Out of Focus

Out of Focus was the first solo project of Hip-Hop rapper eLZhi, which has never been officially released. This EP features many of eLZhi’s collaborators from the Detroit Hip Hop crew, The Breakfast Club (band) (Lacks, Big Tone and Dwele).

In 1998, after years of cultivating a reputation for himself performing with groups such as The Fingers of Death (F.O.D.) and The Breakfast Club, eLZhi began collaborating with Detroit Hip-Hop icon DJ House Shoes. These frequent recording sessions yielded that material that would form the “Out Of Focus EP”. As the project developed,eLZhi finalized a track list, commissioned a cover to be designed by Skinny Boy Graphics, and procured a large number of blank cassettes and cases. Everything seemed to be falling into place for the young artist but he abandoned the project at the last minute. The music, while recorded and roughly mixed, was never completed. The blank tapes remained in eLZhi’s infamous closet for many, many years.

In 2000, eLZhi buckled under the constant pressure of his friends' persistent begging, and provided them with CD’s of his music. These CD’s contained the entire Out of Focus EP and three additional songs (“Horny,” “Choose,” and “What I Am”) and are the source of the subsequent internet leak often called “Unreleased Solo Album.”