Considered one of the best to ever do it, especially by his peers, Elzhi is the wordsmith with enough rhyme schemes that he’ll put your head in a spin. While once a member of the group Slum Village, alongside the legendary J Dilla, he’s now finding fame on his own thanks to his well received Elmatic mixtape.

A tribute to Nas’ classic debut Illmatic, fans and critics alike have hailed it one of the year’s finest bodies of work. With a heavy tour schedule, the Detroit representer took some time out to talk to TaleTela about Elmatic, why listeners are once again interested in lyricism, the growth of Drake, and the first time he spoke to the real Slim Shady...

After visiting the UK to be a part of the J Dilla tribute earlier this year, you’ve recently  returned to tour your Elmatic mixtape. What prompted the tour?
What prompted the tour? I guess the demand. When I came out here last and we did the Dilla tribute there were people out here getting hip to Elmatic, certain promoters and booking agencies that book people to come to the UK. Then from that sprouted this tour. They saw the energy online and they wanted to capture it and bring it over here.

Originally available as a free download, Elmatic can now be bought physically. How well has it performed since being pressed?
It’s been great man. People really wanna support real hip-hop music. Sometimes people ask me what I think about the current state of hip-hop and I feel like the state of hip-hop has come around full circle. I think people are really hungry for real music now. If you see Juggernauts like Jay-Z, Eminem, or even Dr. Dre standing behind artists like Kendrick Lamar, Slaughterhouse and Jay Electronica, that just shows you that they know something. They know music is coming around full circle. I see it through the shows and people wanting the merchandise.

For those that don’t know, break down what Elmatic is exactly...
Elmatic is a tribute that I made to pay homage to the classic album Illmatic by Nas. It was just me and a band called Will Sessions who had a love for the album who decided to go in there and put our spin on it. There you have it... Elmatic.

How did the Will Sessions collaboration come about, and did you have to instill your vision in to them or did they already have a pretty good idea themselves?
Well when I got on the phone with Sam, the band leader for Will Sessions, I spoke to him about the concept. He felt the concept because he thought that Illmatic was a great album, and we just came together and decided to keep the essence of what Illmatic was about but put our own kind of spin to it; meaning making it live. We added all different kinds of dimensions too by flipping songs like ‘One Love’ and ‘Life’s A Bitch’. But what was important was keeping that real original feel to it.

What was the thought process behind Elmatic, because there’s talk of it being crowned mixtape of the year via many different media outlets. Did you set out to achieve that or did the idea just come to you?
You know what? Once [DJ] HouseShoes came up with the bright idea to do Elmatic and I did it, I came from a fan’s point of view and my love for what [Illmatic] stood for. That album made me want to step it up on so many levels on a creativity tip. I mean, man... so it wasn’t like I was trying to outdo the album or do this or do that. I was just trying to make great music through it and really pay homage to it. It couldn’t have been less than what I consider perfection in my book. I’m just glad everybody took to it the way they did and enjoyed it the same way I did.

Hypothetically speaking, aside from Nas' definitive debut, if you could remake another classic what would it be?

I can’t even do that. This the thing, if you speak on something then it’s out there. Then subconsciously somebody might look at it and boom... they might be at a show and it might pop in their head, “We should redo this,” and then it’s like, “Damn, they done did that first.” But I am gonna say this, I can’t say any names but I am doing another project like this that might not become an album. So maybe in a couple years, but only because I want to separate it from the major release, or original release, that I’m about seven songs deep in to.

On the track ‘Memory Lane’ you mention seeing a young Slim Shady spitting at the famous Hip Hop Shop in Detroit. Break down the first time you met Eminem and what your relationship is like now...

The first time I truly met Eminem was when [MC] Proof called me and he had Eminem rap for me. I was young, and we’re talking about Eminem here. Eminem in my opinion is like top 3 hip-hop artists in the world, probably the biggest hip-hop artist period and Proof had him rap for me at that time. Then from there it was just a mutual respect. I remember when Em first went out to Cali[fornia] and he came back telling me about the Dr. Dre stories. I’ve been to a couple house parties with Em, a couple of raves. Em is a cool dude.

I remember meeting him again when he put out The Eminem Show. We were kicking it and he was telling me that he had heard certain things that I was doing through Proof. See Em doesn’t listen to nothing. I hear Em just shuts down and likes to be in his own space. But he was like, “Yo El man... just keep doing you. Just do you.” And that shit really put a stain on my brain and my heart, you know what I’m saying? It really made me think like, “Yeah, you really need to do you.” Because it’s possible there’s somebody out there like you who feels you. So you don’t want to fabricate stories and exaggerate like that. You wanna come from the heart and the mind. So I took that to heart when he said do you. I honestly haven’t seen Em, well actually I’ve seen Em but I haven’t had a chance to really kick it with him for a minute.

