Hailing from Oakland, California, singer Elujay has made sporadic appearances in and out of my rotation which all started with his 2016 project, Jentrify. The project featured highlight songs like “Mrs. Jackson,” which interpolates the famous Outkast song of the same title & “Google Maps,” tracks that both get well-deserved spins in my headphones.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with Elujay, the 22-year-old is a jack of all trades, standing as a rapper, singer, producer & songwriter. He also sites D’Angelo, Musiq Soulchild, Erykah Badu, and Earth Wind and Fire as inspiration for his sound. Currently working on his follow up to Jentrify, Elujay is determined to take his sound to new levels on his new project
“Little Thangs” serves as a follow up to “Starchild” & “Locked In” and features production from high school friend, Sir Dylan, who is also responsible for production on Logic’s “1-800-273-8255” & Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky.”
Serving as the third single to his upcoming album, “Little Thangs” is mid-tempo groove that will “escalate your mood” as he says in the track. Supported mainly by a bass and electric guitar as well as the piano and other instruments in the background, Elujay’s latest single is guaranteed to have you up and moving.
As for the song’s content, Elujay has definitely improved since Jentrify, showing his strengths as a songwriter. He alludes to struggles within a relationship he’s in mentioning the difficulties in staying faithful as well as his partner not showing him enough support. While the production may be on the feel good side, the track’s content pushes it more towards a mood of frustration.
Elujay isn’t exactly happy in the spot he’s right now, but it’s those “little thangs,” those short, yet impactful, moments that he has with his partner that cause him to stay around and work things out. The short voicemail two-thirds into the song from who we can assume is his partner, shows that there is frustration and struggles on both sides as they both tug and pull to get things right.
Speaking on the track, Elujay talked about where inspiration for “Little Thangs” came from. “What inspired the record was Stevie Wonder… I was [also] very inspired by Donald Glover’s new song called Saturday which he debut on SNL in June. I thought it reminded me of a Michael Jackson song. I wanted to make something with a fire hook and fire prehook.” Mission accomplished man.
Without further adieu, hit play on “Little Thangs” below.
