1.Foolish Intro 2.Smoke & Mirrors ft. Monica Blaire 3.EarlyBird Nightowl 4.Hot Winter Cold Summer 5.Light One Write One 6.Ferndale 7.Grindhouse Double Feature Presents Guns & Boats ft. Fes Roc 8.Grindhouse Double Feature Presents THUGGed Out Zombies 9.Potential 10.G.O.D ft. Monica Blaire 11.Master Class 12.JASON 04:47
Elzhi, the “Syllable Sensei,” is back again with a highly anticipated release titled “Seven Times Down Eight Times Up,” This 12-track LP is a collage of memories and metaphors layered atop beats crafted by up-and-coming producer JR Swiftz. With collabs from Detroit artists, Monica Blaire and Fes Rock on two of the albums stand-out tracks, Elzhi’s new masterpiece showcases his ability to create meaningful concepts while Detroit’s own comedian and “Real Hip Hop Advocate” Foolish provides commentary throughout the album.
As one of Elzhi’s most cohesive releases to date, his wordsmithing abilities paint images of royalty, excellence, and zombies wearing Gucci, all with an underlying message of resilience. “Seven times Down Eight Times Up” is the mantra for a year that has seen lots of “downs,” and reminds us that no matter what we're faced with, we will remain undefeated, and get back up after being knocked down by this machete-wielding maniac we call “life.” credits releases September 25, 2020
3. "Think Elzhi always does that." In response to Reply # 2
The Preface was all Black Milk. Elmatic was all ... somebody. Jericho Jackson, as you mentioned. Now this one.
The only album I'm unsure about was the crowdfunded one he released a couple years ago, I don't recall what production credits were. But most of the time he works with just one producer on his albums.
4. "yeah lead poison was a mix" In response to Reply # 3
might be his weakest. i have a fond spot for lead poison but its honestly due to some of the songs on it and not really for the whole thing.
listened to it again a couple of months back and its definitely not consistent. also listened to the preface a couple of weeks back and its way better than i remember.
8. "Yessss and Sessions did a *TREMENDOUS* job ..." In response to Reply # 6 Wed Sep-02-20 04:36 PM by Brew
... reworking those beats. I was so impressed. Their version of "It Ain't Hard to Tell" is better than Nas' IMO. And that's saying something. Sessions fucking cooked that beat, it goes hard as hell.
>I also think it’s far and away his best project. Couldn’t >have been executed any better.
It was definitely executed very well for like a vanity/gimmicky (IMO) project but I can't call it his best. Because it's the reworking of another artists' project, that just so happens to be one of the most heralded and popular albums of all time.
I understand that he kinda made it his own, but I, personally, still hesitate to even really consider it the same animal as his other solo albums because of the above, no matter how well done it was.
That's prolly just me tho. I'm particular/OCD about that type of stuff.
i feel like i cant "count" elmatic as part of his catalog when comparing him to other rappers. its kind of like a mixtape type of thing. not really an official album but one that i sure love listening to.
i need to re-listen to jericho jackson but for now i would say the preface is his best solo work.
10. "Yep exactly." In response to Reply # 9 Wed Sep-02-20 05:02 PM by Brew
>i feel like i cant "count" elmatic as part of his catalog >when comparing him to other rappers. its kind of like a >mixtape type of thing. not really an official album but one >that i sure love listening to. > >i need to re-listen to jericho jackson but for now i would say >the preface is his best solo work.
Yes I agree - The Preface tops them all. It's imperfect but it's perfectly his. And Black Milk was still at that early-yet-transitional point of his career where he was still primarily boom bap, and soul sample based but was experimenting with the more abstract sounds that would define his 2010-and-beyond career. So El had an old school yet still interesting backdrop to spit over. And it worked well.
36. "RE: Yessss and Sessions did a *TREMENDOUS* job ..." In response to Reply # 8
I agree about Elmatic. It's dope, but I can't rate it the same as the rest.
For me, it's The Preface.
