Elzhi: "Detroit State of Mind"

Rappers: don’t do this. Don’t cover Illmatic (1994). Don’t “put your own twist on a classic.” Don’t re-imagine. If you want to pay tribute, blast that shit from your headphones, vehicle, or apartment like a flag. Rap over other beats. I would like to see someone adorn “H.A.M.” with the furiously vivid verses it requires. But stop spitting over “Halftime.” You’re hurting me.

This is the mini-lecture I was prepared to give Elzhi for his latest mixtape, which covers Nas’s classic in full. Fashawn did this last year, and as much as I like Fash, it sounded like rap karaoke. Zhi makes me feel like a parent with a tongue-lashing stuffed sheepishly in my pocket because, like, his rendition of “NY State of Mind” is great, all breathless flow and meticulous detail. The Detroit native shares young Nas’s ear for stringing together syllables in a manner that is both adamant and liquid. Elzhi raps “Was told to watch for enemies that pretend to be friends / They hit you with the setup; I seen it all with my own two / The hood is like a glass house the devil throw stones through.” The “through” sounds like a knot tightening. This talent is what drives the track. We don’t get imagery that’s nearly as evocative as on the original, but, phonetically, it sounds correct. I’m unsure how I feel about someone transforming arguably the best track on arguably the best rap record ever into something that’s, like, pretty good, but if most rappers deface classics, Elzhi is paying homage adroitly enough. But if dude raps over “Can I Live,” I’m gonna smash things.

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