Elzhi facts for kids

Jason Powers (born May 12, 1978), known as Elzhi (or eLZhi), is a rapper from Detroit, Michigan. He used to be a part of the group Slum Village. Now, he creates music as a solo artist. When he was younger, Elzhi often visited a place called the Hip-Hop shop in Detroit. There, he would perform at open-mic nights. These events were hosted by another Detroit rapper named Proof.

The Musical Journey of Elzhi

Early Music and Out of Focus

In 1998, Elzhi started recording songs with Detroit hip-hop artist DJ Houseshoes and DJ Rios. These recordings were meant to be an album called Out of Focus EP. However, the project was stopped because of personal reasons and problems with sharing the music.

Later, in 2000, Elzhi got the original recordings from J Dilla, a famous producer. He shared CDs of the Out of Focus EP with friends. The music then appeared online, sometimes with wrong song lists. In 2011, the project was officially re-released on his website. It included a long bonus track with verses from his past songs. J Dilla, who was battling an illness, asked Elzhi to join his group Slum Village because he believed in Elzhi's talent.

Collaborations and Getting Noticed

Around 1999, Elzhi worked with a group called the 9-2-5 Colony. They recorded a few songs together, but most of their work was never finished.

In 2000, Elzhi began working a lot with Waajeed. They made many songs, but only a few were released. As Elzhi worked more with Waajeed, he also became closer to Slum Village. Elzhi got to record songs using some of J Dilla's unused beats. This caught the attention of T3, a member of Slum Village. T3 helped Elzhi, and soon J Dilla noticed him too. This led to Elzhi's first national appearance on J Dilla's Welcome to Detroit album. His part on the song "Come Get It" was highly praised.

Joining Slum Village

In 2002, J Dilla was no longer an official member of Slum Village. The group started working on their next album. T3 invited Elzhi to help with some songs. One of these was a remix of "Aerodynamic" by Daft Punk. This song was featured on the Kiss of the Dragon movie soundtrack.

At first, Elzhi was just a guest artist. But the group members, Baatin and T3, saw how well they worked together. They asked Elzhi to become a full member. J Dilla strongly supported this choice. In July 2010, Elzhi announced that he was leaving Slum Village to focus on his solo career.

Starting a Solo Career

In 2004, Elzhi and Nick Speed created their own music label called Libido Sounds. They used it to release Witness My Growth, a double album. This album was a collection of Elzhi's solo songs that had not been released before, some dating back to 1997. It included songs with J Dilla and other producers like Waajeed and The Alchemist.

His first solo album that was widely distributed was The Preface. It came out on August 12, 2008.

Elmatic and Lead Poison

On May 10, 2011, Elzhi released a mixtape called Elmatic. This album was a tribute to Nas's famous debut album Illmatic. Will Sessions recreated the original sounds for Elzhi's version. Hip-hop fans loved Elmatic, and it was considered one of the best projects of 2011. Elzhi released three music videos for the mixtape: "Halftime", "Memory Lane", and "It Ain't Hard to Tell". The "It Ain't Hard to Tell" video has reached over 1 million views, even without support from a major record label.

In November 2013, Elzhi successfully raised over $37,000 through a Kickstarter project. This money helped him create and release his next studio album. After some delays, Elzhi announced in January 2016 that his new album Lead Poison was finished. Lead Poison was released on March 11, 2016.

Jericho Jackson Project

On December 31, 2017, 9th Wonder shared a preview of new music online. He revealed that Elzhi and producer Khrysis were working together. Their project was called Jericho Jackson, named after a character from the movie Action Jackson. The project was officially announced on February 9, 2018, as Elzhi & Khrysis are Jericho Jackson. They released their first song, "Self Made," with this announcement. The second song, "Listen," featured Amber Navran. It was first played by Billboard on February 20, 2018. The full album was released on February 23, 2018. Elzhi sang on the album, and Khrysis produced all the music.

Discography

Solo Albums

• 2008: The Preface
• 2016: Lead Poison
• 2020: Seven Times Down Eight Times Up

With Slum Village

• 2002: Trinity (Past, Present and Future)
• 2004: Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit)
• 2005: Slum Village
• 2009: Villa Manifesto EP
• 2010: Villa Manifesto

Extended Plays (EPs)

• 1998: Out of Focus
• 2000: The Breakfast Club (with Dwele, Lacks, Big Tone & 87)
• 2010: Out of Focus EP (re-release with 20 min bonus track)

Mixtapes

• 2004: Witness My Growth: The Mixtape 97-04
• 2005: Prequel To A Classic (with Slum Village)
• 2008: EuroPass: An Exclusive Tour CD (Tour CD)
• 2009: The Leftovers (Unmixedtape)
• 2011: Elmatic

Collaborative Albums

• 2018: Elzhi & Khrysis are Jericho Jackson (with Khrysis as Jericho Jackson)
• 2022: Zhigeist (with Georgia Anne Muldrow)
• 2023: Heavy Vibrato (with Oh No)