Who says there’s no biting in hip hop? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Elzhi’s work and this project will probably be pretty dope, but damn am I heated. In case you don’t know, Elzhi is releasing a tribute to Nas‘ Illmatic over recreated Illmatic beats. Sound familiar?
Enter Trav Williams. We started our Illmatic Beat Contest back in December for Trav’s upcoming IllTravis. Coincidence? I don’t think so. This is most definitely a straight bite; I don’t care who you ask. At any rate, IllTravis is done and you all will hear it soon enough… probably sooner than later. Hit the jump to preview Elzhi’s “The Genesis”.
Update: Props to those who came through and put me in my place. Apparently Elzhi has had this in the works since last summer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rre7HqCm7c]. Excuse me for not knowing everything. Yeah, I may have jumped the gun on this one, but it is what it is.
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Damn Kev, is there way to confirm this being bitten
Is that a joke? Pretty wack move Elzhi.
I don’t think it can be officially confirmed. I’m sure if you ask Elzhi himself, he’ll deny and say it was coincidence. Sorry, the coincidence is just too strong.
It will be hard to “confirm” this but KN is a fairly big blog and to think that he didn’t see this at all is hard to believe. And at the end of the day, if you write a DOPE rhyme and then five days later you realize Rakim said the same rhymes, you’ve gotta give the rhymes up because you’ve been beaten to the punch. Same thing with this situation, if Elzhi doesn’t know the IllTravis project exists, he will soon enough and he will need to put an end to his project or at least give credit where it’s due.
That being said, there were quite a few jay-z remix contests when the black album acapella dropped as well as American Gangster etc. So is Elzhi biting? Not sure. Should he recognize he got beat to the punch, probably. If he jacked the idea he should reference it as a respectable emcee. It’s no loss to him. Should he cancel his project? Probably not. Consider it Elzhi “sampling” this idea as Jay-Z makes a reference to biggie or Timbaland makes a reference to “I can’t Stand the Rain.” No big deal.
So what’s the call to action from this? I would just expect Elzhi to come through and say, “yes i used the idea” or “i didn’t use it but good to know someone else is doing something similar” etc. Or he can play “big boy on campus” and act like he never reads hip-hop-related news online.
At the end of the day, it’ll come down to execution right? Who cares who came up with it first; all that matters is the better product. Bill Gates jacked Apple, Google jacked a slew of search engines before it, facebook jacked connect u, but it came down to execution. Did Big L jack Ma$e’s rhymes? Highly unlikely but does it matter? Big L used them and Ma$e didn’t. Reminds me of a line from a famous philosopher: “yeah I sampled your voice, you were using it wrong. You made it a hot line, I made it a hot song…”
So if Elzhi wants to sample ideas, and borrow KN’s concept I think he should do a couple of things: 1) credit it 2) come hard because if his product falls short of IllTrav, then that’s a rap. I’m pumped for the IllTravis tape to drop though. I dig Elzhi and his music and I think he’s a dope dope emcee. So dope i had to say it twice. I hope he steps back and reflects a bit if he did indeed see the idea here first.
That is one long comment. Thoughts people?
Kev, I hear what you are saying but that’s extreme (at least in my day) to call someone a “biter”.
What you are saying is, El saw your site and said “Kev and them got this idea, but, I’ma steal it and do it myself”.
Though, I gotta say that if it was me, it would be hard for anyone to convince me that this is a coincidence. .
My man Steve broke it down better than I did. yeah, it’s harsh to call someone a biter, but I’m just calling it like I see it.
Let’s just say, elzhi better come hard, cuz I’ve heard a rough edit of IllTravis and it is PURE HEAT!
Coincidence is the choice word these dayz for bitin’…everyone uses it for example
Charles Hamilton used it when he jacked Black Spade’s beat .
To claim that Elzhi is a ‘biter’ for doing this is simply hilarious. It is a TRIBUTE. Both of these men are re-creating another man’s classic album. Take it for face value, and I am fairly sure that Elzhi has no clue who Trav Williams is. Let music be music.
i agree with sam. its a tribue album so both of them are basically biting Nas.
Yeah this isn’t a bite. Particularly when you started your thing back in December and it’s now April. And particularly when you consider cats are releasing tribute tapes with new rhymes over classic beats just about every day on the Internet and “Illmatic” is most definitely a well-used set of classic beats. Hell, I’m sure I did some freestyling over the Illmatic instrumentals in my car between December and now, am I a biter?
