ELJAI was born Lloyd Carlton McFarlane Jr. in Belize City, Belize. Soon after, his family moved to the countryside where most of his early years were spent. ELJAI has always been known for his humble and kind ways, joyous laughter and his spiritual enlightening conversations. At the age of five, ELJAI’s family moved back to Belize City where he attended the Ebenezer Primary School Here he met new friends and discovered his hidden musical talent. Soon ELJAI was singing at school rallies and contests. His talent developed rapidly and he was encouraged by his friends and family to pursue his career in music.
In the late 1980s ELJAI moved to Los Angeles, California knowing exactly what he wanted to do and ready to focus on his career. He was introduced to the DOMINATORS, a local band and was asked to become their lead singer- a position which he gladly accepted. During this time, his love for singing and music grew tremendously and he started to also develop an interest in songwriting. In 1989, ELJAI released the EP Give Your Loving To Me, in his native country, Belize. The song, written by ELJAI, sky rocketed on the charts and introduced him as a major artist. ELJAI continued to grow and develop his fan base. Later that year ELJAI was asked by a friend to be a guest artist on the Pupa Curly’s “Free Mandela single. In the early 90s Carl MacGregor, the producer of his first EP, introduced ELJAI to Kerry Gordy, the son of the legendary founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy.
Shortly after that meeting, the group Belize was formed and consisted of ELJAI, Carl and Delly McGregor. ELJAI and Belize continued to hone their writing skills. They were soon signed to Prince’s Paisley Park label where they recorded their first album. Belize was later signed to Warner Brothers where they wrote and released “I’m Looking Out For You,” the theme song for the TV show, Real Stories Of The Highway Patrol.
His debut CD, Da Rebirth was recorded in 2006 with the production help of musician / producer Fabian Cooke (Born Jamericans / Ziggy Marley / Lion King soundtrack) and master drummer, Carlton “Santa” Davis (Peter Tosh, Soul Syndicate, Ziggy Marley). The single “Blessed” was a big hit that year and later rerecorded with the help of the popular dancehall artist Capleton aka ‘The Prophet.’ Another song collaboration and video with General Degree “Down In The Wilderness” gained a lot of chart and media attention.
ELJAI had another breakthrough year in 2008 performing on the Caribbean Sea Breeze Festival in California, Panamanian Reggae Festival in New York, Chicago Park Festival and Labor Day Fest in Los Angeles. He hit the Jamaican charts for the very first time with his first single “Don’t Leave”. The video was number one on R.E.T.V. MVP Top 10 Reggae Charts and bubbling on CVM Hitlist Top 5 Reggae Charts. “Don’t Leave” was released as a single distributed by TADs International and the rhythm entitled ‘Drop It’ is produced by Flava on the No Doubt Label. Other artistes featured on the rhythm includes Reggae giants Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Jah Cure, Etana, Chuck Fenda, Morgan Heritage, and Lutan Fyah.
He visited Jamaica during the Christmas season of 2008 for two weeks to promote his new single entitled “I Know” produced once again by Fabian Cooke. ELJAI’s visit was successful as he did a lot of interviews with the local media and got a chance to promote his new single. Eljai also co-headlined the 23rd Annual UCLA Jazz/Reggae and the 12th Annual Caribbean Seabreeze Festival in California with many more concert and festival appearances in 2009.
ELJAI’s sophomore CD release I Know studio was released worldwide in early 2010. The first single/video “The Leaders” reached #1 on the Jamaican Weekly Music Countdown Reggae Singles Chart, # 1 on Virgin Island Reggae Chart, #1 in Italy and Holland (plus Top 5 on the New York and So. Florida Charts) and was produced by Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor (No Doubt Records) who produced half of the album tracks along with Fabian Cooke (Jasic Records). The album track “If Only” was also released as a single/video with all proceeds from its sales benefiting Haitian earthquake victims. He co-headlined the Irie Reggae Festival with Beres Hammond and Inner Circle in Long Beach, CA and many more concerts during the year.
Eljai released his new single / 4 song EP titled “24/7″ in Janaury 2012. “24/7″ is a timely song that will connect with music fans and the EP will include the previously unreleased songs “Empress,” “If You Really” (featuring E-Dee) and “From This Day.” The recently released video for “24/7″ has been a big success with 125,000 views on YouTube in just over a week. Rehearsals have begin for his tour with concert / festival bookings worldwide the rest of the year to support the new music releases.
ELJAI continues to be one of the shining new beacons of Reggae music and is extending his light throughout the rest of the world.
JAH MIX ENTERTAINMENT
(323) 979-4528 / ejjai.ranks@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/TheOriginalEljai / www.EljaiMusic.com
Management / Media Contact: Foundation Media – Russell Gerlach
Phone: (562) 948-3008 / E-Mail: reggaeruss@aol.com
Official Website links:
www.eljaimusic.com
www.myspace.com/theoriginaleljai
www.jahmixentertainment.com
