Elmiene: Emotion, honesty and modern R&B - EP5

0:03So, do let us know who we're going to be discussing today. UK R &B and Soul Artists, Elmiene. But I'm two minutes into this section and you're already mugging me off. Elmiene? Elmiene. Elmiene. It's just soothing, it's just voice, it's what you're saying and you're like, this is really good. Yeah, it's good. I can appreciate this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's cold.

0:30episode five we're here let's just get straight into it bro let's let's not let's not buck about this time okay so band of the week my turn you had two in a row bit of a snake but it happened uh now i'm bringing it back i'm going to throw back we knew it was gonna happen at some point so i've done it early so off the wall michael jackson it's upside down isn't it and uh you'll see why i've made this mistake in a second but yeah off the wall mj one of one of my preferable this is looking the vinyl itself is looking a bit worn and that so before any man get into me this is like an og this is actually my dad's vinyl uh because obviously he was collecting vinyls and stuff records back in the day obviously that's what their man did because it wasn't a niche thing is what i'm saying like obviously we're doing it we're like we're collective writers we're a bit different these mad that's what they could do that's that's every day so yeah so obviously he was he was out here and he saw he was following the jackson five and that and this was like not his first album but his first big studio album uh when he went solo So, yeah, it's probably one of my favorites, I would say.

1:50Oh, yeah. 1979. Yeah, I was raised like a lot of like black people in my generation. We were raised on MJ and our parents were playing MJ and stuff. And for me, it was off the wall because my parents like a bit of funk and that. and also it was probably the Bad album because they did, like, MJ had, like, a whole movie called Moonwalker. So when it had all the, like, the songs and it had, like, Smooth Criminal and Bad and, like, all the music videos and stuff collated together. So they were the two albums for me. But yeah, there's big tunes on here. You can see the back. As you can see, it's flipped, which was why it was upside down a second ago.

2:35You can see the record spilling out um go and open it up yeah let me try open it up i'm trying not to break this give me a second yeah this is quite the antique so there you go it's all opened up like that um inside it's just got all the song credits obviously this was the first like quincy jones uh mj collaboration um so this is what kicked it off uh is it lyrics as well in the pink yep lyrics in the pink as well um which is all cool i like i miss lyric book yeah and i actually get lyrics especially for mj wrong a lot of the time so i should actually look at this properly and learn it like i was just before we started i was singing don't stop to you getting after you and i was just uh it was just gibberish it was just gibberish so uh yeah so listen to this album if you haven't uh if you haven't what are you doing uh my favorite song is uh i can't help it is probably my favorite song i know pretty edgy bro uh i can't help it or working day and night because working day and night is it gets you working the about the like the pace of it and all the percussions and drums and stuff it gets you moving so i feel like you've seen that one a lot as well yeah yeah yeah that was probably when i was younger it was probably one of my favorite songs um and yeah it's uh it's i'm still not doing this up right it's the it's the it's the kind of mj before he went pop i would say this is probably his last album before he went like fully king of pop vibes because this was just before thriller so um yeah so we were saying we were saying before what year is this 79 and am i right in thinking he was born in 58 yes correct so 21 yeah this is This is him doing big adult.

4:25Like I'm here. I'm an adult. You can still see like, he's still got like, if you watch like the music videos and stuff, he's still got that kind of like youthful, like spirit in the way he's like dancing. Everything's like not as clean cut as like Thriller and that album. But that's what makes it so good for me anyways. Like, it's just, it's just good vibes and it's just good, good funky music. So yeah, my vibe of the week. What a choice, what a choice. So what are we saying? What are we saying? I've got a heavy, I've got a heavy heavy. And I'm here for the fact that it's like actually like a OG copy as well.

4:59It's literally, it's literally falling apart. So usually I keep this in like two layers of plastic to be fair. I've got like an inner sleeve for the record and I've got like an outer sleeve for the thing, but I didn't want to have all plastic here. Yeah, it's a little mad. I've kept it. I've kept it legit. Like it's like breaking up on me. It's not what I'm saying. But I had to bring it out for like, I thought I'd get it in early and then i don't want to go straight away and go kind of like like throwback stuff that people may not know or it's like you think oh this guy's trying to be all quirky and stuff i thought i'll go big hitter and then yeah yeah usually let the people know that you're a big mj head yeah obviously that when i was younger i was big big mj like i was singing it all the time like i do little dance music in class and that um and you were straight you were striking that pose all the time i don't know why i remember i can distinctly remember when i was just a charismatic character that's all bro that's all but um yeah so yeah it's my final of the week so you want to carefully i'll be very careful carefully put that up there um and yeah there you go so what you've been saying what you've been saying this week mate there he is good yeah all good all good it's been uh it's been a busy week man yeah i feel like it's such a cliche thing to say but It's been a busy week, like just busy every evening.

