“Once you choose hope anything’s possible”- Christopher Reeve
Over the course of this week, I’ve written two articles before this one and they all discuss the main idea of making a way out but everyone, artists, readers, and myself have to realize that making a way out doesn’t happen unless you create it for yourself. Artist El Rell did this by realizing he doesn’t want to be a part of the system that people around him may have become a part of.
El Rell was born and raised in Chicago’s South Side which is the best side. While living on the South Side he attended John Fiske Elementary and King College Prep High School. Where El Rell is from impacts his music greatly because he raps about the things he has seen and has experienced. At John Fiske Elementary El Rell played basketball with his teammates but as they grew up those teammates are now on opposite sides shooting at each other. Seeing this made him realize that this system his teammates fell into was not for him especially as a Black man in America. The fact that the system gave him the decision to either find a way to make a life for himself or get it by any means necessary is upsetting but empowering at the same time because El Rell became an example that younger Black men can look to. Once El Rell realized he didn’t want to be a part of that system he became a first-generation college student and is currently attending one of the Top 20 Universities in the country (the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign).
Before El Rell was known as El Rell people knew him as Elvin Shields. Elvin started rapping at the age of 7 which led him to write raps with his father. Due to his father writing raps with him it created a foundation for the talented rapper we know today. Other than writing with his dad Elvin became good with words and fell in love with poetry, rapping plays. This love led to his love of storytelling that he provides in his raps. Because of this love, he began to take rapping seriously which allowed him to think of artists that influenced his art. Artists that have influenced him are Lil Wayne, J. Cole, Meek Mill, Herb. Current artists that are influencing his art now are Polo G and Roddy Ricch with the help of local rappers; Ryxn, Dojo, Ausar, and more.
As Elvin grew into El Rell he acknowledged that he had to be taken out of his comfort zone. According to El Rell, the project that made him step out of his comfort zone was Versatile simply because this led to the beginning of him releasing his music. I think I’m biased when it comes to talking about his music because I remember Versatile first coming out. I was a sophomore in high school going into my junior year and I had a current situation that had me down and one of his songs talked about focusing on your worth and loving yourself. When I tell you I cried but I’m not about to expose myself like that. Aside from Versatile El Rell has made songs where he continues to as people would say; speak FACTS! Although he creates music that allows people to reflect the life he also makes T’ Up music because that’s what he wants to do. El Rell’s top songs that he’s made are “Finessin”, “Same Shit”, “Gets your love”, “Idfwu (jungle remix)”, “2 Fingers Freestyle.” If you are looking for a streaming service that has all these songs you can look up El Rell on Soundcloud and find them.
Earlier in the article, I talked about El Rell’s love storytelling through his music. This storytelling impacts the message he wants to portray with his music. Whether it's a turn-up song like “2 Fingers Freestyle” or a thought-provoking song like “Gets your Love” he still wants to give people the message that there is hope with his music. He may do this with his music but he also does this with the moves he makes and the decisions he has made in the past. With that being said you should know whatever advice he has to give is valid. Advice El Rell would give to new artists, “is to focus on your process and journey. It’s easy to compare yourself but understand everyone is different, stay true to yourself, focus on your craft, honor the craft, and you’ll see results. Always remember one faithful listener is better than 20 dry followers.” El Rell is always on the move. He has a music video coming out with Sk Da Sensei to their song “Cappin” which is on all streaming services. Next week on June 3rd he will have a two-song project coming out called Lovers and Friends. To stay updated with El Rell and his new releases you can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @aye_thats_rell.
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