“I’m something of a mystery…I may have walked the planet before…”
Elzhi is an underground legend and Georgia Anne Muldrow is known for genre-stretching R&B. As a team, they’re fantastic.
“Thеy never taught the teachers how Jesus Christ has our features/Before they brought us here to fail we were royalty/Back then they would’ve rubbed my black skin while they oil me…”
Speaking on everything from slavery to Christ to the environmental end of the world when glaciers fall, Elzhi’s intelligence continues to be his strongest feature–and the one that may hinder his accessibility.
“I’m not the one to test, no need to prepare a quiz/Too many claim king, but can’t sit in this chair of his/All that talk’ll have you laid out in front of your therapist…”
Exactly. His bars are dense. Where most rappers use similes, he is strong on metaphor–making his material that much more impactful.
This is rap for those willing to accept a challenging listen. Muldrow’s production is very good, but she allows for Elzhi’s complexity instead of just throwing an easy beat under it in an effort to sell it–and if she had gone that route, it seems likely it would have been underselling the content.
This is an excellent album.