I have heard plenty of Nas tributes. Nas remix albums.Shit tribute and remix albums for all types of artists……but from the man Nas himself “no idea is original, there is nothing new under tha sun, what is has already been done”…so i wouldnt say that he is biting but great minds think alike…..I have never heard of travis and Elzhi is probaly the best 2 or 3 emcees on earth now( jay electronica..who also made a Nas tribute….Crooked I and planet asia) so if he rips the joint then props…but whoeva does it as long as its ill whats the big deal….no need to make a big fuss and travis shit ends up to be wack(not sayin it is) or if both joints ends up being hott…shit we need more hot shit in hip hop…i hope they are…i want to hear them…shit yall should do a contest when the joints drop to see which concept was produced better…now that would be somethin
Kevin, maybe we got the first Blog Beef ever !!! Let’s start a contest of Elzhi diss song !
Ha HA ! LOL !
@ Andrew – I think the point is that the entire concept of reflipping the original Illmatic samples and doing a tribute album is extremely “coincidental”. When the Black Album remixes and American Gangster remixes were in full swing, it was the thing to do at the time. Everyone was jumping aboard and adding their versions – it was current and popular. Illmatic has been out for 16 years, there is nothing special about this year that would make people want to jump on that train. Trav and Kev announced the project in December, Elzhi announces his shortly after. If your theory is true, I expect to see a slew of Illmatic tribute albums in the near future. I don’t suspect that will happen (unless this forum sparks it). Is it biting? Biting is too harsh a term, who’s to say though.
. . lookin forward to what the man has to say. . F*ck biting. . I dont think Nas would be disappointed with the finished product .. he’s not using his verses. . ninth wonder re- produced godson ( you mad?. .didnt think so). . i rest my case.
Obviously some people have missed the point. An idea is an idea. Yeah, the idea of redoing Illmatic is nothing new.. in fact it’s been done before. But the fact that Elzhi is doing it now after we’ve done the beat contest for Trav’s version and announced the project is suspect. yes it could be all coincidence, but come on. Like G.C. said, Illmatic isn’t the thing to do right now, but I guess anyone could have come up with this idea.
This will end up helping us more than hurting us in the longrun though. If you’re not familiar with Trav Williams now, you will be.
ummm…technically the both of y’all is biting off nas…i’m sure both projects will be completely different and with occupy different lanes when it comes to listeners, audiences, etc. relax, fam
I dunno… Elzhi’s project does sound a little suspicious, but IllTravis was not the first Illmatic tribute that has come to fruition (at least to my knowledge). Last year some fairly well known cats from the DMV put out a project called the “IIlmatic Remix Jawnt,” same concept as Trav’s and Elzhi’s projects (Illmatic’s samples were re-flipped and re-spit over by various local emcees…pretty dope too btw.) Although its completely feasible that Elzhi was “inspired by” the IllTravis project featured on KN.com and that if so, Kev’s sentiments are completely understandable. But it is also possible that he may have come up with the concept on his own. This will probably be difficult to validate. Nonetheless, I’m sure both projects are gonna be dope as hell.
I think you are overthinking it honestly.
Wow, I’ve seen you guys post some stupid stuff but this takes the cake. As a long time visitor of this site I’m dissappointed that you guys would post this. This project has been talked about, peep this interview from AUGUST of 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFCLSW6uleo
You all lose. Get your facts straight.
If Elzhi does a good job, I’ll enjoy it
Genesis sounds kinda cool
I watched that entire Youtube clip. I saw no mention of an El-Matic album. What time does he mention it?
^ My bad, it’s on this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rre7HqCm7c
4:30
I also posted this information in “The Preface” thread.
http://kevinnottingham.com/2008/09/07/elzhi-the-preface/
Y’all need to research before you accuse people of “biting”.
^ My bad, it’s on this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rre7HqCm7c
4:30
I also posted this information in “The Preface” thread.
http://kevinnottingham.com/2008/09/07/elzhi-the-preface/
Y’all need to research before you accuse people of “biting”.
————– lol owned. I guess yall are biting elzhi. I’m j/k but that’s the point, you gotta ease up on that claim and not call someone out like that w/o having all the facts. you could have at least attempted to contact Elzhi instead of just saying “he’ll deny it.” Elzhi is one of my favorites, looking forward to this tape.
