Elujay

Photography by Khufu Najee. Interview by Heather Hawke.

Hailing from Oakland, CA, Elujay is a singer/songwriter/producer/director who started producing instrumentals and writing songs at the age of 14 after a friend of his uploaded a beat-making program to his laptop. The songs he begun crafting were representative of his love for not only for alternative, R&B, jazz, and soul (like D’Angelo, Musiq Soulchild, and Kendrick Lamar), but also music that combined elements of the “hyphy” movement that the Bay Area made famous in the 90’s with his own soulful groove. His organic ability to effortlessly vacillate between singing and rapping, stands as the driving force of his musicality. The multi-talented artist’s music is refreshingly distinctive and accessible, his style is a living embodiment of what it means to seamlessly fluctuate between multiple genres while still maintaining a characteristic sound.

In the past four years he’s released three critically acclaimed projects (September 2016’s debut album Jentrify, February 2019’s ADOJIO EP, and his December 2020 Collaborative EP with J.Robb  Gems In The Corner Store) and his new album, Circmvnt, comes out today.

Circmvnt was made in the midst of the pandemic when people were ‘deprived of financial means, social interactions and mental clarity.’ In typical fashion, not being shy about expressing his feelings and experiences growing up in the ever-changing Bay Area environment, Elujay’s new project draws on the financial and mental turbulence of the last year as at the same time taking his sound to transcendent levels by cheering on good vibes and prosperity in the hopes of transporting his listeners to a relaxed state of mind. 

Elujay’s web/socials: Website – Soundcloud – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter 

Hi! So, these past 20 months have been pretty intense due to various reasons including the pandemic… Before we began, how are you doing with everything? How has this last year been for you and how are you feeling? How have you been coping with everything? 

The past 2 years have definitely been difficult, but I have music, friends, and family around me that’s helped me stay grounded and has kept my head on straight. Those three things have been the driving force behind me staying afloat. 

I feel like the music industry has shifted even more so during the pandemic. How has it felt, to you, as an artist? Has it been freeing? Is it scary trying to question how to approach music making and then how to or if you want to creatively release it to the public?

Yes, it has changed. It definitely became a lot trickier to navigate, but I figured out a way to make it work — to find something that works for me. I found that if you like a song that you’re working on, just put it out and to not be afraid regardless of what the present circumstances are.  That’s basically how I’ve been operating. 

Going back to the beginning. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like growing up there? Did creativity/music/art play a big part of your childhood?  

Yes, I grew up in Oakland, CA surrounded by various walks of life and so many different cultures that were influential to my diverse sound. Growing up here has played an integral part to my creativity. As an artist that creates multiple genres, growing up in a melting pot that is Oakland definitely helped in molding my journey as an artist.   

Tell me about your musical upbringing. What music did you grow up listening to? When did you first become aware that music was going to be a part of your life? What was your formal / not formal music education like growing up? 

I was put into music classes as a kid (piano and guitar). I grew up on jazz and soulful music that my parents played around the house like Sade and world music like Soca, which is based in my mother’s country of origin, Trinidad & Tobago. Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind Fire, Ohio Players — I realized I wanted to make music once I discovered that it was a natural thing for me because of what was played around the house. 

When you were old enough to start seeking out music, where did you regularly find yourself (a certain record store / internet site / getting recommendations from a certain friend)? Who were some of the artists you first found and then were always on the lookout for? 

I would say that I would go to the Amoeba Record store that was located on Telegraph in Berkeley by Cal and would seek out whatever was popular on the shelf (Green Day, Neptunes, Kanye West, etc).  That was one of the things that drove my music discovery as a kid.  That and Limewire, of course, which would always destroy my computer.

Talking some more about your formative years… What was the very first concert you attended? Did you play any sports / go to summer camps? When was the first time you felt super inspired by music? Were there posers on your wall when you were growing up? 

I did play basketball and soccer growing up, normal kid stuff. I can’t exactly remember the first concert that I went to, but I first felt inspired when I was in middle school and started to make beats on what was then known as Fruity Loops, now just FL studio.  That was the time period that let me know that actually creating music for myself was a possibility. 

Let’s talk about your upcoming 2022 project titled Circmvnt. What was your songwriting/creative process like for it? How long was the writing/recording process of it? Was there an event or a specific timeframe where a large chunk of the lyricism came out?

It took about 2 years to make, the songwriting process took even longer.  I would send guitar stems or work on the mix with producers over Zoom, due to the pandemic, and also having people play instruments live in studio whenever health permitted. It was a pretty seamless/yet confusing process given the circumstances, but I made it work. 

Where were you at physically, mentally when you wrote the lyrics/music for Circmvnt?

I was inspired, but I was scared at the same time. Scared of how the project would be received and perceived. Every day felt fearful in not knowing where the world was headed and pretty dark if I’m being honest.  Not being able to see people while creating an album in the early stages of the pandemic drove a lot of the fear for me. But, I think we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel both with this album and the world. 

Do you find it helpful to be intentional when it comes to writing the lyrics / music? Like “I’m going to sit down and work on a song.” Or is it more ephemeral, like you’ve been kicking something around in your head for days, weeks, months, and then suddenly it comes spilling out? Or is it a mixture of both?

It’s a mixture of both. The lyrics are usually something that are stored, and you took the words out my mouth in that they’ve been marinating in my mind for a while, and they suddenly come spilling out and that’s something that I usually organize later once I’m able to clear my head. The organizing aspect is typically when the real writing process begins. 

As this is your debut project, what mindset did you have going into the creating / recording process of it? Did you feel any sort of limitations when writing or recording? Which songs were the easiest / most difficult to create? What song(s) are you most proud of on this record? Why?

I’d say the most difficult song that I had writing/creating was probably “Luvaroq” because of the back and forth with the producers that I was working with and just getting the sound right. On the other hand, working with Serpentwithfeet, whose featured on the record, was pretty seamless. He went to the studio, recorded his verse, and shot it back pretty quickly, which was great.  There really isn’t one song that I’m most proud of, mostly because I’m proud of it all!

When and how did the title Circmvnt come about in the album creation process? What is the significance of the title? 

It came about when I was driving around Lake Merritt in Oakland and noticed that a lot of construction was taking place.  Thats when the concept of finding detours around certain life challenges popped up. Similar to what we’ve been going through in the pandemic in finding alternative ways around difficult situations. 

What was your favorite part about the writing / creation process? 

Watching it evolve and it becoming bigger than I had imagined.  Watching the album take on a life of its own as I got deeper into the writing/creation process was really a beautiful thing to witness.