In the tapestry of gospel music, few stories resonate with the raw authenticity of Shauna Elon’s journey. From surviving a life-altering shooting in 2022 to emerging as a powerful voice in Christian music, Elon’s testimony embodies resilience and divine purpose. Her debut EP “Heavenly Made” stands as a testament to her unwavering faith and commitment to touching souls through music that transcends mere entertainment.
Can you share about your journey into music and what inspired you to become a Christian artist?
I’ve been singing my whole life, I started singing at the age of 4, and a lot of it was really singing in church. Once I got to high school I joined the Varsity choir, and I really got into different genres of music, I started really liking classical music, leaning in more to the R&B sound, and I noticed that it was just a blossom of my love for music.
Once I got to college I tried my hand at some songwriting, and I wrote my first song ever in college, and I felt like it was a good vibe for me, but I realized that the type of music, that I was making, when I was in college, it really just wasn’t something that I would have been proud of putting out. It was a lot of trying to fit in and making music that we hear a lot of today with a lot of worldly lyrics and things like that.
I tried making a gospel record, and this came shortly after I had gotten shot in 2022, and that for me was a very life changing moment. I think it would be life changing for anybody falling victim to gun violence, but it made me realize that God was calling me to do something different in my life, and part of the reason why I have taken the approach that I’ve taken is because God has saved me from so many different things in my life, and far be it from me to not use my music and the gift that he gave me to glorify him.
So in creating gospel music, and Christian R&B, it really is a praise and a thank you to God for all of the things that he’s been able to do in my life. I’ve been so blessed and fortunate to have experiences in all of these different life learning lessons that has really shaped me as a woman, and I’ve just put it all into my music, and the ‘Heavenly Made’ EP is a collection of experiences, a collection of testimony, a collection of everything Shauna Elon. So I’m very excited to be here talking about it today.
Tell us about the meaning behind your EP title ‘Heavenly Made’
I titled my EP ‘Heavenly Made’, because I want everybody to understand that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. One of the biggest Scriptures that I’ve held on to throughout these years is Psalms 139:14, and it says, ‘I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are your works, and that my soul knoweth right well’. And in meditating on that Scripture, it really got me to thinking that a lot of people fear that they’ve done too much in their life, or that they’ve gone astray and not had the most intimate relationship with God, so they feel like they’re too far gone, but in the songs that I’ve created, I want people to listen to it, and know that there is never anything that you can do that God won’t try and pull you back closer to him. It’s a lot of people out here that are really hurting and desperately need to have that close, intimate relationship with God. They just don’t know how, and music is a universal language.
The song ‘4.19.22’ seems deeply personal. What’s the story behind it?
‘4.19.22’ was really just a testament to my creative process. I’m singing on it, rapping on it, I’m singing in Italian. It was just my wheels were turning, but truthfully I wanted to be able to take the listeners back to that night that I got shot and it was this real, raw, sense of emotion, and telling my story, and being able to do so in a way where they could see how that shaped me as a person. When I was talking about the lyrics, and I remember all those long nights, my thoughts crowded, asking God why, I know a lot of people who have had that experience where they’ve been in a dark space, having those crying out to God moments where it’s like, ‘I know that there’s better out there for me, I know that you have the desire for me to see better, God, but where is it? Why am I experiencing all this turmoil?’ I had an EP release party, and as I was performing the song, I was telling my listeners that it is a very pivotal moment when you hit rock bottom, because then you realize that God really is your rock on the bottom, and so I was holding on to all of this trauma, and being able to release it through that song, it just gave me this newfound sense of resilience and the ability to really overcome the hardships that I faced in my life.
What challenges did you face while creating this EP?
I would say that the biggest challenge that I faced was me, part of me felt like, is this message really something that people are going to listen to? Is this something that people are going to be able to connect with? And am I who God really wants to bring the message to the masses? I had a lot of feelings of imposter syndrome, and wondering if I was really worthy to carry the torch, but I had to remember that anytime you get those negative thoughts, those negative feelings, you have to cast all of that out, and remember that God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind, that’s 2 Timothy 1:7. As I sat in the studio, there was a lot of times where I was like, ‘oh, my gosh, I got to recut this.’ This doesn’t sound great. I gotta go back and redo this, and my producer told me, ‘you’re psyching yourself out right now. You know you’re good enough, you know that the lyrics that you’re putting into this that you need to share this story, so do it.’ And so that was the point where I was like, you know what? God I’m going to let you lead me in this creative process, and however you want this to turn out is how it’s going to turn out, I’m going to get out of my own way, and I’m going to let you work.
