Friday, October 9th 2020
Of all the Ls I had to take last autumn when I missed my flight from Chicago to New York—missing the opportunity to interview Elz of Neghborhoodkids for BIP felt like the biggest.
Had I had my butt on the flight, I would’ve gotten into the city around 5:00PM on Thursday. Elz and I would’ve met up the next afternoon, at a coffee shop not too far from my Airbnb on Times Square. When we got inside I’d insist on paying for his drink as a courtesy for agreeing to the interview. I’m sure the shop would’ve been busy given the time of day and I would have had to lean in to hear everything he was saying once we were seated.
Luckily after some brief dm exchanges, Elz and I were able to salvage the interview by switching to virtual.
By sunset on the day of the flight not taken, we had flyers put together for an Instagram Live session at 12:00PM Eastern Time on Friday October 9th so both his following and mine could sit in on the interview. This was going to be different but I was ready.
My favorite thing about conversing with an artist for the first time is observing who they are. I like picking up on things like their mannerisms and style.
When my screen cut in half to make room for Elz on the live stream and we were conversing face to face, I instantly detected Elz’s Queens accent and lingo. Just like in our message exchanges his demeanor was very collected, almost stern. I took his straightforwardness as another indication of the discipline it took to be in his position.
He carried the essence of a leader—a director.
Although we weren’t in person, I could still pick up on certain details. The artist had a deep voice and at least three thick golden rings on his left hand. He wore a navy blue KTH LA cap with the an evergreen under-brim and a chestnut brown jacket, layered. It matched nicely with the burnt-orange sofa chair he was seated in for the interview as well as the coffee cup he occasionally sipped from throughout the stream. He was in a well lit studio and in the background there was leafy green plants. At times he’d casually glance at his surroundings before bringing his attention back to the screen.
While getting set up the first two minutes with the live stream on, I noted that his poised, nonchalant attitude vaguely reminded me of Brent Faiyez.
So, who is Elz?
When I asked him how he introduces himself to people who aren’t familiar with his work he tells me: “I describe myself a creative director.” That makes sense because he not only works with still and motion shots, but he also has his own brand: Still Neghborhoodkids inside of which he showcases his own portfolio of art that attest to his exquisite eye and story telling talents.
The fall drop of the mixtape “NO MORE MINUTES” was paired with a visual upon release starring Alyssa Ackerman and himself conversing on a payphone. The oldies tape begins with the now infamous interlude of Brent Faiyez’s young mother coming home and yelling for “Chris(Brent)” to come downstairs and explain his report card then smoothly transitions to an upbeat latin sound.
This and the rest of the Still Neighborhood Kids mixes can be found here.
When I ask about his choice to start off with the Faiyez interlude he flashes a rare grin and comments in his raspy voice: “It just reminded me of the times where I was just a bad ass kid in school and I was scared to go home and see my people… and I mean, I’m a high school drop out, so I was never like a school dude. Hearing that was like hearing my own mom. I wanted to start the tape off with that so people who could relate to me could experience that nostalgic moment too.”
han: Thank you for joining us Elz, and tell us a little bit about yourself.
“I am from Queens, New York. Thats pretty much the melting pot for me; I’m just a kid from the inner city who loves to capture moments. Everyday is different. I’m usually around friends who I consider close family. Being around them and always trying to stay on my toes inspired is a big part of why I do what I do. My parents played a lot of different music and showed me different things. I also have an older brother, a DJ, who was a huge influence for me in the things that I like and ultimately the things I got into as grew older.”
han: How did the New York 90s influence your own body of work?
“I’ve definitely always been inspired by the music. I love how the east coast had played a huge role in the music during that time. A lot of people show love to New York already because this is where hip hop was born. I’m infatuated with that style and I think the music had a lot to do with it. I love Hype Williams and how he executed music videos and films like Belly back in the day. Everything from the colors and the baggy clothes and the concepts definelty shaped my style. Even the transition from the 90s to the 2000s—I’m a fan of that as well.”
“In the beginning my intention wasn’t to become a creative director. In the beginning I just wanted to learn how to take photos, but as I went on, I saw the opportunities that could come with being able to document things in different ways. So whether I’m doing photography, video, or music I’m still able to tell that story and put my own style to it.”
-Elz
han: Tell me a little bit more about your collaborative project Beach Boys.
Elz lifts his snapback off his head and reinforces the fold on the bill it before answering.
