Re-making a Classic

It was the tail end of last year that I put together an article outlining the various reasons why, in my opinion Nas’ 1994 début album ‘Illmatic’ is an undoubted classic.  It was only a few weeks ago however, that I was made aware of ‘Elmatic’, a new take on Nas’ record by ex-Slum Village member, Detroit’s very own Elzhi. Now as a strong advocate of ‘Illmatic’ (as I’m sure you gathered from my In Praise of… piece) the prospect that someone had tried to re-make one of my favourite records was not one that I was instantly enthused by, so for a week or so I didn’t even go so far as to listen to a single track so stubborn was my take on the matter. Eventually, when visiting the very friend that had told me about the record, he put it on and within a minute of Elzhi ripping through his version of ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell’ I was transfixed. The beat was ever so elegantly re-arranged with key samples exquisitely observed and Elzhi flowed seemingly effortlessly in and out of the occasional line of the original, always returning to the exact point that the next Nas line he delivers originally stood. It appeared that this was a project from someone who enjoyed ‘Illmatic’ just as much as I did and displayed this through elegant nuances.

 

Often described as ‘Detroit’s Best Kept Secret’, Elzhi or Jason Powers as his mother calls him put together the record with the the Detroit’s Will Sessions band, giving the record a rich texture from which Elzhi can weave his homage to each of the cult classics on the original. A fine example of his expert lyricism is contained in the opening verse of  ’Halftime’ and offers a new spin on a very familiar rhyme patten…

“Everything I drop raw cut you like a chop saw
You should stop, like when a cop draw before he drop y’all
You get your fort crushed actin out of sorts
You don’t support us, you must snort dust ridin’ the short bus
Cause I’m an animal, scratch that I’m the manual
Pull out, swingin’ the metal like mechanical
Movement, soon as the groove hits I prove that you need improvements
Since I’m so smooth with whatever I maneuve’ with
And I ain’t braggin’ player you get your spot got
What I jot is hotter than the dragon’s lair
It’s only right you should show me light
Because the flow be tight, I wouldn’t slip on a snowy night”

 

As far as projects like this go, I will forever remain sceptical, a staunch believer that you should not mess with the classics, but this record (which you can check out here

 on Spotify), if you are a fan of Nas’ brilliant original is certainly worth giving a listen to. It strikes me as a very well arranged, planned and executed tribute to a record that helped define an era. For achieving that, I would care to suggest that Elzhi deserves a hearty pat on the back.