The Preface: A Review of Solo Album by Elzhi, of the Group Slum Village

Slum Village is a group that has sold millions of records around the world for almost a decade because of the following it has built up. This is a direct result of the fact that they offer rap fans an alternative to the basic run-of-the-mill rap lyrics that we hear every day on the radio. These unique beats and reality based lyrics have resulted in hits such as "Fall In Love " and "Climax" which offer listeners the ability to listen into group members speaking about real life problems before letting fans know that dreams do come true. The message in these songs says to fans that everything happens for a reason and this content tends to create a situation which makes people feel inspired which is why the Black Eyed Peas have been so successful because fans can not get enough of this content.

For those fans August 6, 2008 was one of the best days in recent memory because the album of flagship Slum Village member Elzhi has now been leaked onto the Internet. The album will be officially released on August 12, 2008 but for those who are willing to spend a little bit of time searching Google the album is now available in the full version. I was able to listen to the album at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ooHZST_dgM, and I found this album to be better than I expected it to be.

The reason for this is that the album sticks to speaking about the challenges that the artist has faced, but it does so by expanding the explicit lyrics on the album, which I enjoyed. If you are a fan that feels as if you have been through a struggle in your life then you will relate well to the story projected by Elzhi on this album. The album has features by Fes Roc, A.B. and Royce Da 5'9. I would give this album a 7/10 because it has a lot of replay value for me as a fan. I enjoyed "Guessing Games" and "Colors" the most of all the tracks. There are 16 tracks on the CD which total 62 minutes of music, this means that more content could have been placed on the CD. However, since this is a solo effort and not the normal Slum Village group effort, it is harder for the artist to fill space. I thought this was a good CD, which is well worth the money.