Disclaimer: The links below are unedited and contain profanity
One of my favorite rappers is probably someone you haven’t heard of. And I’m not saying that to be a hipster; he isn’t on a major label, and he hasn’t toured yet. His name is Lewis Elder. Elder is a De Smet graduate and current University of Wisconsin-Madison student. While this background hasn’t been typical in past hip-hop, Elder is breaking tradition. What’s more surprising is his skill level in relation to his age. While he’s only a sophomore in college, he surpasses many in talent. Though he isn’t internationally known yet, I have no doubt that he will one day be among other rap legends.
Elder’s work has progressed greatly in the few years he’s been posting songs on YouTube. One of his first songs posted, “Lonely” is catchy although a little repetitive. Lines like “of all the girls I told I loved, there’s only one I ever meant it to, and I only put that in this song, so I can tell each one that it’s you” show a true skill with words, as well as an edge.
A later song called “Stress” is a little more raw. You can hear the pain in Elder’s voice as he says “see the angers taking over, I’m losing control of myself, I feel like a different person and I don’t wanna be someone else.” While the song isn’t lyrically his best, the emotion is real. You can really feel his pain. This quickly became a song I put on repeat.
His first song with a real video was “Expectations.” While it starts off a little slow, it builds into a truly relatable, catchy, and engaging song. When Elder says “I used to think I had the world all figured out, but now the facts turned to questions and that’s what I’m sick about” it’s like he’s speaking what’s on my mind. I’ll admit, I’ve used several lines from this song as tweets to describe how I’m feeling.
One of his most recent songs is “I’m a Fool.” It’s a remix of a J. Cole song, and is one of the songs I’ve listened to most by Elder. Easily my favorite line of the song is the simple “but I’m a fool though, so what do I know?” This follows a rant about how most of his peers live. The second verse is even better. After another rant about how America’s society is flawed, Elder states “a man dies but twice, once in body, once in name, so I hope my second life lives long enough to see my fame.” Frankly, I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t.
Lewis Elder is one of my favorite rappers, and for good reason. His songs are catchy and lyrically complex. But even more than that, they’re honest. Elder doesn’t sugar coat anything; he says exactly how he feels, which I can appreciate. Check out his music here, and if you like it give him some love on Twitter or in the YouTube comments.
