Notably, Save Yourself is the first Elucid project on which the now Brooklyn-based emcee handles the vast majority of the production. Like his rhymes, the beats are anything but typical, at times emanating a very particular type of otherworldly darkness and in others wading into jazz, psychedelia and even noise. Save Yourself shows that, although Elucid will always consider himself a rapper first, he is a very talented producer. What is arguably the greatest example of his skill behind the boards comes in the final-third of the record - anyone who can produce something as mesmerizingly ominous and futuristic as "Lest They Forget" deserves praise as a beat-maker.
The left-field production meshes perfectly with Elucid's resolute rapping style, with "Cold Again" being an early example of the emcee at his best. The production is built around a frigid progression of warped piano keys that back Elucid's vivid scenes of violence ("Blood run between the crack over the tile, under the door/We ask why and scream Lord/Black suits sending you off/Niggas won't smile unless they think you soft"). "Bleachwater", where the rapper turns his sharp pen towards police brutality, is equally as striking. Elucid snarls through a haunting verse, invoking the ghosts of the previously unjustly murdered ("Before videos some might call it a conspiracy/All the gods screaming are you hearing ?/Eerily looped, hands off the youth"). He does not call for reform, he calls for a reset ("it's ingrained how they teach it, reset or be doomed to repeat it"), using water as a metaphor for institutionalized racism that the United States was founded on. The chorus is a harrowing call and response: "somethin' bout the water...same as it ever was." The only solution is for the water to be "bleached" - its very essence must be removed in order to start anew.
The left-field production meshes perfectly with Elucid's resolute rapping style, with "Cold Again" being an early example of the emcee at his best. The production is built around a frigid progression of warped piano keys that back Elucid's vivid scenes of violence ("Blood run between the crack over the tile, under the door/We ask why and scream Lord/Black suits sending you off/Niggas won't smile unless they think you soft"). "Bleachwater", where the rapper turns his sharp pen towards police brutality, is equally as striking. Elucid snarls through a haunting verse, invoking the ghosts of the previously unjustly murdered ("Before videos some might call it a conspiracy/All the gods screaming are you hearing ?/Eerily looped, hands off the youth"). He does not call for reform, he calls for a reset ("it's ingrained how they teach it, reset or be doomed to repeat it"), using water as a metaphor for institutionalized racism that the United States was founded on. The chorus is a harrowing call and response: "somethin' bout the water...same as it ever was." The only solution is for the water to be "bleached" - its very essence must be removed in order to start anew.
Despite how chilling the subject matter can be throughout Save Yourself, Elucid still manages to work in a bit of dark humor. Over the murky piano sample of "Wake Up Dead Man", he murmurs "this piano was played underwater by slave ship suicide jumper - no he didn't take a selfie". However, this type of macabre humor is short lived, with Elucid quickly jumping to what may be a reference to the 2015 Charleston Church shooting ("and the churches keep burnin"). "Wake Up Dead Man" also references gentrification, a topic more thoroughly explored over the gloomy "If You Say So", where Elucid drops a dead serious joke about how black people are being pushed further and further out of their neighborhoods ("you niggas better learn to swim/Jamaica bay is calling").
Although Elucid is a rapper who thrives in the grim, there are, relatively at least, light moments. The combination of a joyful vocal sample and an upbeat horn loop which dances behind the rapper's verses makes "Can't Keep It To Myself" a complete anomaly of the record. The happy abnormality of "Can't Keep It To Myself" is further emphasized by the trippy mysterious atmosphere of "NY Blanks" that follows it. Throughout the seventeen tracks of Save Yourself, Elucid takes the listener on an abrasive journey through the catacombs of his mind. The idiosyncratic nature of the ride means that it is surely not for everyone, but that shouldn't be read as a negative. This is top notch experimental hip-hop that makes no compromises.
Although Elucid is a rapper who thrives in the grim, there are, relatively at least, light moments. The combination of a joyful vocal sample and an upbeat horn loop which dances behind the rapper's verses makes "Can't Keep It To Myself" a complete anomaly of the record. The happy abnormality of "Can't Keep It To Myself" is further emphasized by the trippy mysterious atmosphere of "NY Blanks" that follows it. Throughout the seventeen tracks of Save Yourself, Elucid takes the listener on an abrasive journey through the catacombs of his mind. The idiosyncratic nature of the ride means that it is surely not for everyone, but that shouldn't be read as a negative. This is top notch experimental hip-hop that makes no compromises.