6:23Yeah, you're quite a busy character in general, I feel. Like I don't really do that. Apart from this, this is like getting me busy now. But like I'm not really outside or anything. I'm not really doing anything. But you seem to be like every other day or you can have like randomly like two weeks. You're just wrapped up. I know, I know. I don't know how it happens. And then I look at my phone calendar. And every evening is done. It's crazy. And I get a bit overwhelmed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, oh gosh. I'm looking at when my next, like, chilled evening is where I can just, like, kind of switch off and stuff.

6:59But no, it's been good. It's been good. I do also feel like it's this time of year as well, isn't it? It's like coming to Christmas and people are like, oh, I've got to, like, squeeze something in before Christmas and all that. But no, it's been good. It's been good. I had, like, a friend's birthday in the week. So I went out for some food and that, which was good. Next minute you're home, we're like, midnight. You're working the next day. and it just goes by in a flash yeah week night motives for me is it's not happening i'm not gonna lie to you unless it's a thursday is like the latest the earliest in the week i can do a motive because otherwise it's just wrecking my whole my whole week is like if i have to wake up in the morning i've got work and i'm just feeling like wrecked it's so long and then basically i don't i means i'm not gonna be productive until like 12 1 or something and then i have lunch and i get tired again and then it's like well i've got an hour or two and i'm I'm finishing work now and it's I'm not even in that in that bag to be doing mad work so yeah so all my friends do not hollow at me until Thursday but I feel like for me as well because I'm in the office currently four days a week like if I'm already out it's sort of like well if I was working from home I feel like I've been like like I've been home all day am I really trying to venture out on a weeknight but because I'm already out it's kind of like well I'm I've already left my house So I may as well Not I may as well But like More inclined to do it Once I'm sort of Already halfway somewhere Don't hear it Don't hear it Cool Are you going to ask me How my week went Or no I was waiting Is he going to Do you care about What I'm about to do I feel like I ask you a lot You just tell me I've been working I've been working But I've actually been doing stuff Alright I've been doing stuff How's your week been So I I've been busy with work I swear I swear that's the first thing let's get out the way um my body's falling apart as usual so that's fine we were supposed to repair we're supposed to play football this week and i had to say bro i'd call you and be like bro it's not it's just not gonna happen football is off the table for a while and then i'll i'll come back and i'll be better than ever but anyways um but i actually did go out last night so okay um i was late to come here this well i was supposed to be this morning it was more like afternoon by the time I got here.

9:18But it's because I was, you know, I was up late, like burning the midnight, oh, networking, toilet. I wasn't networking. I wasn't networking. It wasn't productive in any sense. Gallagher, what were you up to? So, yeah, one of my boys hollered at me and he was like, yeah, my friend's DJing in like Hackney and doing like a soul event and stuff. So I was like, oh, okay, you know, soul. Points to bite up. You know, I was like, oh, okay. You know, that's a bit of me, isn't it? And that's why Holiday was like, this is a bit of you. So I was like, all right, cool. The event was called like Soul Therapy.

10:00And it was, yeah, it was quite good. But I'll say when I got there, it's not a critique, but for me, I've learned that there are like different definitions of soul is what I was saying. So I get there expecting like 70s, 80s, like kind of old school soul, maybe a bit like funky stuff in there. But then what I got was actually more like soul house, like almost like Afro house kind of vibes. It was definitely, I hear it is definitely like soulful, but I wouldn't necessarily define it as soul. um so i felt a little bit duped at the time when i first got there i was like and it was like that the whole night yeah yeah i was like hang on what's good what's good what's good yeah yeah i was a bit baffled but um obviously i i entered still with an open mind that and it was actually it was really good it was really good to be fair um so you're hearing stuff that was new to you in that yeah yeah yeah i had like had my shazam on in the background hearing like pumping some beats and that it's like good like dance music like the crowd was like all into it like i think it's like um it's similar to like uh like i'm a piano nights and stuff like the crowd are just like in it and the dancing routines and all this type of stuff it was a little bit of that and i was like okay okay i'm here for it it's just nice positive energy so that's hard so shout out to them um yeah and that was that was my week so i was actually outside so okay so is this is that I've not heard of that.