Elzhi should really only be rapping over Black Milk beats IMO.
Talking In My Sleep? Mindblowing.
Motown25?
Shit is nuts.. No disprespect to Sean Price (RIP) or Guilty Simpson (who I both love), but instead of Random Axe, the group BM should have really formed would have consisted of him on the beats and Elzhi and Royce on the raps.
37. "Could not possibly agree more." In response to Reply # 36 Mon Sep-21-20 05:00 PM by Brew
>I agree about Elmatic. It's dope, but I can't rate it the >same as the rest. > >For me, it's The Preface. > >Elzhi should really only be rapping over Black Milk beats >IMO. > >Talking In My Sleep? Mindblowing. > >Motown25? > >Shit is nuts.. No disprespect to Sean Price (RIP) or Guilty >Simpson (who I both love), but instead of Random Axe, the >group BM should have really formed would have consisted of him >on the beats and Elzhi and Royce on the raps.
100% on all of the above. I've been listening to "Motown 25" a lot lately cuz it was apparently just recently put back on Spotify (The Preface is no longer on Spotify but Europass is, which has a few Preface songs including "Motown 25") so I hadn't heard it in a few years. That shit goes hard.
"What I Write" and "Transitional Joint" are two more killer songs from that album.
17. "I'll ride for anything Elzhi" In response to Reply # 0
The only Elzhi I really haven't heard or got into was that of SV joints. All his "solo's" are great imo... including Lead Poison, which is definitely some winter (february, february )listening... but it goes.... dude is just poetic with it always.
45. "Yeah it's weird to hear Foolish on an album." In response to Reply # 43
He's been on Detroit hip-hop radio for about 2 decades, just providing some context.
I've never been the biggest fan of him (Foolish is really just being himself thoughtout....as if Elzhi just let him say whatever he wanted after listening to each song, I don't think Foolish got my direction you know?) personally.....but he doesn't ruin the album or anything IMO.
Dj Joey Joe Member since Sep 01st 2007 13770 posts
Thu Sep-03-20 02:31 AM
19. "I Can't Wait To Hear The Album" In response to Reply # 0
I hope this album is as dope as that one joint "Jason", if it on par with that song, then this album should be dope.
I'm kind of curious as to why "Jason" is the last song on the album though, it seems like that would be somewhere around the first half of the album, I use to hate when artists' lead single would be near the end of an album; anyway that's just my two complaining cents, can't wait to hear the entire project.
--------- "We in here talking about later career Prince records & your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak
24. "man i was trying to think of her name a few weeks back" In response to Reply # 23
i think i had downloaded my old pictures from photobucket and going through the ones from shows. had some of her performance and couldnt remember her name.
for some reason the name didnt jump at me in the track listing but as soon i saw youre post it clicked.
might be his best album. very cohesive without sounding repetitive. only complaint would be the skits/jokes. theyre not bad enough to bring down the album but they really are not needed. maybe the one after ferndale is needed, the album did need a break at that point but would have been nice if it was a stand alone skit instead of tied to the track. its short enough that its not a big deal.
these beats are dope. elzhi is sharp as always. the first track had him using a different flow/voice. that was interesting. rest of the tracks were standard elzhi, which is great. nice hooks, sometimes his tracks are brought down by hooks but not in this case. even JASON sounds better as a closer.
40. "RE: this is awesome" In response to Reply # 38
>might be his best album. very cohesive without sounding >repetitive. only complaint would be the skits/jokes. theyre >not bad enough to bring down the album but they really are not >needed. maybe the one after ferndale is needed, the album did >need a break at that point but would have been nice if it was >a stand alone skit instead of tied to the track. its short >enough that its not a big deal.
Especially since Ferndale is a top-tier cut on the album -- I want to throw that on a playlist right away but hate when skits are tied to tracks... same with the skit tacked onto G.O.D.
I liked the album as a whole but felt it was a bit uneven here and there on a first listen. Looking forward to spending more time with it for sure.
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
The Lesson
