Elzhi takes “February” as an opportunity to let breathe his feelings about his homie and our legend, J Dilla.
This visual addition to “February” only amplifies the tightly aimed emotion Elzhi spreads over Glow365’s beautiful piano heavy instrumental. When we think of Dilla’s passing, often times we only focus on what that meant for the music world. We forget Dilla left his family and friends with a feeling of loss we can’t begin to understand. Elzhi channels that inimitable emotion in the only way a wildly talented poet and emcee can; with a rap track so meticulous in metaphor and meaning that, in my opinion, made it worth the wait.
This video pushes the feeling of perseverance through loss with unmatched strength, capturing the innocence, the vulnerability, and the cynicism that have swirled Elzhi’s subconscious in the times before, during, and after Dilla’s death. I love that the video, in line with the track, doesn’t try to pepper in complex questions, rather strips Elzhi down to the bare feeling of wanting to go back to when Jay Dee was alive.
Elzhi peddles on despite his friends disappearing and I find that to be a shockingly relevant metaphor to where he is today as an artist as well. Fans switched on him, he lost a dear friend, and he’s still pushing with his art buffering Detroit’s cold winds
“Oh February, February, you took a friend from me who wasn’t just some celeb you bury”
art by your homie, Arthur Banach
check out more on my insta @wildhxir
