Interview With Elus

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Elus was born as Malik Darian Sinclair on March 29th, 1985 during the prime time of Hip Hop music which was radically blossoming and gaining worldwide recognition. Despite all this, a combination of trying to fit in and a strong feeling that most rappers in the late 1990s were not producing quality material inspired Malik to write his own music. He started out as battle rapper because he always felt he had to prove himself to gain acceptance. Malik first got involved in Hip Hop as a DJ in 1997. He felt like an outcast because he was periodically misunderstood by his peers. This fueled Maliks unorthodox and unexpected personality. Hence, Malik adopted an alias which perfectly described his individuality: Elusive. As a DJ he spun at local parties and put together rap tapes of himself, his cousin and anyone else around him who participated in the craft.

A couple of years later DJ Elusive became known as ELUS. By this time, Elus gave up DJing so that he could focus on rapping. He began to write rhymes that reflected negative situations that surrounded him Namely, his father coming in and going out of his life, strong feelings of displacement and his mothers struggles from day to day in order to survive.

Elus was always very passionate about rap and this is evident in his lyrics. They have always been filled with intense emotion and intellectual interpretations of life. In a way, rapping was a means of catharsis for him. Elus started receiving a lot of positive feedback about his rhymes from his peers and a tight network began to develop around him. It was as though a separate community was forming.

I got the chance to interview Elus today. Here It Is

1. You have one of the biggest buzzes on the Internet and through word of mouth. How do you feel about that?

"I'm blowing up like ya thought I would, call da crib, same number, same hood...its all good"! Biggie couldn't have said it better...dats why I quoted da brother (R.I.P.)! But yeah that's wassup...I feel honored that people have been embracing my efforts as an artist! I started as a dj...at the tender age of 12, writing music was and is still therapy for me...its how I choose to keep myself balanced in life, so the fact I have people embracing me and spreading the word of my music is very rewarding! I feel I'm just tapping the surface tho...I've put in years of grind and sacrificed a lot for music, I'm starting to see the fruits of my labor now...feels good! Now I'm just waiting for the money to catch up to the fame haha...then I'm really good haha!

2. What do you think your biggest record? And why?

The record I'd be most known for as of this interview would probably be my sister Mala Reignz's "BX Til I Die" record which I'm featured on! We have a video for the record which was on every cable provider's On Demand Video Programming courtesy of Music Choice (we were the first unsigned artist to have our video on their national video service)! Watch the video below



Phat shout to my sister Mala Reignz doing her thing...you can check her at www.myspace.com/malareignz
Haha...I'm always plugging family! Love you sis if you reading this!

3. The group you are in, Triboro, has a great chemistry. How did you guys meet up, and how do you maintain the chemistry?

We'll initially I met Sean Conn 1st back during the 4th Quarter of 2005...I had heard him doing a radio interview with my manager at the time (what up Unique)! I was really impressed by dude's music and at the conclusion of the show...called my manager up to inquire on working with him! About two weeks later we linked up at my studio...in which we did a record called "BX 2 QU"!

Elus & Sean Conn: BX to QU


About 2 or 3 weeks prior Sean Conn had been introduced to Frshaire through his former manager! He had been back to link with Frsh and had let Frsh hear new material and 1 of em was our record...he was feeling it and had wanted all 3 of us 2 do a record! So about top of January...we all linked up in my studio...this was my 1st time meeting Frshaire...we did a freestyle over the 1-900-Hustler beat, we all vibing but at this time we still doing our own thing!