11:34Is that a regular, regular event? I have no idea. But yeah, it was really good, man. I was here for it. I was here for it. It was a good turnout, like diverse crowd. Everyone was just into it. And yeah, man, yeah, I'm about it. Maybe, maybe that's my thing now, but I need to find out what that genre is actually called. Yeah. I have no idea. I have no idea. Yeah. Soul is pretty broad in it. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, on that point, should we get into some of the stuff we've been listening to? Yeah, let's do it, man. Let's do it. All right. recent rotations what are we saying how many have you got this week I got three this week you got three I couldn't wait to tell you you're way too excited so you've actually got three three separate artists not one artist and I've got three songs nah bro I've done it properly spread it out alright well you go first then oh you give me that yeah I'm proud of you bro so you kick off you kick off man I'm way too excited come on give me the three I was waiting for you to give me grief i knew you were ready as well i saw when we were setting up you were doing a little notes and type and i was like right he's come correct today so no yeah let it be known let it be known all right so my first one is an artist i recently discovered um and i must say i was annoyed to go on his instagram and find out that you also followed him you're late to the party my friend so that was that was helpful but here we are anyways anyway how his name is gabriel jacoby yes okay it was annoying that you actually knew as well so yeah i come across him recently he um is 25 from south carolina and yeah his music is kind of like like we were saying in the intro like it's kind of hard to pigeonhole into a genre uh but um it's like funky and soulful um and he yeah got a very nice vocal tone and yeah it's very musical in the production so I came across him via a track uh called hillside yeah um and that has like a really clean guitar like electric guitar sound on it where it's led by that it's really just two instruments the guitar and like percussion and it's like pretty laid back um percussion I say percussion because it's like drums but it's like not like the full kit in it um so it just has like a little rhythm to it and um yeah I guess the guitar like instantly stood out but also his uh his vocal delivery was something that stood out to me because it's like it is not rapping or singing or spoken but it's somewhere that sort of straddles all three of those things yeah and I was like oh this is this is clean and it feels a bit nonchalant but like tonally and like pitch wise like it's great and then there's this like whistle in the back of the track as well in the mix and I was like oh this the way that his vocal is delivered complements the whistle and it in terms of tone if you're feeling laid back and stuff.

14:22And I was like, this is clean. And so then I got into some of his other music and he's got, yeah, he's got tunes. He's got tunes. He's got tunes. And I expected it to be in that same sort of mood, but like that turns out to be one of the more chill ones. Yeah. So two other ones that I'll shout out is a tune called Baby and a tune called Be Careful that they stood out to me just off the bat. And yeah, I just thought he was sick. He's quite interesting to look at visually. like there's a lot of uh a lot of vests and caps and like big buckle belts and like obviously very influenced from like the south as well um which is interesting because it's not necessarily how the music sounds um but you can see that influence there and so yeah i thought i thought he was cold so i'm definitely in for gabriel jacobi man okay okay i hear it i hear it no he's definitely yeah you can definitely visually see the south and you can hear it in the times of the like the soul kind of portion of it it's very southern so yeah i hear it mad i'm glad i'm glad you're involved and welcome to the party all right so we've got three each should i go one and you go one that sounds like you go back and forth yeah we can do it this way all right so in general i'll say my i've got two new and one old again so i'm gonna go old is gonna be my last because i like to finish like the classics i like the classics all right so the first one is a band or like a duo um called 320 um and that's similar to 95 it's spelt 320 um no spaces um and they had a song that released in february called the light um brackets i need you i've been in like a big neo soul bag recently it seems like i keep on mentioning neo soul but it's like modern neo soul essentially but it's basically the duo it's a producer and the producer's wife is the singer um but the singer is uh half of van jess i don't know if you are aware it's two it's like two American sisters that they released like a lot of covers and like R &B, 90s inspired R &B songs and stuff like that.

16:40They collaborated with, I think, Kate Trinidad in like 2018 on one of those albums as well. I think they kind of, well, I thought they disbanded, but they've actually got an album. They've got a single that came out like a couple of weeks ago, to be fair. So I need to check it out. but yeah so she got married um and then yeah they just made this little group and like just banging out neo soul so yeah definitely listen to that song and yeah quick mention to they've got a new single out called still blessed as well which is really good so that's my first so i'm going still it's still new still fresh um but yeah 320 very musical like family yeah this is what i'm saying all right cool i'll have to check that one out um second for me is uh someone that we know and love is nux yes um he has a new album out called a fine african man and so i've been bumping that and we'll get into that as a project at another point yeah but yeah obviously special shout out to him he's just the guy um and yeah i wanted to bring particular attention uh to one of the tracks that split out to me and that is called my name is my name um have you listened to it yeah yeah yeah yeah all right cool um so yeah my name is my name um so this track yeah like I guess as we sort of discussed I like I love rap and someone who's always loved lyrics um and yeah this one stood out to me because of I guess the meaning of it and the sort of storytelling he's doing for it so it is a track that I guess explores um his his identity really and so he speaks about um when he moved um back to back to the UK from Nigeria and then went to school um his head i think it was his head teacher asked what name he wanted to go by and he decided he would go with his middle name which is ashley obviously like a english yeah name versus like his nigerian name and it kind of addresses um addresses some situations well some scenarios around around how that played out in his life and how um he like partially kind of regrets that but also the ways in which he tried to cover up his heritage and that sort of thing and I just thought it was a very interesting exploration of um of that and the identity side of things um and it kind of stemmed from in school like when he first come back like people getting his Nigerian name wrong all the time and the sort of embarrassment that that came with um because obviously no one wants to be drawn attention to for being different in school and it can feel like so um yeah quite quite isolated and ostracizing I guess and so yeah that that proper stood out to me um and i respect him for for addressing it in in a way but that felt light high light high as well yeah yeah um so yeah that's my second one definitely check out that album if you haven't um yeah yeah i say on this podcast favorite a lot and i'm gonna try it stop but i'm gonna use it i'm gonna use it two more times today but i'm gonna use it for Nux is my favorite UK rapper.

