Low-key rap legend Elzhi and former Slum Village emcee has been chilling in the cut since he released his breathtaking Illmatic redux Elmatic in 2011. He emerged from hibernation in January with a new single "coSIGN", and he follows that up today with "Two 16s."
The drab title "Two 16s" belies Elzhi's prodigious storytelling abilities that lay within, as well as some creative sampling work by Karieem Riggins, producer, jazz drummer, and owner of maybe the greatest Wikipedia page ever.
“Anytime me and Karieem come together to create its all about making a marriage out of a feeling and being technical” Elzhi told Vibe. “'Two 16s' is no different. The idea for the song came from comments that were left by my fans that only wanted to hear two 16 bar verses of straight spitting."
"Two 16s" will appear on Elzhi's Lead Poison album, due out March 11th, as well as Riggins' upcoming LP The Headnod Suite due out in June.