How do you hope your music impacts listeners?
I share a lot of my testimony on my social media and people who have been around me and been around my music for a lot of years. They have been able to see that it really is, a soul story, and because it comes so far from like deep within me, I have the ability to storytell, and because it’s my story, and it’s things that I’ve actually gone through, I know how it affects other people. So when I talk about depression, anxiety, and feeling lost, and unloved, I know that there are people who experience that because when I talk about it on my social media, that’s the type of feedback that I get, where I know people are dealing with these things. My transparency allows me to make music that connects, and because I don’t mind being transparent about my story, it allows me to better connect with other people because you can’t speak from a place of wanting to help somebody if you’ve never really experienced it. There’s a difference between having education to talk to somebody, like a therapist, versus having those actual life experiences and being able to coach somebody through whatever it is that they’re dealing with.
How do you balance reaching both faith-based and mainstream audiences?
I will never compromise, whoever my music is for, it’s gonna be for them. I did so much for so long trying to suppress who I was inside, and trying to fit in into what I thought was supposed to be the standard or the it crowd, and I no longer have the desire to do that. So anybody that my music reaches, I am a firm believer that it reached them because God was trying to connect with them in some way, not by happenstance. Or ‘Oh, I like the way she sings.’ No, I have a story that I’m telling and based on the lyrics and the message that I’m trying to get across it resonated with something within you, whether you know it or not. This message is something that is resonating with you because you are supposed to hear it. So I’m a very firm believer that as long as I stay true to myself, and I continue furthering the message for the kingdom of God, my listeners will find me.
What message do you have for people struggling in today’s world?
I think sometimes we create our own problems, and economically, some of that stuff may be out of your own wheelhouse, but if God gave you an idea, if He gave you the ability to move your limbs and you have breath in your lungs, then you can create your own success. So part of it is that people suffer from wanting to have too much control over their lives, and not allowing God to write the story, because there was plenty of times where I felt like ‘okay, yeah, this is it, my life is over, I don’t know what you’re trying to prove here that I’m the strongest soldier I’m not like, let’s make some things make sense.’ But I had to remember that God is going to work everything together for your good.
Also to reminding myself that it’s a season – we have ups and downs, and that’s just life, life goes through seasons. There is a time where you’re going to have to endure some hard stuff, but it’s a matter of perspective, and how you look at it. Through my music, I want everybody to understand, yes, we all face challenges in life, but it’s a matter of how you look at the challenge that you’re facing, and how you allow it to shape your story, and for quite a long time I ran around with the victim mentality, the ‘woe is me! I can’t believe God let this happen.’ And now I can look back on those experiences, and from a more positive mindset I say, ‘God, I thank you for allowing me to endure those things because it shaped my heart, and it allowed me to one turn to you, but also understand that I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was.’
What’s next for your music ministry?
I am continuing to work on music daily, and I have been sharing little tidbits of these affirmations. I’m actually coming out with an affirmation audio book, and it is going to give people that hope and that daily inspiration that they’re looking for, because if you don’t remind yourself who you are daily, you’ll quickly forget. So working on that, I also have some upcoming shows that I’m really excited about, it’ll be in March, we haven’t got the date yet, but I am doing a performance in March with a really close friend of mine, Kevin Stewart. I’m so excited about it. It’s going to be really awesome, it’s a lot of moving parts, but I’m grateful for it, just very happy to be on this journey, just moving on, moving along.
If you could collaborate with any artists – Christian or mainstream – who would you choose and why?
Shirley Caesar, the Clark sisters, and CC Winans, those are my top 3. If I could get a collaboration with any of those women, I would be one happy cookie.
What advice would you give to upcoming Christian artists?
Believe in yourself, you just got to keep believing in yourself, if you lose your faith, nobody is going to push your dream like you are. So you have to remain focused, and you have to believe in yourself, and just continue to tell yourself daily that if God has called me to this, I’m going to see it all the way through. Stay committed to the journey.
Connect with Shauna Elon on Instagram @Shauna_Elon or visit her website at shaunaelon.com for updates on her upcoming projects and performances.
