New happenings with Elias

A lot has changed since I last posted. In March of 2005 I got a call from my agent and he informed me that there were some interested labels for the kind of hiphop that I do. I was happy that people liked the music but not overly optomistic that much would come of it. Secretly, though, I hoped it would go farther than simply talk.

Things picked up speed though, and I was invited to come out to Nasvhille to do a demo deal with a label. They flew me out, put me up in a hotel, gave me food money, and I met with the A and R's and record exec. I was also given a beat cd and asked to come up with some songs. In the next two days, I wrote 5 songs in anticipation of having the opportunity to record at least 3 of them.

I ended up getting into the studio on Friday of that week and recorded 3 songs in 3 hours. The next day, I jumped on a plane and flew home, fully expecting to hear a rejection call back. I liked what I did but it didn't even blow ME away, except for 2 of the songs which intrigued me. The first was a song called Silence to a beat by Dj Form. It was a lovely joint about needing silence to hear God's voice. The second was a stretch for me and was done to an Otto Price beat. Just an outstanding beat with tons of musical qualities and amazing flamenco guitar. I decided to spend most of my time singing on that song and really stretched myself. I was happy with my effort but unsure of the product.

Apparently, the label liked what they heard and thought there was a great deal of talent to be farmed in me yet. So, it now looks like I'm in the first stages of signing a contract with a label. I will get a substantial budget (for a rapper) to create a quality album. I'm excited to bring my skills to the arena and I'm really praying I am able to create an album that pushes the envelope while delivering listenability. We'll see won't we?

So, for all the "Elias fans" out there be ready for Elias to hit your city soon doing shows. Be ready for a new album to drop sometime in June 2006.
Things is nice right now. :)

Dec. 4th-Boyle Heights show

I rolled out on Saturday unsure of what crowd I was going to see in Boyle Heights. Bird just told me that there would be more “thugs” there. No avant garde music then. I threw a Dre beat into my set and put more humor in my set. Then I was told I had a 20 minute set. Yikes. I had to cut my set in half.

Bryant was running things when I got there and dude seemed like a really good cat. He was very organized, put together a nice green room, had VIP passes ready and everything. J I’m so used to promoters not even knowing what is really going on that it was nice to have someone know what they wanted to happen.

I decided I wanted to rock second that night so I got bone out early from the show and handle some other business that night. Lately, I’ve done too many shows where I don’t rap until 1 am and the crowd has either 1. thinned out or 2. passed out. Ha. So I wanted to get going early, build with some cats, sell some merch and roll. I didn’t realize homie rapping first only had one song. Dude did his thing and I was on next like boom. The crowd wasn’t really warmed up so I got ready to get them open.

I had a great time and just ran all over the place with the cordless they gave me. It was fun and I totally enjoyed myself. When you nail a set and you know you shredded it, there is a great sense of satisfaction. I did as much as I could to rock that crowd and I was happy with the results. I felt like they were open by the end of my set and that was good for the rest of the crews. I was also able to push my own merch and build with other cats.
Kiz Charizmatic was at the show as was Obstacle and Absent. I liked what I saw from Kiz and I hope I can perform with him in the future. I’m sure our paths will cross at some time. Ob and Absent are some cool cats and I plan on doing some recording with them very soon. I felt like they didn’t get enough time to rock their entire set and they were cut off but that happens sometimes at shows…after all I was rocking 20 minutes instead of 40. J

Another great show. I need more. Holla at ya boy if you need entertainment. That I CAN provide.

eliashiphop@pacbell.net
Elias

Tour thoughts

Canada, Indiana, Baltimore, Wisconsin, Chicago!! The tour was fun. I had fun rocking sets around the country and in the great white north. It was good to get out there and share the music and get back into the swing of performing. I wasn’t sure how performance would feel day after day. The tour was 9 shows in around 13 days or so. We were rippin and runnin but I loved it. Some of the shows were big and some were small but it didn’t seem to make much difference in how much I enjoyed rapping and sharing my music.

I have some new approaches to how I will attempt to move crowds and I’ve decided that I’m going to have to become proficient as a musician as well as a rapper so that I can hit those crowds that don’t even like rap (because of bad promoters). The wonderful thing about versatility is options and I think I can share dope music across genres depending on the crowds that I’m faced with. I just need to get my skills as a legitimate musician to that point.

Thanks to all those that helped to set up shows--Noah23--you are ridiculously dope. Illseer--dude can't wait till next summer to do shows up there with you and Luke. Conrad Gringo---thanks bro, good lookin out on the show at Valpo. I'm dissapointed Hogwash didn't rip it but I'm glad we got to roll out there bro.

Elias

Say word!

Good news. I'm #5 on the top radio adds for CMJ. It just so happens that I'm tied with the guy who's fourth. They always trying to keep a brother down.

Request my songs and help me chart all over the US and Canada. Holla for details on how to do it. eliashiphop@pacbell.net

October 15th show

Yo. I had the chance to hit up and perform at a show called "Blitzfest 2" in Whittier, Cali on October 15th. About 800 emo and rocker kids were there moshing to hardcore and other music while text messaging their friends and generally having a good time. What was wild was this was actually a Christian show but it was packed.

I had a really strange small set time in between bands during gear change. This didn't bother me in the least because all I want to do was share my music. I was confident that I could garner the attention of the crowd if not the adulation. ;) Around 10 or 10:30 I had the chance to get on stage and rock. I was a little worried because after every set the entire crowd would book out of the venue and go outside and talk. So, I immediately jumped on stage after the band before me was done.

