Name: Elmiene

Where He’s From: Oxford

When He Started: 2021

Genre: Soul/R&B

File Next To: NAO, Sampha, Cleo Sol

Sounds Like: “I make soul music. Still, I have my own beliefs about what the genre of soul really is. I’ve always appreciated the word ‘soul’ when describing Black music more than ‘R&B’, because soul could really be anything. To me, soul is just a reflection of your soul: it doesn’t box you into a genre. The irony is, even though I’ve called myself a soul artist, I don’t think anyone can hammer down what’s ‘soul’ and what’s ‘R&B’ because of the overlap, the context around the artist and, to be honest, just the fact that music is a reflection of the person. I might make a song that needs a Coldplay guitar or a piano you’d associate with a gospel record—it doesn’t matter.”

First Music That Inspired Him: “D’Angelo’s Live in Stockholm concert lit a spark for me. Sade, Omar and Craig David come to mind, too. Craig really bridged the gap between the two nations, which was really unheard of at the time. We don’t give him enough credit for that. 2Pac’s Makaveli album had a huge impression on me when I was younger as well. And I can’t forget about The Cure; my best friend, Jack, was really into Pulp, U2, Jeff Buckley and those guys back in the day. I actually did a cover of Jeff Buckley’s ‘Lover, You Should Have Come Over’ a couple of years back. You can pin a lot of my weirder influences on my upbringing in Oxford.”

There is an obscure children’s show from the 2000s called D.I.C.E (DNA Integrated Cybernetic Enterprises), set in the fictional Sarbylion Galaxy. The anime follows a crimson-haired kid called Jet Siegel who pilots a chromatic, mechanical suit to ride atop a scorching red dinosaur that transforms. Over here, on planet Earth, singer Elmiene transports himself to magical worlds via his Nintendo Switch 2, morphing into the likes of Mario, Kirby or Crash Bandicoot in a few button taps. Ever the one to separate his personal experiences, the 24-year-old talent is sort of like Jet Siegel in his own way—part regular guy, part larger than life. Instead of a molten-transforming dragon as a vehicle, Elmiene whips up fiery, emotive songwriting (à la Raphael Saadiq and Stevie Wonder) often spawned from third-person anecdotes and eye-level observations of his surroundings. Then, he’ll go back to watching an anime like One Piece. It’s that simple for him.

“Abdala Elamin and Elmiene aren’t that different,” he tells TRENCH. “The only thing Elmiene is better at is being outside, because I don’t like to be outside very much. Normally, I’m inside playing my Nintendo Switch 2; I was literally playing that before this interview. I don’t mean to talk about myself in third person, but it really feels like there’s a separation. Elmiene is kind of the only thing that’s brought me outside, in general. I wouldn’t have seen half the countries I’ve seen now since being this new person. Still, when it comes to the creative side of things, I’m super in-tune with both sides of myself.” Naturally, Elmiene veers the conversation towards his latest project, Heat The Streets. Surprisingly, he reveals that Heat The Streets was recorded by chance: “A friend of mine, [Grammy-nominated producer] Jeff ‘Gitty’ Gitelman and I knocked out tracks like ‘Different Too’, ‘Dull Jewellery’ and ‘Useless’ in a week. It’s funny because I grew up just after the mixtape era, but a mixtape for these tracks made so much sense. I would have just put them up on SoundCloud, but the label thought they were way too good for that.”

Discussing the distinction between what’s first-person and what songs are sung from a bird’s eye view, he tells TRENCH: “On ‘Dull Jewellery’, I was talking about my father’s jewellery that he left me after he passed away, and it’s just like that’s all I’m left with—this dull jewellery. A song like that is cool because I can take these interesting angles and say, ‘Yeah, only I would say this. This is my life.’” Conversely, “Damage Control”, a track issued out for promotional buzz prior to the tape, raids its sonic nectar from the likes of Musiq Soulchild and Bilal from their MTV Base-bound heyday. With a touch of Stevie Wonder for good measure, it’s a track with sunny vocal inflections, plucky chords and jazzy improv.

In just four years, Elmiene has mastered the art of fusing the personal with the cinematic. For every Rising Star BRIT nomination, BET Awards performance or BBC Sound Of… nod, there’s a track like “Mad At Fire”—tender and passionate—encased in Def Jam Vendetta for PS2-style artwork, a nod to a childhood favourite. That balance between soul and spectacle, the lived and the imagined, threads directly into his faith. “My faith plays a significant role in all of this,” he says. “It’s a crucial part of my journey, one that many other artists may not experience. I often grapple with the conflict between my identity as a Muslim and my career in music, which I know will be a struggle throughout my life. It’s always on my mind. The life I’m leading now takes me far away—both literally and figuratively—from Mecca. I find myself in places like LA and Paris, instead of Egypt or home. The more I pursue this music career, the more I feel I'm drifting away from my family and my faith. It’s like trying to hold onto two parallel lines that are moving farther apart from each other.”

Ending on a whimsical note, Elmiene’s mind drifts to a fictitious world where his music video is acted out on the silver screen. “In my head, I can visualise this tape as a movie like Honey,” he laughs, “and I can see the whole cast in it: Mekhi Phifer, Jessica Alba, Missy Elliott—it would be sick! Maybe throw Muni Long in there too; she’s on the remix of ‘Useless (Without You)’. This whole tape on-screen is kind of like how it was for me in real life: two writers trying to find themselves. Instead of getting other people to sing songs, they realise they can just do it themselves. And they’re gonna sell their mixtape on the street—that’s the lore I see for this.”

You can catch Elmiene live at the O2 Brixton Academy on Dec. 4.