 In his youth, he made numerous visits to the Hip-Hop shop in Detroit, taking advantage of open-mic nights hosted by fellow Detroit rapper Proof.These sessions gave him the opportunity to be surrounded by Detroit's most talented MCs such as Obie Trice, Magestik Legend, Finale, Invincible, Phat Kat, Guilty Simpson, Royce da 5'9", One Be Lo, J Dilla, Baatin, D12 and Eminem.In 1998, Elzhi recorded a number of songs with Detroit hip-hop artist DJ Houseshoes with DJ Rios.