Elijah On BIGSOUND, AI, Being An Influencer & More: 'Nearly Everything I Do Is Creativity'

The UK grime pioneer Elijah – who goes by a mononym – holds that "It takes a village to raise an artist."

Today, the East Londoner is one of the most influential figures in the British music industry, being a DJ, broadcaster, label boss, artist manager, writer and creative consultant. His key interest lies in making sustainable art amid unprecedented technological and economic shifts.

Born in Hackney to Jamaican parents and raised by his mother, young Elijah fell into a dynamic grime scene. He launched his career as a DJ in the 2000s while studying business at the University Of Hertfordshire, broadcasting on student radio alongside pal Skilliam. The duo would land a show on the former pirate station Rinse FM in 2008.

The previous year, Elijah and Skilliam started a blog, Butterz, which eventually evolved into an independent record label, fostering grime and the nascent UK garage offshoot bassline. The crew expanded into club events with Jamz and entered Boiler Room's radar. Elijah and Skilliam also became residents at the London superclub Fabric and released 2014's FABRICLIVE 75 mix.

Elijah began to question conventional approaches to creativity, the music business and cultural trends.

In 2015, he briefly hosted a podcast, Rhythm&Cash®. Later, during lockdown, Elijah wrote ideas on sticky notes, prompting him to initiate his Yellow Squares project on Instagram. He wanted to encourage discussion, community and collective change. Lately, Elijah has even presented an album inspired by Yellow Squares, Make The Ting, with Jammz.

This thought leader has worked extensively with the British arts and culture sector along the way.

Like UK Garage before it, grime has been subjected to racialised policing as well as sensationalised media coverage. But the cost of living crisis has harmed the wider UK scene with the closure of grassroots live music venues, negating opportunities for emerging and independent performers – particularly in Northern England. And there are yet other systemic concerns, such as poor diversity in arts leadership. Still, Elijah's outlook is proactive and empowering.

Elijah is headed to Australia for a series of talks, including BIGSOUND as keynote speaker. The Music hit him with some questions.

You're coming to Australia for a series of talks, including a keynote at BIGSOUND. What are the issues you are hoping to amplify? And what do you hope to personally take away from the experience?

The consistency in my work is curiosity and asking a lot of questions, so I'll share ideas on how artists can use social media as a canvas, why, if you love music, you should learn how to DJ, why follower counts are becoming irrelevant; and why incubating local scenes is still important.

Your bio describes you as an "influencer" (among other impressive things!) – but it's a word that polarises people for some reason, as they associate it with social media 'personalities' (which is nonetheless a viable career path). But are you consciously reclaiming it?

I let other people write my bios as my work is varying, and the people and places it lands with are sometimes far out of the audience I intended it for. Most of the titles in the creative world are merging into one now. All the programs are on the same computer. We all use the same mediums to share work. Most of the job titles that exist now didn't exist when I started, either. So I didn't really intend to do anything coming in, aside from make and share things from the grime and wider London pirate radio scene, in whatever medium made sense at the time. 

Your Yellow Squares initiative has made a huge impact. I wondered if you were ever surprised by a particular response to any post. Which one generated the most constructive discussion?

It surprises me how fixed people are on ideas that are still very young – for example, what a 'DJ' is or what an 'influencer' is or can be. I try and lean towards the most generative and optimistic definitions for all things we attribute meaning to. So [it's] when I come across people that don't interrogate where they get their definitions from unless they are the person or people that invented that term or movement. 

Alas, a lot of corporate industry-types don't always attach monetary value to creative consultancy – they will email and ask "Can I pick your brain?" How do you make it a viable career and avoid that sense of entitlement and exploitation?

I don't avoid it completely – I like talking to people. Sometimes, I get more out of it than them. I don't have a normative way of working or thinking, so it's good to know what's happening. Then the people that understand that come to me with good questions and pay really well. It is enjoyable more than it isn't. I would do a lot more if more people asked. But, then, I don't advertise it either. How do people value a service they don't know exists?

You recently wrote an excellent op-ed on the lack of UK radio support for Black British music for The Guardian at a time when it is more influential globally than ever (a phenomenon we have here too with homegrown music, often called 'cultural cringe'). I wondered if you have an answer to the question you posed?

Publicly funded British media should prioritise British and British-based artists. Australian-publicly funded media should do the same. We are inundated with mainstream American music and culture, and it drowns out local voices and perspectives. There isn't an answer, but it's important this is highlighted and the thousands of possible directions we could do something differently be explored. 

The UK recently had a change of government after years of austerity under the Tories – but even UK Labour voters seem divided over the current leadership in terms of progressiveness. Do you think Labour will be more supportive of the music and arts? Generally, what role do you hope to see for governments in these industries?

Everything is a reaction to the price of rent, energy and transport. All of their energy should be put into getting these as close to zero for the nation and its people as possible. Then we get creative with the headspace this allows us. As far as I know, there has never been a creative movement in a high rent, high energy price, high transport cost, high inflation environment. If there has been, let me know!

There has been talk about how, despite resolutions made, especially when the Black Lives Matter movement gained worldwide momentum, diversity programs have now been scaled back due to economic rationalisation. How do we collectively challenge that trend?

Again, with all these challenges, there are a thousand possible directions things can take. I get more worried when we collectively settle on one idea globally, all at the same time. So the more different ideas out there, at different scales, different locations, addressing the issues of the people and places they are in, the more best in-class changes we will see. This is what an ecosystem is. 

A big discussion in the industry at the moment is the potential impact of AI. I wondered what your thoughts are?

I'm more interested in the impacts of AI on rent, energy, transportation and robotics – and, again, the second-order effect on us as people and artists. That is going to have a bigger impact on art than any particular tool. 

You have many facets to your career now, but do you still find time to DJ and be a creative yourself? 

Nearly everything I do is creativity of some sort. I am lucky. Most of it isn't a commodity. It's just vibes. 

There are many challenges facing the music industry globally at present. But, conversely, what gives you the most hope about the future of the music industry?

Music, musicians and artists touch many industries. I'm not an advocate of the music industry specifically. If I have any hope, it's that more artists just put out work with low expense and bureaucracy while not making long-term negative sacrifices to their well-being. 

Lastly, what is next for you and your career?

Career? Ha. It may all make sense in the end.

Elijah will deliver a keynote at BIGSOUND on Thursday, 5 September. You can find more details about this year’s conference event and music festival here.