Better.

Hyped to hear it, talented brothers...

Good looks on this, so far shit is dope...

Album is called Heavy Vibrato. Is there something I am missing with the " Better " comment? Was half expecting that to be the name of the album.

I love elzhi and expected it to be good. This is great. Love the production on it and elzhi is as good as ever. Right to the top of my AOTY list.

What's up with his voice sounding different on some tracks? On one I thought it was just a bad recording or maybe he was sick but then on a couple others he sounds like he's mimicking other rappers.

Definitely giving this album many spins.

I caught that on "Say It Don't Spray It" (which had me damn near East Coast Stomping in public, no lie). Like he was mimicking other notable Detroit MC's or something

Crazy.

Two very underrated/ underappreciated artists.


Once through I'm impressed, but El has been killing it. Happy to see the Oh No connect...wasn't expecting it.


It was **a little** more one-note than I had hoped, but I've only been through once so far. Just first impression, I know Oh No has more range than this....but maybe I missed some stuff.


As far as the voice change...man I heard an ODB impression at first. Gotta relisten. I'm sure there is a reason for it either way...just didn't catch it yet.

Up there for this years best...

Not a lot of variety but that doesn't take away from it for me. It felt like there was a clear sound they wanted to go for and Elzhi flows over it so well. Seemed like he used his vocals as another instrument. Gotta see if it fades for me on repeat listens.

This was great!

Not sure if this beats the record with GAM (which I adored) but a great way to wrap up a year that was a bit lackluster for me, in terms of hip hop.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

I really like Elzhi, and I was still pleasantly surprised by this. Instant cop for me.

not sure how long it would take me to stream this 60x. I wonder how many people who really love this type of music will either, seeing as there is something new out constantly and how people like that tend to listen to a wide variety of music.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

I figure if someone streams a 12 song album 60 times that's 720 streams. 720 times .007 is near 5 dollars. The album deserves it. I was just thinking about how preferred streaming is to purchasing. I don't think that amount of streams is realistic though, even if you are a big fan because of the pace at which music comes out. Then add to that the fact the youtube music is constantly taking my music off repeat and forcing a bunch of "similar" songs on me that I did not select.

Seems like the type of huge scam that should be illegal.

Elzhi is almost automatic without listening, only reason I waited to order was because I had already spent so much on records before it got announced.

So they got whatever profit they make from the record and whatever pennies Tidal sends their way from me.

I mean, the math definitely doesn't add up, and that stinks. I'm not sure how to solve it.

Bandcamp was a bit of a lifeline; I'd often throw my "I've listened to this enough that I'm a chump if I don't give the artist a legit sale" to mp3s there, or occasionally physical, understanding they got a better deal.

But your comment has me thinking: it would be interesting to write a small program that emailed you when you streamed an artist a certain number of times, basically saying "Pay up" -- lol.


-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

It's the album I always dreamed EL would make.

Oh no's production matches as well than any combo I've heard
Since Gangstarr

The sequencing stands out off rip
Every song blends perfect into each other but majority tracks are
Walked in by a instrumental interlude

Shit AOTY for me

there are multiple times in this project
I actually question if there is anyone who can rap better than this?

He is leaning into flowing more on tracks
And his word play is god like

He connects bars into each other but then stops and reconnects
In unorthodox places while simultaneously connecting OTHER bars u might've thought was filler

Bought The Disrupt off the strength of Stones Throw and being Madlib's lil bro. Not sure I had heard anything he'd done before The Disrupt and immediately fell in love with him.

If we keeping it funky, Oh No has had a pretty solid career since 04.
He's put out a ton of dope projects:

Dr. No's Oxperiment
OhNomite
Dr. No's Kali Tornado Funk
Animal Serum w/ Prince Po
3 Dimensional w/ TriState
A Long Red Hot Summer Night w/ Blu
The Professionals w/ Madlib

I actually haven't checked for No since The Professionals and seeing I've got some much welcomed homework. He's banged out a lot of music in the last 2 years:

A new Dr. No project (2022) - Off Air: Dr No's Lost Beach
What looks like a collab joint w/ Percee P (2022) - Vs.
An instrumental album deconstructing (2023) - Good Vibes
A collab album w/ Tha God Fahim (2023) - Berserko
A 2nd instrumental album deconstructing Roy Ayers (2023) - Good Vibes / Bad Vibes
And the much discussed Elzhi collab (2023) - Heavy Vibrato


I know what I'll be listening to this week!

Thanks for the recs

I been sleeping on oh no
I never listened to any of his projects


Will be peeping

It's one of the better albums of the year.

I need to check out "Lost Beach." Hadn't heard of that.

Along with Mind of a Saint (Skyzoo), To What End (Oddisee)

It almost sounds robotic at times..

... it's a little one note. Which is fine, just didn't grab me really.

But more to your point, I did find that he was going hard on some more laid back beats on here lol, and not really finding the pocket. Which is maybe why I felt so underwhelmed by it.

He has BARS, to be sure. And I like the beats well enough. I just didn't feel like there were a lot of standouts.

I've said something similar about a lot of his projects. He rhymes in a scripted kinda way. He has this great lyrical skill but it's not varied enough like my fav top tier emcees where it isn't so much of the same style over and over. Tho I like this current album a good deal, I think I like it moreso because of the laidback beats that are kinda easy to chill to.

HARD disagree, with all due respect. IMO, top tier flow

That Detroit x LA dynamic continues to be unbeatable.. the secret sauce that keeps on giving.

Motown Records
Dre x Em
JayLib
CalTroit
Guilty x Madlib
C.R.A.C. (Blu x Ta'Raach)
"Really Doe"
Cypress Hill x Black Milk
Jahari Massamba Unit (Karriem Riggins x Lib)
Elzhi x G.A.M.
this

Had not thought about this regionally, interesting take!

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

>Jahari Massamba Unit (Karriem Riggins x Lib)

Incoming: https://pitchfork.com/news/madlib-and-karriem-riggins-announce-new-jahari-massamba-unit-album-share-song-listen/

Elzhi was finding different pockets and still able to impress with the schemes and bars which is his forte.

I liked him over OH NO's beats.
And I did think that there were actual songs on here.