Got it. Elzhi’s version should be dope, I have heard a pre-mix of ILLTravis and it is absolute fire. Look forward to both getting released.
Damn, he talked about this back in August on HipHopDX:
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1202/title./p.1
DX: Already back in the lab?
E: I’m working on a mixtape with DJ House Shoes called Elmatic. It’s basically the tribute to the classic album, [Nas'] Illmatic. We’re basically gonna do the whole album over with additional cuts at the end. Just something we’re gonna put out there at the end of the year. And after that I’m gonna be working hard on a record – I already hollered at Phonte [click to read] and he said he was down with getting on a track; and I’m trying to reach out to Raekwon [click to read]…I’m really trying to blow this next one out.
I understand that Detroit is slept on, but this is a lay-up to check on. I just googled ‘Elzhi Ellmatic’ and found it about four hits down.
Thanks for the vid Matt…. I stand corrected. But really, to all, was this post really that ridiculous? I may have jumped the gun a little, but what kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t try to stir up some controversy? lol I mean look how many hits this post has gotten in the last couple of hours… lol.
Point blank, both projects are gonna be dope and there is no ill will towards anyone.
Is it that big of a deal? Nah, blogs are blogs. But you called out one of the most non-bitingest individuals putting music out right now.
I’ll just bow out as gracefully as I can right now and not comment anymore on this post… lol. Movin on!
This post is that ridiculous, I highly doubt illtravis’ project will be half of the project Ellmatic is. I wasn’t even interested in listening to it honestly, I might now just to compare them. I’m more upset at the way you accused Elzhi, dude is a legend. Constantly putting out quality work and it seems to me that you would’ve dragged him through the mud had he “bit” some no name’s idea. I just “youtube’d” illtravis and nothing popped up, I just” googled” this cat and some myspace and THIS post popped up.
I think the frustration that people are feeling is very fair. To KN’s credit, they never disrespected Elzhi. They even posted one of his tracks! That being said, given my earlier statement about paying respects where it’s due, I think it would be big-hearted and responsible of KN to make a correction post of the same stature. Something like, “Elzhi is not a biter, KN and co. are sorry for the confusion. Because we feel that we jumped the gun and because we respect Elzhi as an artist for his hard work, we decided to spotlight his career and achievements and the great things he’s done for and with hip-hop. Sorry Elzhi!”
Thoughts?
^ I think that is a great idea. (Although IMO accusing someone of biting your idea is pretty damn disrespectful) Another reason for my frustration is the fact that KN is a pretty well-known and respected blog. If you guys were some no-name small blog I’d brush this off, but KH is big and (false) statements like this
“Enter Trav Williams. We started our Illmatic Beat Contest back in December for Trav’s upcoming IllTravis. Coincidence? I don’t think so. This is most definitely a straight bite; I don’t care who you ask.”
without any previous research is asking for some kind of backlash.
Wow…I have thought many of sites/blogs have stolen ideas, but I never have came out and called names. YOU ARE THAT DUDE! Don’t change a thing and don’t take nothing back. Remember what Slim Charles told Avon “If it’s a lie, then we fight on the lie. But we gotta fight”
I said I wouldn’t comment on this post any longer, but I can see that this is gonna go on and on and on.
Is it too late to say APRIL FOOLS! lol j/k
Nah, but in all seriousness, a mistake was made and I admitted I was wrong. Blogging ain’t easy and we tend to get backlash on most articles more than we get praise. Sort of makes me wonder why we continue to run this site, especially since we don’t get paid at all. But I got thicker skin than that, and the show will go on. If I garnered up more attention for IllTravis, I’ll consider this post a success.
If you’re a faithful reader of the site and feel like you lost a little bit of respect for us, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m only human and I will make mistakes from time to time. I think that’s about all I can say about this.
wow…heat of the moment ish huh??
the comments make for a good read tho
Word up to the last part of that statement kevin, sorry if I’m coming accross as a dickhead but I’m just as heated to read this as you probably were thinking Elzhi “bit” that guy. I’ll still be here reading and rarely commenting. (as always)
LOL Funny!
Trav is goin to have some competition :p
Hey, y’all. Kevin apologized. Let it go. If Elzhi just so happens to read this article, then he will also know that Kevin apologized. Leave that decision for Elzhi to make- not you disgruntled fans.
