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Music Maven Daren Napier sat down with new Def Jam artist Elijah Blake, who visited Columbia this week.  Read on to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on his new EP, Drift.

Elijah Blake is at the door. Having already collaborated with recording artist royalty such as Rick Ross, Usher, and Rihanna to name a few, the new Def Jam signee has established himself as a power player in the music industry at only 23. Blake’s most recent project, late September’s Drift, is a soulful and eclectic compilation that transcends multiple genres in the confines of an eight-song EP. Thanks to the efforts of the Bacchanal committee, Columbia students were treated with a truly unforgettable experience when Blake made a guest appearance at Lerner Hall for a brief meet and greet, followed by an intimate performance of some of the tracks from Drift (some of which, he cheerily informed us, had never been performed in front of an audience), as well as some of his more prominently known past collaborations.  Before the show, I had the pleasure of having a quick sit down with Elijah to talk about the EP, the future, and polka dots.

Bwog: Drift is a project full of strong emotion and content, all of which is completely palpable to the listener. How would you describe your emotional state during the creation of this project?

Elijah Blake: I’ve probably never been in a darker place, as far as I can remember. Just in terms of feeling alone and feeling like no one could relate to me. I just felt a lack of progression. There were so many things I wanted to do musically, so many things I wanted to do artistically that it was really hard. It was always a fight. That’s what Drift is. I wanted to put those emotions into music form and document it so I can always look back because I might not ever be that far deep again.

B: Drift is an extremely eclectic project, but nothing is extraneous, and the project as a whole is very fluid. Was it challenging for you to cover such a vast range of emotions and content in the span of eight songs?

EB: Not really, because the first objective when I work on a project is cohesiveness. I wasn’t like I would just start on songs and try to make them fit in a cohesive body of work. I started with a theme, and I made sure everything that we worked on fell in line with that. Something I learned from No I.D. is that if you’re making music that you feel good about, it’s always going to be cohesive with your reality. I have fellow artist that will take songs that are years older and put them on new projects, but I don’t rock with that. It’s like wearing polka dots and stripes.

B: Drift has a much different style than your last project, Bijou 22. What was the main influence behind the stylistic changes?

EB: I’m always trying to better myself as an artist, and evolve. I wanted to grow this time around. I wanted to take chances and take risks, because even if people hate it I’d rather be hated for something I am than pretending to be something I’m not. I want to do my own thing, and not just be the guy that everyone knows from the r&b hooks.

Purchase Elijah Blake’s fantastic new EP Drift via iTunes or Rocnation, or steam it on Spotify.