14232949

I said I would do this, and now I shall begin the task. I'm taking a look back at 2011, which for me stands as the best year yet for music especially if like me, you're a fan of hip-hop.
Perhaps by the time I have conducted this list, I shall be able to give the more relevant '2012 List' but as of now I am unable to create a coherent and structured list.
Too many records this year have not resonated with me first time. And as I think I've listened to more than 100 new albums in 2012, it's going to be hard to rank outside of my Top 10 or so. However the show must go on.

Without further delay I shall delve deep into the world of pretension and give you;


The Pains Of Being Pure At Hearts' band name may well be a precursor for what to expect with this record.
As the name suggests, there are grievances in being good. Despite trying your hardest to live an honest lifestyle, bad things will happen to you, and bad things may well happen as a result of your leniency and well-meaning nature whilst always trying to bring the best out in yourself and others around you.

Nobody will get through life without hardships, yet it seems all the more unfair when those who truly represent the best of humanity are suffering.
Now, I'm not saying for a moment the members of this band bring out the best of humanity, I do not know them personally so cannot determine that, yet their harrowing tale could make one believe they are poorly well-meaning souls who have been unfortunately caught in the crossfire of bad luck.

On the surface, the almost dreamy sounds could be mistaken for a contentedness with life, displaying a happy go lucky attitude, taking each day as it comes and being happy with the little elements in life.
Easy to listen to and quite pleasant on the ear are the in-discriminant and at times androgynous vocals rising to little more than a comforting whisper at times accompanied by slightly above melancholy melodies.

Yet, just like a person with their world falling around them putting on a brave smile, I feel that both the calmness displayed in the soothing vocal presentation and the never aggressive melodies are just a front for a more depressing and saddening back story.
Using this not so convincing method for disguising sorrow may fool the fools, but anyone with an ear for emotion can hear the woe etched into this record.

However, the combination of the bittersweet sound and the distressing tale are a near perfect combination creating a record that both hits home and spurns catchy songs.
The use of various inspired textures and moods create a sound scape up there with the best dream pop records.
Think Smashing Pumpkins before ego consumed them.
It's a record that shows how an emotional outpouring does not have to end in either anger, violence or tears. It can just sound defeated and hopeless.

And on 'Belong' defeat and hopelessness have never sounded more inviting.

What would the hip-hop landscape look like had a then nineteen year old relative unknown from Queens, New York by the name of Nas not have released the genre defining Illmatic in April of 1994.

I do not know the answer and thankfully we live in a world redundant of that scenario. Illmatic is without doubt the single most important album in hip-hops growth and development throughout the 90's into what it is today. It has inspired legions of MC's to get into rap and has forever set the bar for the level that hip-hop should be striving to reach for.

So what better way to pay homage to one of the best records in history than to re-create it. Whilst in the hands of most artists, that task would only have served to taint and possibly even tarnish the original, Elzhi and producer Will Sessions manage to pull off the vision by creating an album in the same calibre as the original.
Whilst it won't receive the accolades and immortal stature of Illmatic, it plays its role as a more than competent tribute, never straying into the paths of mockery or parody and retaining enough originality to stand on its own two feet.

Elmatic isn't just a lazy re-mastering by any means, Elzhi writes completely new verses whilst retaining most of the simple yet classic hooks that made Illmatic great.
I see a lot of similarities to Illmatic in Elzhi's stories that he candidly shares with us throughout the album in that although he and Nas both grew up in areas that dragged down many people around them, they managed to learn from their environments and better themselves because of what they learned.

What makes this album easy to digest is obviously sharing the same ideologies and concepts of Illmatic, yet there is enough of Elzhi's own personality in here to make it sit well with the listener.
With most hip-hop records, the best thing about this record is the lyrical content and Elzhi holds the benefit of being a compelling story teller, taking us through his not quite rags to not quite riches tale.

Although not all the credit can lie with Elzhi as producer Will Sessions does a terrific job with the instrumentals. Having created his own interpretations of Illmatics production from scratch he has managed to far surpass the originals simple beats.
Nothing against the beats in Illmatic, they served their purpose in keeping the record simple yet effective. However, Will Sessions takes the potential the original beats had and runs with them, creating better sounding, crisper and more interesting backing tracks which complement Elzhi's MCing.

I do get the impression however sometimes that Elzhi is living under Nas's shadow to an extent. His constant shout-outs of 'You're Listening to Elmatic' perhaps are those of an artist trying desperately to differentiate himself from his predecessor.
Elmatic isn't an album on which we can truly gauge how good Elzhi can be on his own because it's not entirely Elzhi's own work, yet being able to pull off what he has with Elmatic shows a great level of artistic integrity, one which many other current rappers could only hope for.
It's a double edged sword.

Listening to this record does two things for me, it makes me want to check out more of Elzhi's material, but it also makes me want to listen to Illmatic.
It is because of this, I cannot rank this album higher because despite how good this album is, it isn't Illmatic which isn't a slight on Elzhi but is the undeniable truth.
It's a remake of a classic album, and although it is good, it's still just one artist paying homage to another and not establishing his name in the genre like Nas did with the original.