Elzhi – Lead Poison Review

Elzhi-Lead-Poison-Album-Cover-620x620

Released March 25, 2016

Track Listing:

  1. Medicine Man
  2. INTROverted
  3. Weedipedia
  4. February
  5. Egocentric
  6. Two 16’s
  7. Hello!!!!!
  8. Friendzone
  9. The Healing Process
  10. Cloud
  11. ALIENated feat. Smitty
  12. She Sucks feat. Chris Davis
  13. CoSIGN feat. Skonie
  14. Misright
  15. The Turning Point
  16. Keep Dreaming

Review

It’s about time. Three years after the successful Kickstarter for the album, Lead Poison is finally out. In promotion for this album, Elzhi reveals that depression was the main reason behind the many delays. It’s good to see the man in a better space in his life. It’s also good to see the music didn’t suffer, either.

While he does talk about his depression, the album doesn’t get bogged down by that emotion. An impressive feat because there isn’t pure braggadocio, the battle-oriented song here. Each song has a topic, and they all funnel toward the idea of depression, the elements of someone’s life, and how they are impacted by it. Even Egocentric may seem just a lyrical assault, but as the song plays, it becomes apparent that Elzhi is struggling with his ego, which does more damage than he would like. With subtle production changes from the first to the second verse and dope wordplay, Egocentric is one of the best songs on the album.

February is the first single off the album, and it also is one of the best songs on Lead Poison. He’s the most explicit about the struggle as he draws parallels between the cold of February and how it feels to be stuck in depression for a prolonged period. The song stands out, nodding to J Dilla at the end. Not to mention the homage to Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind.

After a few listens, although it might not be the same situation as Jay Z watching the movie American Gangster and creating an album with the same title, there is a synergy between Lead Poison and Eternal Sunshine. If you had told me that Elzhi watched that movie and created Lead Poison, I could believe it. Production-wise, it’s hard not to shake the connection. There isn’t any overtly loud or upbeat music. All of it has a hint of somberness and/or a dark mood. I am aware I could be reaching this connection, but if you were to remove Elzhi’s lyrics and overlaid the instrumentals over scenes of the movie, more often than not, I’m willing to bet they would work. Perhaps I’m wrong, but it feels right about the album and movie production.

The only song that wouldn’t work and the only song that doesn’t belong on the album is She Sucks. Elzhi weaves a story of meeting a woman who reveals herself as a vampire, and Elzhi terrorizes the city as a newly-converted bloodsucker. Granted, it’s cool to hear that concept in a rap song, but it was jarring to hear it in the middle of this album. This is the only skippable song on Lead Poison.

15 out of 16 songs is still great. All credit goes to Elzhi for bringing the album to his Kickstarter supporters and elevating his music-making skills. Of course, some people will enjoy his earlier solo work or even his tenure with Slum Village more, but it’s undeniable that Elzhi has grown as an artist and Lead Poison reflects it.

One more thing about Eternal Sunshine. The movie follows Joel, who learns that his ex-girlfriend, Clementine underwent a procedure to erase all the memories she had of Joel. He then chooses to do the same, but in the middle of the procedure, subconsciously chooses to fight against it. (Spoiler Alert!) Joel and Clementine learn that they have a past, and both chose to erase each other from their memories. But they ultimately choose to be together again because the highs were worth all the lows. Living with all the lows also applies to Elzhi.

Depression is serious, and it can ruin lives. But Elzhi chose to not only reveal he had to deal with it but approached the topic in various ways on Lead Poison. By the album’s end, Elzhi comes out better because of the lows. So did the music.

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