Elzhi has all the credibility any emcee would need to rock a cipher on the block or be taken seriously by any crate digger, critic or hip-hop scholar. As a member of the Dilla propelled Slum Village and former time with The Breakfast Club group of local significants he is a Detroit hip-hop notable. The Preface is his second album and it is almost entirely produced by Black Milk.His palette of mostly archetypical tones and beat formations gives a throwback sound to support Elzhi’s words. Lyrically thick spaces combine with Black Milk’s stock urban soundchecks that occasionally meet with a greater inspiration. “Talking In My Sleep” evokes nocturnal luminosity with a trance-inducing horn filled with an off-key paranoia. Elzhi takes pride in his wordsmith wordiness when he is challenging listeners and colleagues to pick the lyrical patterns of “Guessing Game” or calling out the mundane symbolism of “Colors.” The rugged “Motown 25″ collaboration with Royce Da 5′ 9” breathes through Black Milk’s softly hit snares. His liking for jazz horns shows again under the droning phrases of “Yeah” that make warm circles around Phat Kat’s vocals. Elzhi’s flawless flow at times can sound like a younger hungrier Nas but the problem is his lack of conviction about anything but his rhyme skills. His marginal attempts at reporting on the life around him are more of battle tone instead of a philosophical one. Rapping for over a decade this album is not a chronological preface but a developmental one for an emcee still reaching for his prime.

(July 30, 2008- Brooklyn, NY) – eLZhi, esteemed member of Slum Village, will be releasing his solo debut, The Preface, on August 12, 2008 through Fat Beats Records. The 16-track album, produced almost entirely by rising star Black Milk, features guest appearances by a who’s who of the Detroit hip-hop scene. Royce Da 5’9″, T3 (Slum Village), Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, and more add to what many have predicted will be one of the most noteworthy hip-hop releases of 2008.

With The Preface, eLZhi displays the unpredictable flows and rhyme schemes he is known for and also touches on an impressive variety of concepts and subject matter. He demands perfection in his tracks and the attention to detail shows in the expert production of Black Milk. Having worked with countless hip-hop talents like Phat Kat, Frank-N-Dank, Lloyd Banks, Canibus, Pharoahe Monch, T3, and J Dilla, Black Milk tidies up the tracks with his signature air-tight beats and samples.