19:46Yes, that is a fact. That was bad. I had to check for a second. I said, check that memory bag. I took the boys in my head. Did they fucking... Yes, he is. He is. I would say... I'm going to hold you to that. Yeah, I shouldn't change my mind. He's my favorite. 100%. 100%. So yeah, I need to... To be fair, I've only listened to the album once through. um i need to give it give it more listens to but he's he's just the guy he's just the guy um all right is it me number two yeah bro number two this is one of my favorites oh goodness you need to find a new adjective or superlative one of my i'll say it's like um i don't even know what type of genre to call this but anyways it's one of my favorite artists uk artists it is sampha My guy Sampha I'm gonna be met See you good I can back you on that It's legit I will be mentioning Sampha Many times on this podcast Like throughout the episodes And stuff But yeah He released a single A few A couple of weeks ago Which is A single But it's like a two-parter Song It's called Cumulus Forward slash memory I think this was supposed to be On his last album I think he said It was one of the first songs he actually started working on but it just never made made the cut so he did he like released it later on and yes it's in june bro it's probably it's definitely the song i've played the most like since it's come out in the last couple of weeks um memory like the second half is is me i think he's got he's one of the man like he's he gets me like a bit i'm not trying to sound like some soft you in this but it's like the way he writes and stuff it is like quite emotional in it like he's quite i just like the yeah his songwriting is really good for me and the his vocals as well match like the stuff that he's talking about um so yeah definitely give it a listen to yeah focus on the memory part for me that that's the that's the bit i think is the best um that's my number two cool what were you thinking yeah no that's good he's yeah i think you summed that up nicely like his his vocal tone and delivery is very evocative yeah i feel like it often reflects the lyrics that you're saying which i think is sometimes quite unique because you've got a lot of people that is like they're saying something but you might not you might not feel that come across unless you're actually like fully taking the lyrics and apply it to yourself i think but he you you feel it from yeah yeah he's one of them guys yeah i'm like it i'm like Like I was just like on my commute and stuff, just thought, oh, something's released.

