“My style is raw,” he affirms. “What I mean by ‘raw’ is simply being natural. It’s also soulful due to the feelings you get from it. Mainly, it’s versatile, because that’s just who I am. I don’t believe in ego and pride. I live in harmony with myself and love to maintain a stable spirit. I use my lyrics and melodies as a meditation.”

 

He adopted the name Foreign Eli with “Foreign representing my feelings as an outsider, and Eli coming from my middle name: Elijah.”

 

He dropped “Blunt Baby” in 2018 followed by “Top Notch” before “XOXO” took off. The latter clocked 167K Spotify streams and 253K YouTube views. Around the same time, he linked up with Eazy Entertainment at Deaf Star Studios in Atlanta. In 2020, he pops off with his most expansive and engaging anthem to date the single “Remember Nights.”

 

“It tells a story about the time I was at my lowest,” he recalls. “Now, I’m on the road to accomplishing a dream no one else saw, but me. I felt the urge for a change, so I wrote a song about today and the future. It paves the way for my next project, because it taps into all audiences and age groups. I want listeners to experience a piece of my life and listen to my story. Not only am I a musician, but I’m also a musical preacher. I know my messages and scriptures can change the world. If I can change lives with melodies and words, that’s the realest I can be to a person.”