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A gifted MC and outspoken critic of commercial hip-hop,
eLZhi began his career rubbing shoulders with
Waajeed,
Dwele, and the other gifted Detroit artists involved in the city's flourishing late-'90s underground hip-hop scene. After an appearance on
Jay Dee's groundbreaking 2001 album Welcome 2 Detroit,
eLZhi joined the producer's crew,
Slum Village. With
Jay Dee spending more time with other artists,
eLZhi became the producer's replacement, beginning with the group's 2002 effort Trinity (Past, Present and Future). Two more albums from the group -- 2004's
Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit) plus a self-titled effort in 2005 -- appeared before
eLZhi began focusing on his solo career with the 2008 release The Preface.
He reunited with
Slum Village for a 2010 LP,
Villa Manifesto, although one fellow
Villager, Baatin, died before its release. An array of hip-hop luminaries appeared on the album, including
Posdnuos,
Phife Dawg,
Little Brother,
Dwele, and
DJ Babu.
Villa Manifesto was
eLZhi's last with the group, however. He sprang back into solo action with a mixtape, Elmatic, conceived as a tribute to
Nas'
Illmatic;
eLZhi wrote all the rhymes while
Will Sessions produced. A Kickstarter campaign helped fund his next venture, Lead Poison, released in 2016. ~ David Jeffries