We are all humans. We WILL continue to make all sorts of mistakes [including ACCUSING people of whatever], and it takes a bigger man to admit to those, and that’s exactly what Kev did.
I’m down with KN. Yo Kev, I got you.
Honest mistake…..let’s move on! I gotcha back Kev!
I heard all the facts. I’ve come to the conclusion the Elzhi had to have heard about this contest being the so called “hip-hop head” that he is. He did say he was doing a mixtape on some random video clip. Trav has been talking about doing this ILLTravis joint forever (Listen to The Learning Curve), but finally finalized the Idea back in November and then told Kev about it. Fast forward to now, the contest has ended and we’re ready to put the project out and he has damn near the exact same concept that we have. Which is to use the original samples and reflip all the beats? To say he gon do a mixtape is one thing, but to do the exact same thing that we’re doing is another. To Elzhi’s defense, he is a dope artist with dope concepts, but I know Trav and we spoke about this for a long time before the contest was even mentioned. So the cats that’s saying Trav is biting Nas or Elzhi, fuck ya’ll and listen to “The Exodus” intro when you download “Illtravis” Just to put it out there, Trav also spoke about flipping Reasonable Doubt on Illtravis, let’s see if someone else takes that idea and runs with it. In closing, fuck all haters and if Elzhi read this blog and honed his idea, then fuck him too!
wow.
can someone disable this post? lol.
and how about them lakers? lol.
I will not let it go. I think kevin should be reprimanded for the pain and suffering he has caused all of us. I take Amex, Paypal, and Visa…
I agree, he said he was sorry. I still say he should write something up on Elzhi because i’m curious to know his backstory etc and few people in this internet blog game actually come correct when reporting on stuff like that. Did you guys see the jay-z/nas beef KN broke down? More of that. Less of whatever the eff is going on at GlobalGrind. yeah I said it.
And to rant a bit more let’s put this in perspective. If you see a bboy at a party and he’s breaking out another bboy’s moves, as a bboy, you would call him out and battle him. Any respectable bboy would probably step up and call that dude a biter and call him out. The battle would take place and each bboy would have his say. At the end of the battle, say you find out the dude was the actual originator of those moves; so you were wrong for calling him a biter. The battle still took place; but I think it’s partially civic duty to call cats out. With the advent of the internet, you can trace things back and resolve these fairly quickly.
That was the case here. Kev wasn’t wrong for bringing up the bite. I would have done the same if a graffiti writer took my letters. Technology helped in solving the dispute quickly and Kev admitted he was wrong. We all learned something new in the process but people should not be afraid to call others out. Imagine if no one called out Aristotle or tried to challenge him? Where would we be? If no one challenged the notion of “taxation without representation,” where would we be?
I think the confrontation is fine. Strong ideas will survive and the correct answers will surface. KN may have been wrong in this case, but in the future, I would urge him to call it out again. Just maybe do a couple of google searches beforehand. The worst thing for hip-hop (and all intellectual thought for that matter) would be to silence yourself out of fear of being wrong. The New York Times did that with Iraq, major news stations did that with the Bush/Kerry election.
If you don’t now wtf I’m talking about, get at me. OGHH philosophizing up in this mug! ha ha. Good to see the community so vibrant. If you made it this far down my comment, congrats!
this is hip hop… hey kevin was it “copywritten”
instead of wasting your time on this issue go to redlightchildren.org and donate some money to children of southeast asia that are used for child prostituion.
chiggity check yourself before you wreck yourself because writing wrong blogs is bad for your health!!
Sorry I can’t help it… this is the funniest ish i’ve seen in a wihle. i’m dying laughing. i was having a bad week until now. thanks for this and everyone just forgive kev! for all the dope downloads and stories and everything else you are much appreciated. like doonnie mcclurkin says “we fall down/but we get up” and the above link is serious… do something positive with your time people.
im looking forward to dope projects…. ELzhi can spit like a motha fucka but im not interested in hearing him on illmatic reflips.. however im still gonna download it..
deuces
you guys, krs already made an album called blueprint
A mistake is a mistake everyone makes them that’s why they put erasers on pensils. I check this site daily and in my opinion it’s one of the best hip hop sites/blogs out there. Respect to Kev and everyone else that puts their time and effort into making this site what it is.
So is this Trav Williams cat trying to get serious notoriety from his remix album or what?