How does it feel witnessing the growth of Eminem, especially being that he represents the same City as you?

I remember back when Em first came out, I was at The Shelter, Saint Andrews [Hall] - a place you might see when watching the movie 8 Mile, and they were passing out Eminem promos for ‘I Just Don’t Give A Fuck’.

They were on VHS’, you’d put them in your VCR and you’d look at the video, and from that point I was like, “Wow, this is crazy,” because I was always a fan of Eminem. Just to see him getting on like that and to see him on MTV with ‘My Name Is’, I felt like that was a win for anyone who represented Detroit hip-hop because I’ve been in the same spots Eminem has stood in, I’ve touched the same mic that Eminem has touched, and I’ve rapped over the same beats that Eminem has rapped to. So it just made me feel like there’s definitely a chance that anybody who puts some hard work in to it can get to that next level.

You’ve mentioned before that you’re going to be putting out a ‘Memory Lane’ video that will include old footage of you, including you and Eminem being at the Hip Hop Shop. What’s the ETA? 

I wanted to have it out before I left for the tour because I wanted people to actually come to the show and people that might not usually come to come. I wanted to create some energy online. It may happen but it might also not happen. It’s done. My parts are done. My performance parts are done. What we’re trying to get done now is put the right footage in the right place. We have the footage now, it’s just about where to put it so we can represent that era fully. For the most part it’s looking good. It’s shot by my man G, Gerard [Victor Atillo]. He also shot ‘Deep’ and ‘Halftime’. It’s a pretty good looking video.

Another Detroit spitter you have a strong association with is Royce Da 5’ 9”. He’s come a long way and is now finally starting to get the shine he deserves. He’s just received a Gold Plaque for his Bad Meets Evil EP with Eminem. It must be good to see him finally get recognised for his talents...

It means a lot to me. I’ve been rapping with Royce since the age of 16. We’ve got stuff that might not ever get heard because we can’t even find the cassette tapes. (Laughing) So to see him get the recognition, see people acknowledge what he’s doing, and to get the accolades, I feel like that’s incredible man. I feel like it’s long overdue but at the same time things happen at the right time. He deserves getting that Gold Plaque.

You mentioned earlier that you feel like hip-hop has come full circle. With lyricism popular once again with the masses, thanks in part to the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, Big K.R.I.T., J. Cole and Drake, why do you think this is?

That’s just the nature of things. Things come back around. I guess it’s just that time. You know what I’m saying? And I’m glad. I feel blessed to be in this time because I believe it’s the beginning of something special. It’s not recreating what hip-hop was, like in the early nineties. It’s a new version of what hip-hop is. There’s new ideas, new thoughts, and new people delivering it. I just think it’s gonna get better and better man. I just think it’s that time to come back around.

Another artist you’ve collaborated with is Drake. Quite possibly the biggest name in hip-hop as far as new artists go, he recently dropped his sophomore album. He’s caught a lot of flack from the haters, would you say he’s changed much since his entry in to the game back when he released Room For Improvement?

You know what? I think that he’s doing what he has to do to sustain his level of popularity, fame, as well as music man. I feel like he’s growing I still think he’s a phenomenal emcee, even when he does his radio songs. I feel like he still makes an effort to put out a metaphor here or a rhyme pattern there to show that he’s connected to the classic hip-hop era. I love what he’s doing. I definitely think he keeps hip-hop in his heart even though he’s got like crazy radio hits.

You came in to the game as a member of the respected hip-hop group Slum Village, which included the late J Dilla. What one thing did Dilla say or show you that has stuck with you to this day?

Dilla taught me to always do things my way because he always did it his way. Just a quick story; I remember when Dilla told me that Dr. Dre was coming down because he wanted to meet me because he had heard ‘Come and Get It’ off of Dilla’s Welcome 2 Detroit. I was still living with my parents at the time, and I remember getting home and having like three or four messages from Dilla. He wasn’t really the type to talk on the phone like that.

So to go through my messages and just hear him leave messages like, “You gotta hit me up man I got something to tell you,” I thought that was crazy. I hit him up and he told me Dr. Dre wanted to meet me. I just found it crazy because Dilla was the first person to give me a cheque in the game to do what I do. He was the first person to believe in me and put my voice on wax. He’s always been a huge influence. So yeah, he always taught me to do things my way.  

Once the touring finishes what’s next for you?
I’m working on a new project. Hopefully you’ll hear about that in January or February. There’ll be more touring and more features. I was just in the studio with Joe Budden doing something for him. Potentially it’s gonna be a track with Joe Budden, me, Kendrick Lamar and Phonte. I just did the feature for Phonte’s album. I’ve got stuff coming up with MF Doom and Mayer Hawthorne. It’s just a lot of features, a lot of music, and a lot more touring.