The Audacity of Dope

Big L is my favorite MC of all time, but in his absence, I’m not sure there’s a rapper out there that I appreciate on a technical level more than Elzhi.  The way he constructs each verse and flips these words together is insane, plus his flow is about as sharp as it gets.  All this is on display in his new video for “Deep” off his Leftovers Mixtape.  Shout to the homey Gerard on the direction as well.

As I showed y’all yesterday, we’re snowed in here in Seattle and as a matter of fact, it’s even worse than it was during that video.  I think we’re up to about half a foot of packed snow on the ground, with no signs of it letting up for the next few days.  It’s really cool looking outside and fun to walk around in, but the downside is that I’ve been stuck around my house for 4 days straight now.  Wait…that’s probably not such a bad thing…I have good food, a warm place, football (and futbol!) on TV, and I’ve been able to finish up a ton of work.  I take it back, this snow thing is kinda dope.

Well, aside from the fact that I haven’t done any Christmas shopping yet and I’m suppose to be moving in 10 days.  If I have to move my couch on ice skates, I’ma be very, very upset.

Anyway, in the meantime, I’ve been getting some old projects finished.  Here’s some simple Flip Cam footage I grabbed of the homies Black Milk and Elzhi performing at the Red Bull Big Tune stop here in Seattle on 9/12/08.  If you recall, we recorded a dope interview with them the day before, which you can still check out right here.

At the show, they ran through some of their illest songs, including “Sound The Alarm,” “Motown 25,” “Hiding Place,” “1, 2,” and more.  If you’ve never seen Milk and El rock live, you’re missing out.

“Detroit in the muhf****n’ buildin’”

A few months back, J. Moore and the rest of the Red Bull Big Tune fam brought Elzhi (of Slum Village) and Black Milk to the town for the Seattle edition of the beat battle.  Before tearing it down at Neumo’s that night (I’ll toss some of that footage up if I get time), they came through Sound Session to record an interview with us.  Unfortunately, since we’ve had so many guests coming through lately, it’s taken a minute to get the audio up for y’all.  Better late than never though, especially when you’re dealing with two of the dopest artists in the industry right now.  I don’t think anyone is seeing Elzhi bar for bar, and with the release of Tronic, Black has staked his claim for the top MC/producer out there.  Seriously…do you hear how he’s spittin’ on that album?

Anyway, the interview was recorded in between the releases of Elzhi’s The Preface and Black’s Tronic, so there are a few occasions where it sounds dated.  Even still, I highly recommend checking out the full discussion to hear them break down both projects in detail.  They also talked about their inspirations both past and present, their creative processes, all things Detroit, what changes they hope Barack can bring to the people, their upcoming work, and much more.  Enjoy!

Elzhi & Black Milk on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?4nl20wo3wjy
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/52144263069bf0be/ )

Do yourself a favor and go cop The Preface and Tronic if you haven’t already.  Your “Best of 2008″ list isn’t complete without both of ‘em, trust me.

With White Van Music scheduled to drop on October 7th but already circulating (in clean form) on the net, Jake has decided to post the demo version of one of the standout tracks, “Glow.”  This edition is slightly different than the final track, plus it includes a 3rd verse from Elzhi and no appearance from Royce The 5′9″.  Whichever way you slice it, this joint is classic.

Jake One ft. Elzhi – “Glow (Demo Version)”

Stay up to date with the man himself on Jake’s new blog and be sure to tune in to Sound Session on October 5th to hear more behind the scenes stories about the album.

Yes, yes y’all.  It’s finally time for the Seattle stop of the Red Bull Big Tune (an event that originated here with my people J. Moore, Vitamin D, Jake One, DV-One, and Marcus Lalario) and here’s the itinerary for the week:

Monday, Sept. 8th: Red Bull Big Tune Kick-Off (flyer)
The War Room
722 E. Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122
Featuring DJ Maseo of De La Soul and special guests
9pm, 21+, $5 cover

Tuesday, Sept. 9th:  Educational Outreach – Producer workshop with Jake One & Vitamin D
Vera Project
305 Harris Street, Seattle, WA 98109
4pm – 6pm
Free and All Ages

Red Bull Big Tune Film Premiere (flyer)
Screening and Live performance by Brainstorm of Dyme Def with special guest DJ DV-One
Nectar
412 N. 36th Street, Seattle WA 98103
9pm, 21+, $5 cover

Wednesday, Sept. 10th:  Youth Workshop with “Aim for Peace” program
Buttermilk Studios
1108 13th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
4pm – 5:30pm
Free and All Ages

Thursday, Sept. 11th: Red Bull Big Tune In-Store featuring Black Milk & Elzhi
GOODS
1112 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101
4pm – 5:30pm
Free and All Ages

Friday, Sept. 12th: Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle (flyer)
Beat Battle and special performances from Elzhi & Black Milk
Neumos
925 E. Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122
8pm, All Ages, $5 cover

See y’all there…

I always love hearing behind the scenes stories about songs, especially when they involve my favorite living MC (RIP Big L), Elzhi. MichiganHipHop.com linked up with El and had him recount some of his classic material, including “Come and Get It,” “Reunion,” “Boomerang Slang,” “Scattered Pictures,” “Hiding Place,” “Motown 25,” “Guessing Game,” “Love It Here,” and “Colors.”

If you haven’t already, cop The Preface!  Seattle people: remember that El and Black Milk will be coming to town next week for the Redbull Big Tune.  I’ll post up the schedule of events in a few days for y’all…

You may have heard us talking about this on Sound Session the past few weeks.  It’s official: two of the best in the game, Elzhi and Black Milk will be coming out to the Seattle stop of the Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle.  It’s going to sell out, so be sure and cop those tickets…

The best rapper alive (well, maybe that’s Andre…eff a Weezy) performs two songs off his Euro Pass mixtape, “Motown 25″ and “That’s That One.”  “Motown 25″ might be my favorite song of the year, although part of that is due to Royce’s verse that isn’t in the above performance.  As a bonus, here’s a new Elzhi track off his upcoming album, The Preface, swiped from the Dopehouse:

Elzhi ft. Ayah – “The Leak”

And if you’ve never seen this clip of Elzhi breaking down his patterns, watch it now.

You just can’t go wrong with Dwele and Slum Village.  Every one of their collaborations has been dope, and this joint is no different.  T3 and (the rhyming god that is) Elzhi hop on Dwele’s new single, “I’m Cheatin’.”  I would have liked some longer verses, and perhaps a remixed beat…you know, like “remixes” were meant to be…but this is still the jam.

Dwele ft. Slum Village – “I’m Cheatin’ (Remix)”

The D, and the entire midwest region, is really on fire right now…