Daniel Elia is an upcoming Melbourne artist, whose music contains a force of intuitively written, deeply conceptual raps over unique instrumentals.

Coming off the release of his latest single ‘Visions‘, The Local Frequency (TLF) was curious to find out more about Elia’s story, his influences, the creative process behind ‘Visions’ and what the future holds.

Elia got into rapping in 2013 after being part of a dance crew for five years, which unfortunately didn’t work out.

Though he’s always loved music and felt it was only right he pursued rapping.

“I really wanted to just record music and hear my voice, I had a hunger to make it happen and to learn how to become a great rapper,” he tells The Local Frequency.

Coming into the rap game late meant Elia drew influence from a variety of artists who were big at the time, such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Drake.

However, this didn’t stop him from doing his homework, Elia was extremely motivated and traced the history of the genre.

“I couldn’t tell you any old school rappers, so I had to go back to check who influenced the rappers I looked up to,” he says.

When it comes to the local level of hip hop in Melbourne, Daniel Elia says it’s great to see so many artists coming up with creative ideas and that there’s platforms to support them.

His only concerns are the originality of particular local artists and the choice of topics embedded into their music.

“The only thing I fear is some of these rappers are heavily influenced by American hip hop and not seeking to create their own identity, or take risks to speak on things that are happening here in Melbourne,” he explains.

Elia’s latest single ‘Visions’ (listen below) came to life after an encounter at a rap event where someone offered him a pill, and in turn opened his eyes to a darker side of Melbourne.

 I was shocked because it [had] never happened to me before, I was always oblivious to those things in Melbourne. For some reason it was an eye opener and it inspired me to write the first verse where I said “in a city full of demons people popping pills and Hennessy,” he tells The Local Frequency.

The trap influenced song is distinctively dark and illustrates the position Daniel Elia is in and coming out of, as he is trying to escape to “find peace”.

Visions follows recent singles, I Need Somebody and Fly Away as well as Elia’s debut EP ‘Who is E?’ released in 2016.

With Elia clearly making waves across Melbourne right now, we checked in and asked what we can expect to see/hear before the year is through.

“I’m releasing another track in December, and I’m really excited about this track. I’m [also] doing the screening of the music video at SAE Institute. Keep an eye out for the event.”

Give Daniel Elia some love and follow him on his social media below:
Facebook: @iamdanielelia
Instagram: @iamdanielelia
SoundCloud: @iamdanielelia
Twitter: @iamdanielelia

Written by,
~Timothy Thorpe
@timothythorpe47