This project began earlier this year when ST/MiC was asked to do a verse for a promo for Elusive’s album Beat Placement. Having a hard time picking just one beat, he flipped around the request into got everybody to agree to this EP. A few months and guest spots later, we get Preserves featuring Elusive and ST/MiC.

Knowing that the original request given to ST/MiC turned “In Time” from Beat Placement into “Fly Definition” featuring Jazz Addixx, and listening to the rest of the EP, I can’t help but think that the Charlottesville emcee would have been better off just releasing a single. The opening track is great, and listening to the original version on Elusive’s album and listening to the version on Preserves, the work of ST/MiC and Jazz Addixx definitely give the songs more energy and elevate it to another level. The wide open laid back West Coast beat and disjointed keyboards and horn samples give the track a lot of swagger, and while the verses aren’t ground breaking and there’s no hook to speak off, the emcees rhymes are solid and engage the listener. Unfortunately, the EP drops off from there and never recovers. It’s never terrible, mostly just forgettable. Every time I play it, I always get excited by the first track, and then find myself just biding time until the rest of the EP is over. Elusive keeps using the same formula of disjointed and chopped samples over a heavy basic beat, but it just gives diminished returns and sounds more forced over the course of the EP, as he never brings anything else to the table. ST/MiC is a decent emcee, but his flow rarely clicks with Elusive’s beats, and as a result most songs sound forced. It could be a chicken/egg argument, but basically the chemistry just isn’t there.

“Fly Def” is a single that will surely get people on the dance floor. Unfortunately, that song was more lightning in a bottle than I expected, as the magic of the first song on the EP was never recreated in the six songs that followed it. I thought I was in store for a fun time when I began to listen to Preserves, but that was just an illusion.