Malik Elijah Releases New Single “DONTPLAY”
Maryland artist Malik Elijah gives us another banger with his latest track titled DONTPLAY. Listening to most of the tracks that he has released in 2022 he seems like an artist that has a diverse range of influences and is not someone who can be placed in a box. DONTPLAY is a track that has many standout lines that show both Malik's astounding wordplay and personality.
Elijah starts off with saying “this shit right here is not for the common man this is buried treasure.” When listening to this song this first line makes the listener realize that he is setting the stage for the track. He is giving us a foreshadow into what we are about to talk about. Around the 40 second mark of the track we Elijah says the line “Evolving through revolving doors like a phenom.” As a person we evolve through different stages in our life. When going through high school, college, the adult world or through a creative endeavor we go through these imaginary doors becoming more self- aware. At the 1 min mark Elijah says the controversial line “They attempt to copy, they gonna end up a subordinate '' A Lot of the times we see artists who copy other artists and end up literally having either the same career path as them. An example of this in my opinion has to be lil pump. A Lot of the artist that copied him are nowhere to be found and took the same career trajectory he did had some success then it all just went away.” In this time you need to be able to create your own sound/image to stay relevant. Elijah brought up something that makes the listener think about their own life “Life to short and tomorrow not promised this not me being modest this a warning sign.” We need to cherish every moment we have because not even the next second is promised, so do what you want and make yourself happy and chase your dreams. I'm happy that I realized this and started doing what I want. The track ends with the interview about either choosing 500k or a dinner with Jay Z. Elijah in the track says that he would rather take the money and I agree because I would rather just build myself up to a point I am able to maybe meet JAY-Z. You are also able to build a sustainable business or just create a better life for yourself with that money. JAY Z wont change your life but the money will.
I enjoyed listening to this track and recommend everyone to check out his discography. When listening to this I hope he is able to work with artists like Mick Jenkins, Saba, Smino, Femdot, Lo village, Louie Lastic, Vince Staples and others who are trailblazers in this new wave of alternative hip hop.
