Emerging from the confines of her comfort zone and her personal journey with the Lord for purpose and direction, singer/songwriter/musician, Elan, is on a mission to release her debut single, Soul Searching, which she hopes to be the first of many more to come.
Retold and reflected upon in her thought provoking and deeply moving lyrics, Elan’s journey to this point in time has been filled with her own battles, internal and external. Caught between two worlds, the pressure to go to college and get a normal job and the unrelenting call to create and perform music, Elan is emerging like a butterfly from its cocoon, ready to take flight and inspire the world.
The twenty-six-year old vocalist/musician defines her sound as acoustic soul, a blend of gospel, jazz, singer/songwriter, and rhythm and blues with a splash of hip hop flavor. Imprinted by deep, soulful vibrations, Elan’s music intricately weaves her faith with life’s realities and experiences. Her earliest influences were those of her own family. A descendant of musicians, singers, songwriters, hip hop dancers and djs, Elan grew up in the thick of the musical sounds of jazz, blues, hip-hop, gospel, and rhythm and blues. Her own music began to flow from her as a child. If she wasn’t singing or talking, she was humming and creating her own melodies. The young girl couldn’t stop making or listening to music. Subsequently, piano lessons started at the age of twelve. Guitar followed at fourteen. In high school, her guitar teacher prodded her to sing as she learned to play. It wasn’t long before she was sought after to sing in church and at school programs, weddings, and special events.
In 2016, Elan deferred undergraduate studies to pursue her music passion. She began writing, composing, collaborating, and recording in her basement studio. While refining her own songwriting skills, she began covering and posting some of her favorite artists’ songs which brought her early social media awareness. In 2017, she started performing live at open mics throughout New York City and New Jersey, winning over critical music fans with her original songs. That spring, Elan found herself on a soundstage in New York City shooting her first music video for her original song, “Beautiful Soul”. The same video debuted at the prestigious Urbanworld Film Festival, one of New York’s longest-running film events. That opportunity led to invites to perform at summer events in Brooklyn and Manhattan and connected her with burgeoning beat makers and producers. The latter opportunity took Elan’s singing and songwriting gifts in an unforeseen direction. The first tracks she penned to were those of Brooklyn beat maker, Get Em Dizz, resulting in nine songs to date, one of which will be released as her first single. Elan is currently working with Long Island native, New Jersey based beat maker and producer, Xavier aka XPRS. The duo are busy in the studio creating music for the ages and to prepare for future releases.
Elan gives credit to artists like Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, J Moss, and Fred Hammond for laying a foundation for her own artistry. Other artists, like, Stacie Orrico, JoJo, Tori Kelly, Lianne La Havas, and Alessia Cara, have also influenced the young songstress.
Check out Elan @officialelanmusic on Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook.