Elijah Blake has penned hits for top-notch artists such as Usher, Rihanna, Rick Ross, Common and Trey Songz. Blake is currently preparing to release his debut album and Def Jam recently released his first single, “I Just Wanna.”
Blake discusses his work with past artists and reveals what fans can expect from his upcoming album.
How were you introduced to music?
I’m a church boy, so I grew up singing in church and my goal was to always tell my story through song. I would watch my favorite artists, such as Usher, Michael Jackson and TLC and be like, “Man I want to be like that one day.” My dad told me if I did my thing on YouTube and put my own music out there, the labels would come for me. I thought he was crazy, but I started doing my original songs on YouTube and things start popping. I became one of the most subscribed people on YouTube and that led to A&Rs reaching out to me and wanting to sign me.
What was it like working on the song “Climax” with Usher?
Well, the first day I was in the studio with Usher, he asked, “What are you here for?” I turned around and looked at my publisher and I thought that Usher didn’t know I was supposed to be there. Usher then looked at me and said, “We’re here to make history.” Once he said that to me, I didn’t want to just do a regular Usher record, I wanted do something that would be a staple in his career. We weren’t settling for anything.
You have also worked rappers such as Common, Rick Ross, and J. Cole. What was it like working with those artists?
I remember when I first met Ross, I did a hook for him and I just was so used to writing hooks that other people were going to sing. I asked him who he was going to get to sing on “Presidential” and he told me that he was keeping me on it. He said, ‘the whole point of being a boss you don’t follow the trends you set the trends.’ The same thing happened while working with Common. When I was working on my EP, I’d always see him in passing because of No I.D. When I did “XOX,” I knew Common would kill it. So I played it for him and he jumped on it. I would also see J. Cole in passing while working with No I.D. in the studio. He told me that he was once a new artist and trying to break through and no one believed in him. We worked on “Vendetta” for like three days. He paid musicians and guitarists and keyboard players to come in. He was like, “I’m going hard because I know what Elijah Blake is going to be in five years, not because of who Elijah Blake is right now.”
What was the approach you took when working on “I Just Wanna,” your first single?
I would meet certain fans and my fellow peers who have heard my music, but they haven’t met him in person. I’m a big ass kid and I joke a lot. So “I Just Wanna” represents Elijah Blake like if you would see me on the street. I’m just this person who would just want to have fun and live life. So it’s just one of those types of vibes where I just want to live life and not really think too much about anything else.
What can fans expect from the album?
The album is just an emotional roller coaster. It shows an emotional tension and a tug of war that happens in a relationship. It’s based on my longest relationship with my high school sweetheart. We were together from 9th grade up until my junior year. So this album is actually a full narrative of my life from freshman year up until about two years ago. It’s my first relationship, my first heartbreak, my first distrust. It’s all based on a true story. I want women to listen to this album and be like, ’Man, this is what I’ve always wanted my dude to say to me.’ I want to be the guy who can also articulate it for the homies. I feel like dudes are as emotional as women, but sometimes we don’t know how to articulate it or we’re afraid of articulating it at the risk of being corny or seeming soft. But I just want to be human and transparent.