22:35Let me check it out. And that got me just emotional. The train for what, bro? My life is fine and stuff. And it's like, yeah, the song is talking about like, not like losing like your memory of like a love that you once had kind of thing. And I was like, well, this doesn't relate to me. But he's put you in that place. But he put me in that place, didn't it? So he's really good at doing that. and he's he's one of my favourite artists I'll say it again I stand on that I stand on that that was one of your when you got your record player I feel like that was the first like new record you bought yeah so I got Sam was one of my favourite artists because I got into him early as well yeah you told us you told us yeah that's what I did it so one of my first vinyls was I'm not going to say because I will show you at some point basically but it's one of his albums yeah so that's it what's your number three then mate uh my number three is bauer okay yeah yeah yeah he's back he's back he's back um obviously you have to give him give him props for being a west londoner for one oh yeah shout him out but yeah bauer he's back he's got a new record called in my palm um and yeah i've been yeah rocking with him for a minute and i just think he's a talented rapper very sort of like chill and on Jalamba does what he does in a very in a very clever uh clever way and yeah this song yeah it took me by surprise when I heard it I was like oh Barry's got a new release clicked it and yeah it wasn't what I expected like obviously he's quite laid back uh but the production is like quite a lot like oh really yeah it's quite a lot in a I don't even know how to fully describe it but it's like yeah dynamics is going is a lot going on a lot of um like like I said a lot of loud sounds man press play oh my god what's happening so many loud sounds some old man what's going on what's going on I hear it yeah from a production point of view like it was it's unique and it took me by surprise and obviously yeah known for his sort of layback rapping but he sings on this one as well sorry what's the single called In My Palm in my palm the artwork is it's palm I might have heard of that I might have heard of it in front of a blue sky I mean yeah Bauer goes in yeah that's my third he was on the Koji album as well right yeah on one of the singles and he goes in on that as well yeah he's just one of those guys he can just ride on beats very very well and that's what I appreciate but if you haven't heard this one yeah recommendation for you because the production sounds a bit more American leaning as well yeah yeah so I feel like you'll enjoy it I need to give it to listen to for sure um am i last am i yeah you've done your three have you yeah man oh man i get to finish off okay number three we're going back to 1987 right if i was your girlfriend by prince is what i've been listening to i thought you know i thought because i've got mj i thought i would like get his direct competitor involved in its prince and that's worth all out uh if i was your girlfriend yeah from the album sign of the times um bang in tune basically it's like he pitches his voice up to sound like a woman basically and he sings like if i was your girlfriend like i'll do all these things and stuff um prince is one of them artists i'm gonna be like again i say favorite a lot and i say hater a lot as well as well in podcasts so uh but i'm gonna be a bit of a hater i feel prince is one of those artists that people say that they they like and they don't actually like i feel like prince he's a cool person to say i think yeah it's one of them i think prince like sharday uh like um jay dilla and all these type of like oh yeah i'm trendy like i like sharday i'm so cool kind of thing and i think prince is in that bag especially for the uk yeah he's in that bag as well but i do i do generally like prince but um probably a lot of his earlier stuff and less less of the pop stuff to be fair like because you discovered him early back back then i was there he's like all topless and stuff on the concert i was like what's what's happening here no i i uh prince is a weird one for me because a lot of his music is like very explicit so my parents didn't actually play play him around the house because they didn't really like they kept it quite clean so they would play more mj and stuff but they would always say like oh yeah prince is like low key more talented than mj kind of that was their narrative that they'll push to me and i'll be like yeah but you know you man on all you man are playing is purple rain that's all i'm hearing all i'm hearing is man on the guitar and that and i'm like i'm not really here for that type of music so i don't really yeah i'm not like the purple rain album and stuff like that's not really me personally and more like controversy sign of the times um and that type of thing uh and then when he did he went into like a bit of new jackson kind of r &b sounds in the 90s as well which i was very much about um so yeah so i'm a bit of a hater telling people like you don't really like these artists you're just lying but uh and i do but for different reasons for different reasons but yeah so that's my third man coming in heavy with Prince.

28:03Nah it's a good selection I like that you're throwing it back. Yeah I have to I have to keep throwing it back keeping making sure people are aware like you know there's history to this and that you know we're not we're not all just current current trends and that you know we've got a bit of rooting as well. Yeah yeah makes sense yeah so solid six are you proud that I had three today? Or was it just have I just hit the bar? yeah yeah you finally met the minimum standard so i'm yeah i'm happy i'm i'm proud of you mate i'm proud of you appreciate it okay that brings us on to our spotlight artist of the week and this week you have done the prep for it so do let us know who are we going to be discussing today yeah so this is an artist that um i've struggled with the names and we've i think we've mentioned previously so we're going to be doing uk r &b soul artist el mean el mean el mean el mean so yeah so i'll go over like a couple little bio um like info and then we can talk about the music and stuff right so sounds good first name let's get that out the way el mean um it's from his surname which is uh he well he is Sudanese uh born in Frankfurt but raised in England in Oxford uh in particular uh and yeah his surname's Elamin um but they say it as Elmin so he's trying to like spell it of how it's said and so that's why it's Elmin um so yeah I'm glad I've got that that one that was the hardest part that needs to get out of the way.

29:41And I've, I've solved that. Um, a bit about him. Um, only child, uh, went to university to study poetry and music. Um, which I guess makes a lot of sense. Um, in Frankfurt? No, no. So he, he came to Oxford. I think it was, I think he said it was flight H five or something. So he's very much raised in England and stuff. um yeah did it did a did some uh music and poetry study and then yeah just went into music basically just went slapping into these dudes so uh when did you kind of first first hear of him i saw you were like writing notes and stuff about i don't have any notes all in the brain Oh okay go on Tell me So I first come across him Via the Stormzy album This is what I mean Because he did backing vocals on a track Okay But so Obviously I was involved in that I was about to say Why are you checking for backing vocals in that I was like I love this album Who's the backing vocals there Some music Neek breath because yeah he's also not on like the credits on spotify and stuff right okay some deep cuts there okay okay you're gonna try to outdo me here aren't you okay cool so how did you find out that he was the he was on there then what was going on how did you what kind of sleuthing that you did to figure this out i'm crying

31:29um you thought you were slick in it you didn't you think you had me late night doing my research trying to find stuff out meanwhile in the back of your mind you're like well he's not gonna beat me because i knew he was the backing vocal on on this album that no one else no one else would know this credit there's any snake my guy bro i just knew you would have known all right so when which is quite pleasing so how did you how did you find this i'm literally crying so it's it's actually publicly available if you do want to so i could have found out i didn't do enough research this is what you're telling me thanks thank you thank you thank you i will point out before you start like flipping judging my research this is me doing two two weeks of research in a row this is supposed to be you doing it so you can you could have been saying all of this and then you've just put me you put me at a loss we've hardly begun we've hardly begun you are like two minutes into the section and you're already mugging me off you've asked the question yeah he smiled at me while you're asking the question so you've already knew that you're thinking this is a competition So basically the week leading up to Stormzy's album, he put it like a few days before he put out a video, like a cast list video with all of the contributors.

