William Blake once said “He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence” . Jullian “Jelz” Simmons believes his ambition to achieve success will benefit others that are from the same neighborhood, went to the same school, or even if they can relate to similar culture and art.
26 year old, Jullian “Jelz” Simmons was born in the Bronx. It was there that he fell in love with hip-hop & R&B. Being the son of TV/show host King Chepell of “Rap It Uptown”, he was exposed to the hip-hop culture from a early age. His biggest influences to date in the music industry have been Quincy Jones & Timberland. His sound embodies those two very different but very unique styles. Prior to the age of 14, music was merely a hobby or interest. However, at that age J.Elz began recording and producing with long time friend Jermaine Isaiah Gardner. The professional dreams of J.Elz which had materialized into the successful businessman/artist today began in a quaint Florida studio, with him sharpening his efficiency on cool edit, reason, & Pro-tools.
It was also around this time that he met a rapper by the name of Fitz. With Fitz being an artist & Jelz being the producer it was automatic and natural for the two to immediately hit the studio and begin recording. The marriage of styles and creativity was sparked with the simple combination of Jelz's uptempo 808 bass drums and Fitz melodic riffs. The result was the formation of the production duo known as THEE ELITE.
To the their credit, the duo has worked with Clap Cognac, Baby Boi Nate, Friday, Young Hash, Fresh Jacobs, and Jus Rolle to name a few. Not to mention they have a album they produced in stores nationwide and are currently working on a “BX Finest” mix tape which will be sponsored by Downer TV & yk2daily.net.
Dedication & hard work are their watch words in this war against pestilence. Equipped with a Triton LE & Korg M3 alongside Fitz’s Korg X50 & Roland XP50 there is nothing blocking them from showing the world that they are the best of the best and that in whatever you do, you too can be one of Thee Elite.
Basquiat: How long have you been producing records?
J Elz:I have been producing for the last 8 yrs. Feels like forever but my interest never dies. I love it.
Basquiat: Where did your love for the art come from?
J Elz: Honestly ever since I was little I was fascinated by the culture and even more by the music. In high school I used to sell mixtapes and some of them were instrumental mixtapes. I remember listening to the instrumentals on my way to school everyday. Picking out the drum patterns and and finding which keys were being played in the riff was my little introduction to ear training 101.
Basquiat:Where do you get your motivation for the beats, and content from?
J Elz: get my inspiration from everything around me. If you heard the sounds that I have in my sound bank you would be amazed. I have something as little as a dog bark to something as big as a orchestra in my range as sounds. I believe creativity is the key to the reinvention of your sound which in turn will keep you relevent with the times and changing climate of the game.
Basquiat: Who is one artist you have not worked with but will like to?
J.elz: I would really like to work with marsha ambroise. I think she has a amazing voice. Her album is def one of my favorite r&b albums of this yr.
Basquiat: Song credits?
J.Elz: "talkin bout" by young hash (son of a gun), "The bronx" and "we winning" by clap cognac (which was featured on superstar j mixtapes), "Affirmative reaction" by fresh jacobs, and "Think about it" by St. Laz are some joints to name a few. Not to mention we have a little production credit for composing the theme music to a show travis smiley was doing about 4 years ago.
Basquiat: What is it about those basslines and drums that mafe it become apart in your trademark in production?
J.Elz: The reason why basslines and drums are significant are because nobody rarely pays attention to basslines they find their syles in other areas like how swizz uses his snare or like how dj toomp uses that tamberine in his beats. You know their music when your hear it because most of their work has actual sounds that they stick with. We put emphasis on the actual chords and riffs we play when we choose a bassline. That is what makes us different. The drums is the icing on the cake. That is what keeps the people moving.
Basquiat: When it comes to pushing the envelop in music, what is Thee Elite's mission?
J Elz: Our mission is to be the best of the best. We are not beat makers, we are producers. There is a huge difference. We want to master the art of making classic albums. Since the industry has become more focused on singles, Nobody focuses on the actual flow of a great album. Our goal is to bring that back into music as a whole not just hip hop & r&b.
Basquiat: When it is all said and done what will thee elite be remembered as?
J Elz: I want Thee Elite to be remembered as a dynamic duo that not only has hits under their belt but who expanded their empire into tv, film, and other business ventures. I want to make Thee Elite forever. I know that their are young producers that share the same dream I have and I intend to help them get to their goals by making Thee Elite a movement that they will one day love to be apart of.
Basquiat: Besides the production side of things, do you guys have any other ventures on the rise?
J Elz: Yes. Currently we are putting together a"bx finest" mixtape featuring the kid daytona, young hash, cory gunz and other acts from the bx. The project will be sponsored by downerTv & y2kdaily.net . That's gonna be all over the web by the end of this yr. We will be on the "hooks & books college tour" this fall. As you can see we are definitely working and grinding 24/7
I would like to s/o the homie Basquiat for giving us this opportunity. We truly appreciate it
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