If he is, then the timing sucks really bad and he won’t get noticed at all if Elzhi’s drops beforehand. At least not with this project cuz everyone gonna be saying that Trav bit Elzhi and his career as an emcee will be very short.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Another hater…. LOL
hater?? let’s see how accurate Dilla’s statement is before we start making accusations yet again…my guess is that Elzhi is gonna have a ton more cash backing his project, on top of the fact he is known worldwide through his previous work with SV and his solo stuff…
No offense, but I’d rather hear Elzhi over your boy’s shit anyways. Does that Trav guy even know Nas?
This is getting out of hand.
the question now is…will elmatic use the original beats from illmatic or flip the samples like illtravis?
Good question
Keenan;
1.
Kevin said in the very beggining:
“Elzhi is releasing a tribute to Nas‘ Illmatic over recreated Illmatic beats”
2.
Im sure if you listened to that audio clip you can tell that the beat pattern on Elz’s Genesis is not the same as Nas’s Genesis.
Pee Duble:
I’m not hating whatsoever. I’m making a valid statement/point. You are obviously just another ignorant douche that has a hard time dealing with the truth.
Enough from me though, I know better than to make this a hate filled section, it’s unnecessary, just wanted to make my point.
Peace & keep up the great work. I spend at least 15 minutes every day on this site.
this literally made my week. thanks kev.
lol at Elzhi biting Kevin Nottingham.. yea good one
then you made yourself look like the biggest fucking asshole
Kevin Nottingham and crew FTW
and Elzhi >>>>>>>>>>>> Trav Williams?
shut
thee
fuck
up.
I THINK ITS ALL JUST A BIG MISUNDERSTANDING…Trav is an official emcee that bites no one…doesn’t have to. “iLLTRAVIS” is available for download MUFUCKAS!! raw shit!
rhyming over illmatic beats isn’t a very original idea in the first place…nobody’s “biting” anybody. rhyming over illmatic’s classic instrumentals is strictly a tribute to NAS…not illtravis or whoever the fuck. he doesn’t have any type of creative license WHATSOEVER over the beats. nobody will touch who originally rhymed over them anyway…big up to elzhi because he will murder that shit. peace
^^^
SMH
who the fuck is travis???? Elzhi a bitter??? ur crazy…Elzhi is the most creative and skilled MC i have heard in a long time!!! Elzhi will SHIT on whoever Travis is…… Elzhi takes dumps on our favorite rappers constantly…. is travis a rapper or something?? he must be wack as fuck if nobody has heard of him…. i didn’t know the drummer from blink 182 rapped…
Elzhi is so fucking sick wit it, that travis should quit rapper…..real talk….if u think elzhi is a bitter your a stupid fagget…and no nothing about hip hop…. ELZHI MURDERED THE WORLD IS YOURS…..MORE THEN NAS…..RHYME WISE ….NAS CAN’T MESS WIT ELZHI……whoever travis is…he needs to step up his game…..whats the point of dropping a ablum or mixtape and people dont even know who u are ?? and plus…….with a name like ELMATIC!!! . . . ELZHI WON
if you new anything about HIP HOP you wouldn’t be claiming this as biting fool so quit cryin
*Bump*
LMAO @ HIP HOP….. topic is old…. come back up to Aug 09 bro. Where is Elzhi’s album anyway?
You should delete this post for the sake of your blog’s credibility.
Who the fuck is that Travis dude? Nobody gives a flying shit who he is. You’re going off dissing arguably the greatest technical emcee of all time like an ignorant fool. Don’t get me wrong, though, you post some good stuff sometimes, but there are other times when I can only leave your page shaking my head.
i like how eL was “Straight biting” when you started the post, but then when it was proved that you were incredibly wrong, it was just because you “don’t know everything”…grow a pair you piece of shit
*Bump* PT. 2
What is wrong with creating tribunes to people? Tribunes to others lets a person know there’s gratitude out there, for all the efforts. I Find it quite commendable actually and brilliant of Elzhi. What constitutes ‘biting’ hip hop plagiarism ? Kev did apologize. Nevertheless. Everyone should love one another and focus on all the beauty that is surrounded in our own personal realities. The world is an amazing place and everyone was put on this earth to learn from one another. Elzhi has some precious jewels he has shared with all of us. I’m looking forward to see even more greatness come from Elzhi.
elzhi aint bitin shit
he prolly dont even know who that trav nigga is anyway
and if he does he’ll blow travs shit out the water
*Bump* PT. 3