32:55And it was like, everyone had like a couple seconds like on screen doing like a bit of like small performance to camera type thing. Cause he was so proud of the people that had come on the creative journey with him. He wanted to document everyone cause it was such a process. And so Elmin was in that. And, but before I'd even seen it, I'd been hearing the guy's name in it. And I was like, who is this Don? Because I had not heard of him before. And he hadn't put out any music at this point. Yeah. So when was the album? Like 20? So that was November 22. Yeah. And his first song was either that month or like December 22 or something.

33:29So he had a single, Golden, in 2021. Mad. Yeah. So he had one song out in the world. Under Elmine. He must have. I don't recall having seen that. That's sick though. Yeah, so I haven't heard that single, to be fair. But yeah, 2021 was his first single, Golden. As you said, singled out pretty soon after Cooler Eye in 2022. And yeah, he's released one studio album, which is the one that's out this year, Heat in the Streets. But six EPs, two live albums as well. So he's been really like from 2022, well, 2021, one single, 2022, one single, 23, from then on up to now, he's been slapping out music left, right and center.

34:27So I guess when I got into him Was Yeah it wasn't that early at all To be fair so you've definitely beaten me there It was 2023 The Mark My Time EP And one of the singles is Mad At Fire so that was the first song That I got into I've seen him I saw him Before because he does like He does like loads of covers Like on social media And he's like loads of of like acoustic stuff. And I think I saw it and I was like, yeah, it's a good singer, isn't it? Like this guy's going in, he's a good singer. But I didn't really check and see if like he himself is releasing music. That's something I don't do like enough is like if I see an artist like just singing covers and stuff, I actually don't check and see if they do music.

35:16I'm just like, well, your talent, you got good vocals. So yeah, I didn't check for him for like a year or something. And then I think just randomly on my Spotify, that came off and i was like oh that's the guy from um from doing all those covers and stuff and then i was like oh this guy's actually actually quite good so so it's funny you say that because that's actually my first real song that i'm into him as well oh okay because like obviously i was aware of him i was like oh sick like this guy's getting might be some new guy getting getting a big cosine um and then again similar to you like i was aware of him like one of his first things was like colors in it yes and so right and he has quite an iconic look about him yeah so i kind of saw him and stuff but again similarly i feel like it sounds a bit rude now but i just didn't check for a minute yeah yeah um similar to you i was like he's a good singer and then yeah mad at fire again was the first song that really captured my attention i was oh yeah yeah and yeah i think um he so he's born in 2001 so what was he like 24 and he's he's definitely got that when you hear him speak you can hear that he's he's quite like you hear he does sound like 24 and stuff he's got quite a like old soul look about him like as you said he's very like like distinctive look um and his sound is also quite like old school as well isn't it like it's very it's super neo soul like again this is very neo so i would say um so yeah he's debut ep was 2023 so i missed that which was l mean um spelt e-l dash m-e-a-n so he was already telling people how to say his name from early basically so i find that interesting in it because i'm like so why have you not spelled your artist name like that if we need to now do the phonetics yeah so i don't really know yeah maybe i'm wrong and like the way he's spelled his name his artist name me I don't know because his surname isn't spelt that way no no it's like E-L-A-A-M-I-N or something yeah yeah yeah it's like L-A-M-I-N yeah so but yeah his debut EP is El Mean because I would very much look at his artist name and be like oh it's El M-I-N but I guess El Mean doesn't look like an R &B name it looks quite El Mean in it the mean get me yeah i guess it's like a negative connotation yeah yeah yeah maybe maybe that's what it what it was anyway sorry as you were so 2023 debut debut ep um but then that yeah that same year he had the um ep mark my time with the mad at fire single so he did two eps that year 2024 um he did like live renditions um which was called light which was a basic live album called live at rack studios which is a studio in central london um again that year the deluxe version of mark my time comes out um which is basically doubles the track list uh still 2024 he's did a like a live stream um album and it was called live from 525 uh and he's done some original songs uh and but like covers as well like he did like a pink matters frank ocean song he did like a slow jams uh sideways cleo soul um so that's really good uh and then still still 24 we've got uh another ep any way i can uh which has got one of my favorite songs light network it's actually i'll listen to that on the way here big tune uh still 24 uh we've got another ep for the deported which i actually haven't listened to so i need to check i need to check that and then finally 2025 kept it chilled and he released a full album in september i think it was september um and yeah so there's a lot a lot of music for a short space of time while he's doing this he's doing a lot of touring stateside and in the uk as well um so i guess a question for you is there ever like too much is too much music at any point or like is that is that fine i'm so impressed that the like rate at which he's released i think it's super impressive is it too much like the thing can you never have too much of a good thing i don't know if people like if people care it feels like people really do yeah then i feel like he may as well just put stuff out yeah i think he has he has quite strong yeah like his fans are quite like quite lean dinner yeah you know there's obviously a demand as you said there's like the live performance recordings and stuff he's obviously sending tickets on that so yeah why not yeah what is it about uh no i i agree i was just gonna i was about to go on a completely different question let me validate what you're saying yeah i agree i think i think he's he's one of those artists as well um that he could probably afford not to uh like now maybe maybe maybe he slows down yeah you should build that catalog get that like yeah strong following albums yeah because he is an albums artist and i have a quote here um he says like albums are very important to me because my biggest goal is to be able to look back at physical discography so like okay so he the this album is kind of him like putting a uh kind of stake in the ground and saying this is the first album yeah and uh which is interesting because like yeah artists have like this whole thing about eps lps like albums and stuff whereas i think listen like listeners um unless you're like a proper fan they don't really see that way they're just like the music is the music i guess so a lot of the time so yeah so this yeah this is the the true beginning of el mean essentially um a question that i was going to go on to but it was um when you kind of first heard el mean like what was it that um was kind of that you were kind of attracted to i guess or what was it that hit you so his when he sings he's got like a relatively high-pitched i say high-pitched like a more of an airy yeah tone yeah whereas i feel like he's got like the production like it is has bass lines and stuff and so i really like that contrast for one i think he's got good melodies which i think it's his melodies that stick in my head to be honest yeah yeah and then there'll be like the the lines from the hook as well, which are like, it's well written.

