This album was released on February 23rd this year. Elzhi dropped one of the best albums of 2016 with Lead Poison, so I think I’m gonna adore this project. I’m not really familiar with Khrysis. He’s a producer signed to 9th Wonder’s Jamla Records, so I’m sure he’s a talented musician. It’s always cool hearing North Carolinian Hip Hop artists. I’m really excited for this album. I’m expecting it to be one of the best projects of the year. Obviously every song is produced by Khrysis.
1. World of Illusion
This is an introduction in which some guy talks about overthinking and people losing touch with reality. The background music is simplistic, but pretty. Whoever’s speaking is basically describing what happened to me right before I was admitted to the mental hospital earlier this year. This seems like a pretty good intro considering the title of the next track. There’s no reason for me to listen to it more than once though.
2. Overthinking
I really like the jazzy production on this track. It kinda reminds me of something The Ummah would produce. The first verse was great. This is really traditional Hip Hop that older fans will be able to enjoy. It’s a far cry from that Trippie Redd album I just reviewed. The hook is super simplistic, but it works. The second verse was really good, and the third verse was fantastic. The song transitions really well into the following track. I have absolutely zero gripes with this one. It’s dope af to me.
3. Self Made
This track is a bit more uptempo than the previous song. It has more energy. That saxophone melody sounds kind of familiar. I feel like I’ve heard it before. This is a really good beat though. Oh yeah; this sample was flipped for Jay-Z’s Show Me What You Got single. The hook is cool, and El killed every verse. I like how they get progressively longer. The first verse is only like four bars, and the third one is like 20. He fucking slaughtered that shit too.
What’s in my bio is hazardous and it’s vile
It’s matches in gas chambers, a water gun in Ohio
An asteroid in the troposphere speeding towards a hopeless mere
Mortal, others appear normal through my ear portal
Got. DAMN. This song is fucking awesome. The one tiny complaint I have is the hook. I don’t know… I just got tired of it pretty quickly for some reason. It’s not really bad enough to hurt my overall enjoyment of the track. The outro of the song where the police show up and tell everybody to put their hands in the air is pretty cool. This is another fantastic song. It’s dope af.
4. Cuffin’ Season
I’ve listened to this entire song already, and it’s pretty good. It’s a short song. It only has two verses, which are both pretty good. The hook’s cool too. I like the song, but there isn’t really much for me to say about it. I wasn’t amazed or anything. The production’s nice. As you can probably tell from the title of the song along with the outro of the previous track, he’s rapping about people getting caught up in street shit and getting arrested. It’s a good song. I fuck with this.
5. Seventeen
I really like the beat on this song. I love the structure of this track too. Elzhi’s just rapping the entire time. There’s no hook or anything. The beat switches up after the first quarter of the song, and it sounds really fuckin’ cool. El’s painting the picture of a seventeen year old person who gets caught up doing street shit. The way he ended the verse was really cool. The track ends with a LOOONG ass spoken outro from Alan Watts. Another instrumental thankfully plays in the background as he speaks to prevent it from getting too boring. It’s a really good song. The Alan Watts outro is a good way to segue into the following track. This shit is dope af.
6. F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Elzhi’s rapping about what Alan Watts just spoke on: fake friends. The production is pretty interesting on this song. The first verse is nice, and the second one is even better. The hook is really cool. I almost didn’t realize that he was rapping the acronym of the title when he said “fake relationship involving enemies needing disguises.” It’s a pretty solid song, but it didn’t blow me away. I fuck with it though. It’s a dope track.
7. To Do List
This song flips the same sample as Dreams Dreams Dreams by Sylvan LaCue. I’m gonna be honest… I kinda just wanna listen to that song instead of this one. This track isn’t bad at all though. It has a really simplistic structure, but the two verses are really great. I just like the way QuESt rapped over it better. I’d probably really love this song if I’d never heard his version. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It just doesn’t grab me the way the other tracks do. It’s decent though.
8. Talkin’ ‘Bout
This beat is decent. Khrysis is actually rapping on the first verse. He did his thing. It wasn’t super impressive, but it was sufficient. Elzhi really blows him out of the water on that second verse though. The hook from Khrysis is nothing special. It’s not that great of a song. It works though. I fuck with this one. The piano driven outro sounded really great. That’s probably my favorite part of the song, even though it only lasts like 10 seconds. This isn’t a bad track. It’s dope.
9. Listen featuring Amber Navran
This jazzy beat is cool, and Amber Navran’s soft vocals sound really sweet. I’m honestly not really feelin’ Elzhi’s flow on this first verse though. It sounds kind of sloppy to be honest. I like the subject matter though. It’s pretty romantic. He’s rapping to a girl that he was in a really great relationship with, but it kinda sounds like she left him or something. It sounds like it didn’t really work out in the end. It’s kind of sad. I can’t decide whether or not I like this track. His flow is just really off-putting to me. It’s an okay song I guess.
10. Breguets
This is definitely one of my favorite beats on the album so far. The production on this project is really simplistic. It hasn’t necessarily been bad, but none of the beats really reach that next level of dopeness. The first verse is awesome. I love it when El raps aggressively like this. He ripped that second verse to shreds. There’s really not anything I dislike about this song. The repetitive beat got kinda old after a while, but that’s the only gripe I have. This shit is dope af.
11. Thank You
This beat is pretty nice. The song kinda reminds me of the final track on Black Thought’s Streams of Thought EP. It’s just a song about Elzhi being really grateful about all the people who have helped him in life. Just like with every other song on the album, the production is super repetitive. Every verse on this song is great. It’s the longest track on the album. The hook isn’t super impressive, but it works. The final two minutes are a long winded instrumental outro. The way it ends actually sounds kinda beautiful. The bells and piano keys sound fantastic. This is a good song. I fuck with it.
This is a great album. I wasn’t really that impressed by the production, but it was nice of Khrysis to maintain a jazzy aesthetic. I don’t really think it’s that different from what was on Lead Poison. All of the tracks transition into each other really well. Elzhi’s rapping is still really fantastic. He’s on par with the likes of Royce da 5’9″ and Black Thought. There weren’t any moments on this album where I was 100% amazed by a song. I don’t think there are any perfect songs that have to be listened to by everyone. It’s a really solid project though. There aren’t any bad songs. This shit is dope to me.
Favorite Song: Breguets
Least Favorite Song: Listen
B+
Watch the videos below for more thoughts on this album
Focus Hip Hop 