Nas past, present or future! Tell dude to go make his own worldwide classic and hop off of Nas’ dick!
Glad that he’s getting his props, though it’s a shame that a guy woth 13 years in the rap game is treated as an emerging artist.
true, he’s been “rappin’ since 8” but at least he is starting to get some “shine.”
J.Cole Can’t fuck with this NIGGA Elzhi he is a REAL THREAT TO ALL EMCEES
Cosign. Hes just not at that level. Jay Electonica is the only rapper even coming close.
*TROLL ALERT*
Kendrick is another real problem to MCs
based god is a bigger threat than global warming
thats the kind of comment i expect when some1 gives props to lil b…didnt know retards could afford computers
Hmm not familiar with his work outside of Elmatic but Elmatic was great. If he signs to a major label though thats a waste, his image and sound is not marketable. He needs to just stay in the underground making some great albums and mixtapes.
Do yourself a favor and listen to the Preface.
As long it isn’t interscope or atlanta or even warner brothers records then you might get release.
haters always gotta say something negative. what El did was incredible, not only did he pay homage to Illmatic but he recreated Illmatic. Big up to the man, give credit where is due, the man is sick as hell. go listen to The Preface
selling out is the new keeping it real
*e-smacks the Anonymous user upside his head* ……selling out? Please elaborate. *waits for response while playing Jeopardy music*
to be honest i didnt even read the article i just saw working with chrysler
but i fucks with elzhi
How is that selling out? A man born and raised in Detroit can get an advertising deal for a Detroit Automotive Company? Which happens to support a fair part of the city? You bugging…
Thank you for your honesty Anonymous. In my mind I feel what is important is ownership, As long as Elzhi manages to be endorsed in a fair manner by Crysler, while owning his music (and doing his own thing), then I will continue to respect him and his craft. Remember, he is a human like you and I and he’s got to pay his bills too, I just hope he makes fair deals unlike his situation with Slum Village.
Elzhi’s a great mc but that whole project was weak. Same with Fashawns attempt
leave it the fuck alone – its a classic
*rolls eyes*
FUCK YOU IT WAS GOOD!
define hip hop ?
answer: ilmatic by nas
This was better then Illmatic, hope off its overratted dick.
youre an idiot
first off if ross and payin u to promote his album you are a dickryder. second rick ross is wack as hell and if you ryyding his shyt like that idk if i can respect yo opinion. third, elzhi’s elmatic was dope snd he from michigan so he got my respect. get off OFFICER RICKY dick! I Fn hate cops!
Elzhi is a relly dope mc and one of the best lyricists out but i think he is trying a lil too hard to be like nas, he even kinda sounds like him on the mic a lil bit. regardless tho i have nothing but respect for this man and his music. stay up homie and keep doing u
Elzhi is one of the absolute best rappers out there, people can’t fuck with this nigga’s lyrical wizardry. Dude is out of this world when it comes to this sick lyrical shit, he has some of the best concepts of all time.
The Preface and Grey Hairs were the best albums of 2008 and Elmatic was unbelievable and amazing beyond belief. Deep alone is better than most niggas whole albums.
I prefer an independent artist’s work that is’nt interfered with. They’ll take him and try to make him do what these mainstream rappers are doing today
How many times will a post be made about this dude dick riding Nas Illmatic just to receive .5 % of the attention that the CLASSIC original album received. This dude is a clone and Nas is a LEGEND and can NEVER be duplicated! Make your own classic! LOL @ this dude being in an online Jeep Compass commercial as an emerging artist after being in the game 13 years!
Have you listened to The Preface? You idiot.
And the only reason he’s been around for 13 years and hasn’t done much is because he signed a dodgy contract and got fucked over.
When I read most of the comments on here I swear I said to myself, “Ignorance is truly bliss”.
First, for those of you saying El tries too hard to sound like Nas, that’s what has always been great about El from the very start. The very 1st time I heard him (maybe in 02 or 03) I always said that his style reminded me of Nas in a complimentary way. Ofcourse a lot of other ppl felt that way hence the reason why they PLED w/El to make a Nas Tribute type album for 3 YEARS before he gave his TRUE FANS what they wanted. How many artists do that today? Think of it this way – It’s exactly the same manner ppl say Ne-Yo sounds kinda like Michael Jackson and have been wanting Ne-yo to make an MJ tribute album.
Secondly, in all of El’s interviews about this project, he’s always stated that it’s a tribute. Unfortunately a lot of morons can’t comprehend what “TRIBUTE” means and mistake it for dickriding. Give El his props for (1) Repping hard on the album, doing it justice & then some, and then (2) For paying homeage to a LIVING Legend (emphasis on living). Sometimes we as a ppl get so wrapped up in BS & hatred so deep we could’nt get saved by a life raft even if it smacked us in the face.
Third, I’m certain that no one can count 5 mc’s out there today that could see El, point, blank, period. So why keep up the hate, just recognize & salute dude for his creativity. The way he went about making this album itself was a feat. I’m sure if most of you had any RECORDING knowledge you’d be able to appreciate the way he did it differently & kept it respectful too……Damn clowns on this site (SMH)
co sign
Exactly.
the only comment here that made any sense
Dropping the truth of on trolling fools.
Real talk. I try to stay away from the comment sections on sites because of the ignorance. It’s easy to get caught up in all that, but thank you for taking the time to shed some light on the dumb.
Ne-Yo sounds exactly like Donnell Jones, not Michael Jackson
All of you are just scared that somebody is out there who’s better than Nas.
bold statement
if he was so great he would have made his own illmatic instead of re creating the one nas made
Nas is a slim version of Rick Ross with rapping skills.
nas has touched on a huge number of social issues…94-98 nas is like a good rapping rick ross, would be more accurate.
FAG
I guarantee the only people talking shit about El are those who haven’t heard his entire body of work. Go listen to every Slum Village record he was on, every mixtape he put out, and every album he released. Then tell me he isn’t one of the top 10 MC’s dead or alive. He kills every track he touches. Elmatic is a classic album, not only for the fact that he has an amazing lyrical ability, but for the fact that they re-created every beat from Illmatic with live instrumentation. That shit blew me away before I even took the time to dissect El’s lyrics.
co-sign
By “they” I mean Will Sessions.
The Nas of today got NOTHING on Elzhi. Dude is at least as skilled as Nas was at the time Illmatic got released.
bruh lets not get ahead of ourself. Elzhi is nice but nas illmatic. no copmarison!!!!!
Nas is the most overrated fuck of all times.
El on Memory Lane >>> Nas’ terrible career.
Nas Overrated?
Your life is overrated – end it!
Seriously? You guys are either teenagers or just plain stupid. Universal Records is NBC and Comcast/Xfinity! They have access to Universal Studios! This would be GREAT for elzhi to FINALLY get some checks for his rap labor! WTF is wrong with you guys?