Singer/Songwriter Ejay Talks About His Upcoming EP and Mixtape Duo

My Name is Ejay. I'm from Paramount, CA but I live in Houston, Tx Now. I'm a singer/songwriter who attends Baylor University in Waco, Tx. I recently released an EP entitled "delete this when you're done" and am currently working on my full length tape entitled "CTRL ALT".

Urban Time: You have a great voice! How did you develop your tone and songwriting skills?

Ejay: Honestly, I just got lucky. My mother can sing very well and was always musically driven so I guess I just picked up where she left off. I've been singing for as long as I can remember, and then I finally joined the choir in high school and had various solos in performances and what not. My vocal tone and everything just was massaged during that period but I always knew I could sing (in my best egocentric-Kanye impression lol).

My songwriting, on the other hand, has always been derived from my life. It's so cliche to say that, but it's the God-honest-truth. I never really had a muse or anything; I just reincarnate moments of my life and share some of my deepest secrets, worries, regrets, joys, and passions through storytelling. It's pretty fun if you ask me.

Urban Time: When did you decide you wanted to start recording professionally?

Ejay: Recently, actually! My friends would always give me that typical "you're talented!" speech and always gassed me up on how I could be famous and what not, but I never took them seriously. It wasn't till I started garnering fans from places outside of Texas who reached out to me, and told me how much they loved my music. It was then that I knew I wanted to pursue this more.  It's always those eye-opening moments when you finally see what God is pulling you towards, ya know? I guess I just craved that extra sign, first.

Urban Time: Definitely, we all need that extra push. Tell us about this EP what is the significance of the title?

Ejay: I love explaining this. It's so dope to me lol. Well... "delete this when you're done" came from thin air, honestly. My producer and I were working on 'CTRL ALT', and randomly decide to give the world a taste of what to expect. So, at that point it was settled; we chose a few songs to preview and then had to settle down with a memorable title. Since the full-length project was going to be titled "CTRL ALT" we decided why not add the 'DELETE'! So, "delete this when you're done" was birthed out of that. It's the precursor to CTRL ALT, essentially. It's basically a symbolic yet ironic title; we essentially don't want people to 'delete it' necessary but instead we want people to enjoy what is given to them in life and understand that these things are all necessary in order to make you who you are.

'CTRL ALT' was titled because of me being a computer science major. When you think of computers, the first 3 buttons people press when they are troubleshooting a problem on their computer is "CTRL ALT DELETE"! So we wanted the tape to be the 'buttons' people press when they need some troubleshooting; when they are going through a problem and need help they will play this tape and find it.

Urban Time: Very cool, would you say the concept of the projects relate to that?

Ejay: Yes and No. It's a bit weird, but when I explain the meanings behind the titles people feel the projects should be driven by electronically vibrant production but that's not me. The concepts of the projects are indeed vibrant , but not electric. They are just heartfelt songs that capture episodes of sadness, happiness, lucidity, and anything else I manage to capture through songwriting. In a sense, I have no concept; I just have a goal to touch people musically.

Urban Time: What was the span of these events happening to trigger the songs? How long did the writing process take?

Ejay: It stretches pretty far back. You know every singer has written songs about his high school girlfriends and what not, but when I do I capture everything I learned and did down to the smallest detail. And beyond that, I write songs about my relationship with my current girlfriend and current life events and incorporate things I've learned in the past 6 years. I'm only 20 y/o but tbh, I've seen/experienced a lot for my age so far, and I've learned to channel it through music. I write pretty often so the process just depends on how well I can recall events. I can piece together ideas pretty quickly and within an hour or two I have probably 2 songs.

Urban Time: What has the recording process been like? You mentioned you worked with a producer?

Ejay: It's been pretty chill. I'm not one for a huge audience or anything while I'm recording so it's usually just me and my producer(s) working independently. I work alongside producers Casey Cassh and Daniel Nzeakor and rapper Lace Hampton often. Those are the people I've been really surrounded by who bring out the best in me musically. But holistically, my sessions are usually chill. I tend to enjoy peace and quiet but a few laughs with friends here and there is always a good thing when recording, ya know?

Urban Time: Yeah that's really nice, When is this album dropping? And you said the EP was songs from the album? Were they rejected tracks or how was that determined?

Ejay: It's dropping sometime this fall. No set date exactly. The songs on

The EP  were just Interludes I had that expressed the holistic idea of what I wanted the world to hear. They will be on the full length project but far more songs will surround them so no worries.

I didn't want to pick a date exactly because I don't want it to be a rush project.

Urban Time: That makes sense. Is this album still being written or is it done and now into recording?

Ejay: The album is written and is currently being recorded but every once in awhile I find an inspiring song that I write that I just decide to add the project and either substitute it in or just keep it as a single. It just depends on the overall scope of the song.

Urban Time: Do you perform? I feel like this would be a very heartfelt performance.

Ejay: Yeah I usually perform at Coffee shops and other scenes that call for my style of music . Can't be performing at a trap show haha.

Urban Time: Right haha, that sounds really nice, how is that?

Ejay: It's dope. It sets like that poetic mood and stuff so it's not too crazy and loud . People really develop an art for listening there so I appreciate it. You don't find people really digging into the lyrics at hyped shows ya know ?

Urban Time: Yeah definitely it has to be a different atmosphere.

Ejay: Exactly

Urban Time: Where do you see yourself going with this, say in a couple years, where would you like this to take you?

Ejay: Hopefully, I get more recognition. I'm not one for signing because I feel like it robs the creativity from the music. But more recognition would be great and I honestly feel like in the next few years, as long as I continue to drop music throughout the year I will have that. Hopefully things begin to align they way I want them to.

Stream "delete this when you're done" below. Ejay on Twitter.