In 2011 Elzhi was one of the hottest upcoming MCs in the game. Recreating his version of Illmatic with Elmatic, the artist came through with highly lyrical Hip Hop showcased in its purest sense. In January this year, the Detroit MC returned from his hiatus with “coSIGN” and earlier this week [Tuesday, March 8] released his latest single “Two 16’s.”
The concept of the song, according to Elzhi, stemmed from fans leaving comments asking for just two verses of straight spitting on a track. The laid back production features legendary Detroit instrumentalist Karriem Riggins, whose resume includes work with everyone from Erykah Badu, Paul McCartney to Kanye West. Riggins and Elzhi also worked together with Slum Village, and they will both feature the new single on their highly anticipated albums: Riggins with The Headnod Suite and Elzhi with Lead Poison both soon to be released.
The track is a jazzy laid back joint, with unique percussion. Elzhi’s signature flow shines marvelously with this pairing as he delves into story telling about a character named Quentin, “through traffic speeding while bleeding/ his graphic blood leaking/ more than an ounce shed/at 16 hours before his daughter birth/ he was pronounced dead.”