42:19And his just, his delivery, his voice is just, it's just, I think it feels like an easy listen. And that's by in no way to sound disrespectful. No, no. Yeah, it's an easy listen. But for me, the melodies, the melody lines is what stands out for me in some of the hooks and that. Yeah, it's definitely like smooth and like sweet sounding and stuff in it. So it's easy listening in that regard. I think, yeah, I'm like, for me, it's definitely his voice. I'm like an old R &B head a little bit. So when I hear like vocal runs, I like that. And like hearing like vocal control. Yeah. And you like just flexing your like vocal muscles and be like, listen, I can sing, bro.

43:04Yeah, yeah. And I'm going to let you know. So that's what I like because it shows, it's just like a way to showcase like your true talent. Right. So if we're trying to get, obviously a lot of this podcast is trying to get people to listen to him. So I guess if we were trying to like explain his sound and like for people who've never heard him, what would you call it? I've said it's like Neo's soul and stuff, but would you, could you say it's like more R &B or something else entirely? I would probably say that the over overriding feeling is it's the soulfulness probably. And then the music almost like plays like it is in service to what he's coming across within the soulful lyrics.

43:51Because one thing that struck me about the album was that I was impressed by how it felt like when you move from track to track, it's like led by a different instrument and stuff. and so I was like oh this guy's like you know some people it's just like his guitar is my main lead instrument whereas he's like it's kind of jumping all over the place but in still in a cohesive way so yeah I was impressed by that soulful I think is the main thing for him to be fair yeah yeah no I definitely agree like he himself has said like his his major influences has been like the the like original neo-soul artists but also like 60s and 70s music like Donny Hathaway and like Stevie Wonder and stuff like that.

44:35He definitely gives off like Stevie Wonder vibes, especially when you see kind of his live performances and when he's like behind the keys and stuff. He's definitely got that kind of vibe about him. So we were speaking about, when we were talking about like K1 and a little bit about like Sasha Keeble and stuff like UK R &B artists. And again, going stateside, doing the most. I was saying we're back baby and all this type of stuff like do you think Elmin is in there with his peers like where does he sit or does he kind of have his own lane is he kind of doing his own thing what were you thinking I think he's in his own lane to be quite honest like I feel like he's I'm struggling to think of like people to compare him to but I think he's a very unique proposition and someone who's very talented and I do think like he's someone that the UK can be proud of proud of having yeah 100 100 um quote from him i want to be considered in the conversation amongst some of the greats so he's got the aspiration there and he's yeah like again he's still quite young uh certainly the first album as well although he's got so much music out wow again this is the first album so let's like see see where he goes from there i guess So Speaking of the album Heat in the streets Any favourite tunes?