The First Triboro Record: 1-800-DR-Management


A month passes and we all are invited to a dinner meeting at a BBQs on the upper East side...da meeting was a networking meeting setup by Sean Conn's former manager...there was about 20 people at this dinner...sadly to say nothing came to be really of the meeting, but through that meeting Conn's manager at da time had a crazy idea of putting me, Conn & Frshaire together! Dats how Triboro was formed...off da realization of that idea...big shout to Dad Rich for the vision! And Sean Conn's man Mysta ME came up with the name "Triboro Da Squad"...being that we repped Bronx, Harlem & Queens collectively it made sense (sidenote in NYC, the Triboro bridge connects those 3 boroughs together)! That's actually the abridged version of how we came to be a group tho haha! Now as for the chemistry...it has been developed as we went along! When we 1st started as a group...we hadn't known it each other for more than a few months, so it was very challenging early on...but fate has a funny way of making shit work! Two huge factors which attributed to how well we meshed together was 1, we are each extremely talented as solo artists and the 2nd and most important being we each have been through years of hardship and fallouts with teams and groups prior...we agreed to be a group because we all shared the same desire to be successful but on top of the top we shared a common bond of struggling and dealing with half-assed artists in group n team situations prior to us forming the group! No offense to those applicable but it is what it is...if they reading this, they know I'm speaking the truth! The chemistry tightened for us as we went along tho...there were alot of bumps along the way tho haha...

4. What is your motto for 2009?

Well I still "aspire to inspire"...I don't necessarily have a motto for '09...but my outlook is to remain positive in both mind and spirit! Really don't have a slogan or a motto to quote tho necessarily!

5. Your mixtapes on with the show volumes 1 and 2 have received critical street acclaim. What is planned for part 3? Who will we hear on there?

Well artists featured on Vol 1 or 2 will not appear on 3...with the exception of a few artists I'm extremely close to (Triboro included)! Vol 3 will feature mostly artists who haven't been on either of the previous two volumes! Kwan Lee...you have production on Vol 3, I don't wanna mention any names and spoil the surprise...but its definitely gonna be a dope tape when it drops! Oh yeah...while we on da topic of Vol 3, I'd like to speak on the theme for this 1! As Vol 1's theme was real Hip Hop, boom bap and Vol 2 showed my versatility as an artist...Vol 3 is showcasing me as a songwriter! Every song on Vol 3 is my concept and/or direction, so keep that in mind when you listen to it! I am vying to be the Hip Hop version of Ne-Yo, an equally talented writer as I am an artist! Keep listening...I could be behind 1 of your favorite artist's next hit :-)! Just thought I'd mention...about 70% of the Hip Hop artist in the game don't write their own music...Elus is definitely not amongst that percentile! There's so much false truths within this industry...that'll require a totally separate blog entry Kwan...word!

Here is a preview off On With The Show Volume 3:


6. What other projects are you working on besides your own?

Aside my Vol 3 (which is da last of the On With The Show series)...I'm also working on my solo debut album "Ghetto Griot"...that's not a high priority tho...expect it to come out in 2010! But what's high priority is the Triboro & Verse album "Gr8 Myndz Think Alike"! We are nearly 80% complete with it...it features production from some well known producers (for contractual reasons I won't mention at the moment)...we are shopping the album starting 1st Quarter of 2009! I am planning a Best Of mixtapes later on in 2009 as well...will feature music stemming from me early on til the present...to give my core fans a clearer picture of the growth undergone throughout the years! Although it may appear I'm a newbie...I've actually been putting in work for the past decade, the Best Of will just shed more light on that! That's some of the projects to look out for coming from me!

7. How do you feel about hip-hop going digital?

Shit its great in my opinion! It levels the playing field so to speak! As technology advances and the Internet presence in music furthers...it makes it easier for an artist to get his music heard to the world minus the bullshit politics an aspiring artist had to go through 15 years ago, just to be listened to! Also for the fan, its good because you have wider access to music...so you can better find what you want to hear without being subjugated to never-ending programming (hearing da same songs on the radio every hour, seeing da same music videos on every tv network)! With the internet...its much more direct and eliminates the advantages a big budget provides and allows good music to flourish! Without digital advances I'd prolly not be doing this very interview...I'd be in my basement, mad at the world that I'm better than dude on tv but because I don't suck dick or make poison music...I'm not known...dat used to be the reality 15 yrs ago for an artist...nowadays the playing field is leveled!


Just want to end this interview by telling you reading this to never give up on your dream...no matter what! Keep positive and most importantly, when my album drops...buy it! Follow these rules and I promise you a wonderful life...I'm dead serious!


You can catch Elus at the following websites:
www.signmycheck.com
elusnn.blogspot.com
www.teebeerow.com
Call Him At: 917-549-1405