“I worked on Beach Boys with the homie Lex. That’s my guy. Beach Boys Tapes was a thing that we created a month in a half…or two months ago. We had seen each other in passing a few times during events before the pandemic and we were introduced through my homie Dre. They are both from Santa Barbara, California. They both came out to the city (New York) together and after a few link ups and teaching each other different things since we both DJed, we decided to make a mix together. And to be honest with you, we were both high off of fucking acid you know.”
He laughs sheepishly.
“But shit, we tapped into a whole other frequency. We were goofing around, laughing at each other like: ‘Yo, lets do a band and go by Beach Boys.’ We chose that name because we wanted to show love to the classic band Beach Boys but put our own twist on it. And we wanted to express the fact we were from two different sides of the the country with him being from Cali and me being New York.
We wanted to express everything through the music.
Right now Beach Boys is just on SoundCloud but we are working on getting it on the streaming site MixCloud so more countries have access to it as well.”
He stands up from the sofa and continues.
“And just so you know Beach Boys was created in the room I’m in right now. Like with the plants and everything behind me, we always got some incense going. It’s always good vibes when we all link up, especially when everyone is in town”
I ask him to turn the camera around so we can see the whole room. The first thing I spot is an open window which explains why the occasional honk or sound of a truck passing by is heard from his side of the phone.
He points the back camera at a wooden table and which has an expensive looking sound board sitting on top of it. He turns some of the knobs with the hand that has his rings on it. He also shows us a tangible release item that came with the Beach Boys volume 2 tape: white lighters with red lettering that read “Beach Boys.”
han: Why did you decide to choose lighters as your release item?
“Lighters mean so many different things for different people. We share them, we use them to light a blunt, or incense or candles when you’re taking a bath. It was just a fire idea we came up with.”
I still very much consider myself a student. There’s always room to learn.
-Elz
han: How has Quarantine affected your creative process?
“The pandemic took a huge hit on me in the beginning. Lock down hit during March and I was prepping for a gallery in April. I was two or three weeks into planning prior to everything closing down and I was excited about it. I already put the money up for it and..”
he shakes his head like he’s remembering getting the news.
“This was going to be the next big thing for me, and creatively, I was just on an adrenaline rush. I was putting content out and seeing the people like any artist should. And when it all happened, I felt very discouraged so it was a pretty hard month right after. But by May – June I got that fire back. I started to feel more creative and inspired during a time where we were just kicking it with the homies if we weren’t working. We were kicking back, playing video games, smoking up, chilling, drinking, brainstorming doing regular chill shit.”
“It was a hard time for a lot of creatives and if I could give advice to anyone struggling with the same thing during the pandemic, I would advise that those who feel discouraged take this time to realize we are all the same. Because without the money or being able to network and having to hear “no” to going out, you’re forced to look at what’s going on. I’m excited for when things open back up because now the clarity is definitely there for me. I would say use this time to find clarity of your own situation because when everything is taken away like what happened when COVID hit, you realize no one is better than anyone else.
han: When was the first time you picked up a camera?
“The first time I picked up a camera was back in 2012 or 2011 and I had a friend over. She had her camera with her. And I was literally that person like “Yo I want to see your camera.” And I was taking pictures and messing with it. “
Again he breaks his stern face with a grin.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time and I didn’t have anything as far as my career figured out. But picking up that camera, I trusted my intuition, invested my dollars, and got that same camera. I started shooting friends and trees and whatever was in front of me. I realized it was a way I could express myself. Everything from that point came organically.”
“My favorite thing about photography is that you can take a picture of the subject , but you can also bring out so much personality from a person. Or you can catch them in their rarest form. You have to remember, a lot of the photography from back in the day was the result of photographers pulling up to a destination and catching that shot. I love how what you capture has the power to live on its own. That’s why I love documenting, whether it’s with the homies or shooting something for someone else; there’s definitely something that sticks out more than just the picture.”
han: Do you feel like your personal life ever seeps into your work?
“Definitely, honestly, I feel like that’s were the inspiration comes from. I’m even good for sharing things subliminally through my visuals. I’ve missed out on a lot of good things in my life, but also I feel like I’ve been blessed with a lot of good too.”
He shrugs.
“You know, I think the most recent Neghborhood Kids clips that I shared with my voice over and parents definitely are at the forefront of my story. Talking about family, friends, and the things that I go through personally. I’m working on a third clip right now.”
han : When is your creative direction Better?
“When I’m traveling for sure. When I’m traveling I feel more vulnerable to the city I’m in and I’m able to tell the story even better. I think that setting can really change my thought process or just creating something out of nothing. Building off of different things. I’m always trying to become better and I like to push myself and continue telling the story.”
View more of Elz’s work here:
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