I grabbed the mic and asked how many people loved punk rock and hardcore. The crowd shouted enthusiastically. Then I asked how many people hated hip hop and the crowd booed. It was dope. I knew I had some winning over to do. So, I told them not to worry cuz I was a nice rapper and I was nice to audiences and then I screamed at them to shut up and pay attention. The girls in the front row looked scared which was hilarious and made the whole trip worthwhile.

After the 'screaming' I went right into my set. The crowd was not a hip hop crowd at all but i got them to interact and jump and shout. I managed to crack the stage while jumping and tried my best to keep their attention while the band set up behind me.

Overall, a very fun experience. I went expecting to sell some cd's and only sold 2 cd's. Disappointing. After the show I had a chance to chill with JawnyQuest and his girl, the Young Poets, JDankworth, Jose, Crumbum and his girl, Understudy and his girl, and Matt who all came out to peep the show. It was very dope of them all to show up and support and was fun to chill afterwards....

Made it home at 3:30 am and woke up to take care of my baby girl at 6:30 am. Nice times. ;)

November Mini TOur with Luke Geraty and Trackstarr

UPDATE ON TOUR INFO in NOVEMBER:

Elias Tour in November solo and with Luke Geraty and Trackstarr.

Oct. 30th Baltimore, Maryland

Nov. 4th Chicago, IL
Nov. 5th Chicago, IL
Nov. 6th Woodstock, Ontario, Canada w/Illseer
Nov. 7th OPEN
Nov. 8th Portland, Maine
Nov. 9th OPEN
Nov 10th Ontario, Canada
Nov 11th Ontario, Canada
Nov. 12th Guelph, Ontario, Canada w/Noah23
Nov. 13th Valparaisa University (Radio station show)
Nov. 14th OPEN...hopefully South Bend
Nov. 15th OPEN hopefully Indianapolis
Nov. 16th Minneapolis, MN

If you live in these areas and want to see if you can meet up with us or have some more area contacts for me, holla at eliashiphop@pacbell.net

October 15th Show

On October 15th I have a show in LA. I will post more complete details when I get them from my man. Should be about 800 folk at the show and a few nice bands playing. I'll put up contact and driving info for all interested.

I've been added to all kinds of radio stations in the past week and the response has been really wonderful. It's encouraging to hear that so many find my music appealing and interesting.

If you live in Maryland, Ohio, OR, WA, CA, NY, PA, LA, Saskatchewan, Canada, or Minnessota, and Florida, then get at me and i'll tell you who you can call to request my songs.

It looks like I might be in the top 5 adds, and this with competition from some top albums dropping this past week. Call in and request my songs and we can bump the playlists and rotation up and get more and more people listening to the music. that's what it's all about after all---the music.


Holla at me if you need contact info for these stations.
eliashiphop@pacbell.net

Cornell West on Justice

Some of you know that in the 90's I went from being an urban kid living in several different minority communities, to a college student in white dominated Kentucky. I knew when I went to college that there would be a commiserate level of culture shock so I was prepared to be surprised.

I was right to be prepared. Kentucky and specifically, the 'majority' white culture was much different than what I understood in my own life experience. I became extremely aware of the polarization between whites and blacks and the prevelant misunderstandings and miscommunications I saw between people. I worked to bring racial harmony and understanding at my college and was largely successful.

During that time, an influential book that I read was a book by Cornell West called "Race Matters." In this book, Cornell West, laid out the current state of race relations in this country as it pertains to politics, morality, religion, and social policy. It was a time appropriate piece of literature and addressed many of the relevant issues boiling just below the misunderstood communication between many whites and blacks.

Ten or so years later, West has put out a book called "Democracy matters" pointing out what he calls the three fundamental anti-democratic dogmas. Those are, unfettered free market capitalism, aggressive militarism, and escalating authoritarianism.

He spent a great deal of time dealing with the issue of religion as well and laid out several very interesting points that I feel deserve to be discussed by those who claim to be Christian. He speaks of Prophetic Christianity and Constantinian Christianity. Prophetic Christianity is that christianity that finds itself standing for the 'least of these' and for justice. Men like Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day the Catholic woman that started the Catholic Social Movement, and so many other Christians that decided to stand for the weak and downtrodden. "It has to do with believing fundamentally that he or she who loses sight of the poor insults one’s maker, he or she who is in solidarity with the poor exalts one’s maker. Proverbs 14:31."(Cornell West).

Then there are the Constantinian Christians who believe they should defer to the empire and do whatever it says. Many times, these Christians worship and love the beauty of the empire and its emenities more than they seem to love the principles which govern their religion. (see word of faith movement, prosperity doctrine, etc...). They want God to give them what the empire has and they are happy to go along with whatever the empire does. West identifies these people as Christians who will say, "I do not like some of the things Bush does but I will vote for him because he is a Christian." West's response to this is, “What do you mean by Christian? Do you mean someone who spouts pious platitudes and still crushes the poor with policies in which Leave No Child Behind is a slogan, but you withdraw the funds?" (Cornell West).

West's book is a call to warning about the state of our democracy. Are we willing to stand for the least of these in our society or are we more interested in preserving the fruits of the empire for ourselves? That's the real question we must face every day---because the rest of the world already wears the answer.

Scraps of Paper released

This is just to let everyone know that "Scraps of Paper" has released. The album dropped on August 31, 2004 and has done pretty well for an unknown like me. I only have about 100 more to sell before I repress another 1000. So, if you are interested in purchasing an album, buy one at http://www.sphereofhiphop.com/store and http://www.jydist.com OR email me at eliashiphop@pacbell.net to get one.

If you are in the Cali area then hit up one of my shows and I'll hook up a discount for you.

Peace
Elias