46:01What were we saying? So my favourite track is Track one The curtain raiser The opening track When I first heard this I was probably just struck by the opening line So it's I took a shower with my clothes on How stupid yeah and when I heard that I was like I don't know you know if something someone's playing in the background and you can happily sort of be playing in the background when I heard that my ears my attention it piqued my interest I was like that's pretty stupid yeah and then he kind of like goes on in that sort of opening verse to sort of speak about like other I guess contradictions and yeah I feel like that track to be fair I said like contradict this before but that's quite an r &b track i would say um and that to me it felt like familiar in a sense um it's like i'd heard that sort of sound before but in in the best possible way like it's sort of like a comforting familiarity type thing like yeah yeah safe in this guy's music type thing almost reminded me of like usher in in many ways and so yeah that was my that's probably my standout yeah the um yeah guitar in there is clean as well the sounds clean bro yeah sounds are very clean in the production so um yeah i hear it my favorite song is miss hot july is my favorite song which i think is potentially one of the singles and one of the more popular songs to be fair um so i haven't i haven't been very unique or anything but it is uh is a big tune Is there like Is there a song that you'd Pick not just off the album But just like catalog in general If like one song for someone to listen to If they haven't listened to them Yeah I think it would be Some Days Okay alright That's one of the tunes that's been on like repeat for me For a long time now And again Just like melody and like runs And stuff Yeah just really good it's one of those things that just plays over in your head um so yeah i would recommend that one i feel like it showcases all the things that he's that he's great at yeah and is like also you know easily accessible i feel like you can't not like you can't not like that yeah for me it is i've mentioned already it's light work is the one song that i have personally played the most i would say um yeah it's good good like would i call that more kind of r &b probably not still still in the neo soul bag um yeah the vocal runs like uh layered vocals as well it's good um and yeah it's positive vibes as well man i just like sometimes positive you know sometimes emotional and sometimes positive as well so uh yeah so that's that's that's my favorite song that i'd give to someone um yeah any any other i guess similar artists they would say doesn't have to be uk can be american um that kind of sit beside him and stuff i've already mentioned obviously sasha keble uh i think is kind of in that bag as well a bit um i've written a i've written a couple to be fair i've written uh i've written an artist that i would like to see him collaborate with which is Yebba just vocals just vocals syrupy vocals bro and a couple of similar artists again I keep mentioning because he's one of my favourite artists at the moment is Leon Thomas in terms of production especially with his new EP it's quite similar to the production style of Elmine Destin Conrad kind of Tia Gordon kind of vibes as well so they're my ones I've just jotted down yeah what have you got any I can think those make a lot of sense yeah yeah yeah you can go with those that's fine man that's fine I hate like the Sasha one is an interesting one because obviously we discussed her and we discussed that she's like in her in her 30s and stuff yeah not that that's by any means old but I think that they're quite similar in as much as they both make like current music but they're both old souls and they're translating that um and yeah it does it really does resonate and i feel like people do want something like of depth yeah it just feels mature it feels like they know what they're about yeah yeah i'd like i could play that in any situation and i wouldn't have to explain to anyone like oh yeah this is like like as if i play a lot of current music like and i'm at my parents or something they're not getting it they'll just be like what the hell are you listening to bro or like yeah if i'm playing like music with some people that don't usually listen to like hip-hop and r &b or whatever and if i play that they'll just be like yeah this is a soul isn't it like this is a legit this is legit music um maybe that's just because of like the instrumentation behind it and stuff and the kind of classic style of vocals um that like elmine and sasha keebo and those type of artists have um but yeah it's like you could no one can listen to it and say it's bad in it like there's a lot there's a lot of music that i could i will say that's good and people can have uh like an opinion because they're not really into that or they just don't they don't understand it but like everyone can understand this type yeah and i feel like everyone can appreciate it as well like because the production's not doing too little or too much that you that it's in any way sort of like um irking to listen to type things yeah so you just listen it's just soothing you listen to his voice you listen to what you're saying and you're like this is really good i can appreciate this yeah he's cold so yeah um yeah i think i think we can wrap up there i mean yeah heat in the streets give it a listen to if you haven't um and yeah let us know let us know your feedback let me let me know if anyone actually doesn't like it and i'm sure i won't i won't get any feedback and in the negative light but yeah el mean el mean all right well that brings us to the end of episode five we've discussed some solid region rotations today gonna have to get that playlist together so that people can dig in i know people are already asking so we need to get get it together I'm gonna build this playlist man but yeah good episode lot of artists got a couple icons in there which is nice couple new solid chat one of the most iconic albums possibly ever I reckon so big up to you for bringing that one up I've got more to come I've got more to come don't worry cool so they got that to look forward to next week sign up until next time peace

53:15Thank you.