Album Review: Elijah Blake - 'Shadows & Diamonds'

Elijah Blake will releasing his highly anticipated Def Jam debut "Shadows & Diamonds" which embodies a strong and powerful message about him coming into his own and owning his truth: “Feeling at times ashamed that I’m not hood enough, I’m not ignorant enough, that I’m not perpetuating this ignorant stereotype they put on black guys, like if you don’t talk about shooting people or slapping b*tches, then something is wrong with you. So that was the “shadows” part because I was really in a dark place and upset about it,” “Then finally, the ‘diamonds’ part was in my darkest time and choosing not to give up, seeing that little glimmer of hope, which is the diamond, and saying nah, I’m not gonna be ashamed because my mother worked two jobs to put me in a good school so that I can hold a conversation with a business man and not seem dumb or wet behind the ears. I owned it.”


He kicks off the album with the title track "Shadows & Diamonds" is a mid-tempo number that features a thunderous brass section with a cowbell-clonkin' beat thrown in the mix, it all comes together to create a solid foundation for him to address a relationship break down: "You made a promise that you would never leave me alone, You broke your promise, and now I'm standing all alone, that's what I get for trusting love..." he sings as he delivers a smooth vocal performance.

"Everyday" it took me until the second verse to get into the song as it finds him address people who say he changed because of the success he is gaining which is becomes hard to trust anyone who keeps on doubt your persona everytime you achieve success especially when you`ve been doing you from day one: "I stay in the cut, I don't fuck with no body but I D, that's a pun on No I.D. When nobody know my name, runnin' for my dream wasn't hard to do. You break bread, I swear they all pull out a plate. Eat with the ones who starved with you, If I'm winnin' then my crew can't lose..."

"The Otherside" is a very dramatic number that deals with a very humorous topic that sees karma come into play, as Blake speaks about getting caught cheating on his new girlfriend with his ex, the table and his girlfriend leaves him for his ex: "I was like "man, oh shit, my new girl fuckin' with my old chick". We both bad, so she switched, packed her bags, said she had to take a trip to the otherside, the otherside, the otherside...."

"I Just Wanna" is a bouncy number with a soulful production by Djemba Djemba, Blake has one thing on mind, and that is getting “fucked up” with his lady: "See you movin' them lips but not on this so you ain't saying much. Tried to be polite, but you ain't acting right. Sit yo pretty ass on this bed, make a v-shape with your legs, that's it...I just wanna get fucked up" Backed by some soulful production and smooth melodic rhymes, it is another strong addition to Blake’s growing catalogue of hits.

"Fading" is a catchy number that starts off with a intimate guitar before escalating and expanding to a big room sound on the chorus: "She's just fading away, sleep with that purple by her side. Now she's seeing strobe light, her last man did her wrong and he left her mind gone.She's just fading away, till she's gone like a memory.." It talks about a girl with substance abuse issues who ends up overdosing  because of a end of relationship: "She's so gone, she's so far away. In a cold ass cell on the right side of heartbreak. Just like the autumn leaves fall, April brings the rain. Separation slices like a blade, but only generates the pain. How could something so clear become so vein..."

“Uno” is a heartfelt ballad dedicated to one special lady in his life and is a little more of beat from what we’ve heard from him thus far, a cool little single to cuff the one you’re dating for the summer: "Oh girl, you got a hold on me, don't wanna play no games if it's do or die. And I don't mind if you get comfortable and get a little wet. You're so fine and just like wine, you get better every day."

 “Pinot” is a slow-tempo number that is pulled straight from the 90s, it finds he drinking himself silly to deal with the pain of his relationship coming to end even knowing it was destined to come to an end as there was so many issues there: "I hate the way we ended and the fact you got me cheated, I hate these new beginnings even though I am the reason. The only thing I love right now is you. I miss ya going through my phone and calling up the numbers you don't know. The make up sex, even when it's wrong, our love was that strong"

"Live Till We Die" is very unusual track that doesn`t quite do anything for him as the production overshadows him and the production it`s self features alot of elements that don`t mishmash well together, I would`ve left it on the cutting floor. He follows it up with "Bout That Life" which is good track with a smooth bouncy production that creates a solid foundation for him to sing about not wanting to deal with the wrong side of love song: "Fuckin' me, you moved on, but what about me? You're still whippin' my card, you forgot yo it's my card. Baby don't you take it wrong, I'm just a little angry. I loved you hard, damn I still love you hard. And I can try to deny it but I bet you won't buy it, cause you know me so well and it's not hard to tell..."

"Drop Dead Beautiful" has some Miguel-esque undertones to it, it finds Blake singing about the death of an relationship: "I'm out here looking for a coffin we can both fit in, cuddle up as we get buried deep. Hope we meet in heaven, we can still be friends, right now bae let's sleep eternally. Cause you're democrat, I'm republican ever since I got some bread, the only thing in common is we got a black president..."

This is what he had to say about the song during his interview with Billboard: “I feel like we as people have been some what programmed to kill off every piece of emotion once a relationship has gone bad because that’s just how it’s portrayed in movies, shows etc.. But in this case, [the] concept was to lay the intimacy to rest and give birth to a beautiful friendship.”
 "All Black Everything" finds him in stalker mode as he pursues the whereabouts of his ex-girlfriend as he is still holding on to the relationship: "Pullin' up in all black everything, 3 miles an hour, girl you know I'd do anything, just don't say it's over. I'm in all black everything, standing in the pouring rain, who's car's in the driveway? You better start talking." His approach to this topic was creatively put together and his vocals are so emotionally connected, his falsetto is so smooth.

"Armageddon"is the strongest track on the album as it sees Blake at his most vulnerable singing over a piano driven production about lost love: "Used to hear your heart beating til one day it stopped for no reason. Some' killed the spark, you need it. More air to breathe and more energy, found a cure for love but you're too far away."

"Rockabye" is a heavy house number that features jazz-influences within the mixture to create a very diverse production that will have you twerking your ass off as you listen to him slay you with a smooth vocal delivery right from the start with those sweet harmonies: "So tonight, I'm gonna turn off the lights and turn you on."

He closes the album with a strong track "Angel Dust" which finds him displaying his full falsetto so beautifully as he sings about finding the purest love : "See as I lay me down to sleep baby,girl I pray to God, my heart she'll keep. Maybe then that means we need an new definition of "rest in peace", trust me.." And the second half of the song sees him making a commitment to change his ways so he doesn`t lose her : "All my past mistakes, I wish I could erase. To show you that I'm ready to change,If I could reset my heart for you then reset is what I'm gonna do. Reset my mind on you, then reset it what I gotta do, do, do. I just wanna be good enough for you"

This is a great musically offering that sees him stepping out into the spotlight as artist, which is a hard thing to do as a songwriter because listeners are used to listening to your voice through other artist so when you step out on your own you have to overcome that without losing yourself in it. Blake has shown that he is more than capable to achieve both success as artist and songwriter as this project embodies so many elements that we are missing today from current R&B singers. I`ll give the album 3.8/5 and recommend you all to purchase it when it drops on June 23rd.