For Elon students, Nailah Ware and Xie Atkinson, a love for music began during childhood. Now, both share their music, passion and lived experiences on and off campus.
The two artists seek opportunities on and off campus, including in the music production and recording arts department, in on campus clubs such as Limitless and Limelight Records, performing in off-campus shows and releasing music to streaming platforms.
Student rapper rhyming resilience
Ware, a senior music production and recording arts major, said she got into music and composing at an early age after hearing music on the radio.
“I was always just fascinated by it, because it always made me happy,” Ware said. “It was something I could rely on; stability in my life. So that's how I got into it young. I started playing saxophone, alto saxophone. I composed my first piece at age seven.”
Specializing in hip hop and rap music, Ware said she likes to highlight themes of love, resilience, mental health and self-doubt in her music. She said making her music represent her truth and vulnerability is important, given the current reputation of rap being associated with violence.
“How can I make it into hip hop and not look like a sellout or like a wannabe hood person?” Ware said. “Because I'm not, and that's where my background was actually my light in it, because I'm a differentiator. I'm the person who's educated but swagged out.”
In addition to performances through her major, Ware is a co-founder of Limitless, a club that offers performance opportunities for R&B and hip hop artists. Ware has also released music onto major streaming platforms under the stage name N Major, including a recent album titled J Major.
As a freshman, Ware met assistant professor of marketing George Talbert, who ultimately became a mentor for her in how to market herself and her music.
Talbert said Ware excels at sales and has done well in sales competitions with the Elon Sales Team. He also said that Ware is a true professional and tries hard to market herself and her music as professionally as possible.
“You wouldn't know that she was a college student,” Talbert said. “You would have thought that she was out there selling millions of records already. So what she's done is she's taken the 4 p’s of marketing; product, price, place and promotion, that's the science of marketing, and she's integrated those things into her music.”
Ware said in today’s era, there are no black political leaders, and celebrities are filling the role of continuing to pursue racial equality. She said this shift and how influential music can be is what has encouraged her to discuss the topics she does in her music.
“What else can we talk about?” Ware said. “Done with this murder, done with this macho. Let's talk about crying. Let's talk about love. Let's talk about how can we get through the day? Let's talk about getting educated. Something different, yeah, something more optimistic.”
Sophomore performs from the heart
Sophomore Xie Atkinson, a music production and recording arts and psychology double major, grew up surrounded by a family that played music, and they said they knew pursuing music was the path for them after performing in their first talent show.
“People would tell me, ‘Oh, you have a beautiful voice.’ But I was like, ‘No, that doesn't happen.’” Atkinson said. “After my first talent show, I was like, this is something that I really could do maybe, and I really love it, and it's really fun, and performing for people fills me with so much joy. Why not make it something that I do always?”
Atkinson said they like to explore all styles of music and never want to stick to a specific genre for their work.
“Every time I release something, or release a full project or something like that, I want it to be known as an amalgamation of different genres together,” Atkinson said. “Because being put into a box is something I reject every day, and so I want my music to reflect that as well.”
Outside their major, Atkinson is a part of Elon acapella group Twisted Measure, an artist for the Limelight Records club, Elon Music Ambassadors and audition-based groups Camerata and élan.
Atkinson said they pull from their intersecting identities for much of the inspiration for their music, especially the oppression they and their family have faced over race.
“They influence me in such a way that it makes the music and it makes the journey even more powerful,” Atkinson said. “And it makes it a lot easier to hear myself through when I think, if my mom got through this, and my grandmother got through this, and they've experienced the same things, especially with being black in America in our current time, in our current day, and even before then, I know I can.”
Ware and Atkinsons’ music can both be found on most major streaming platforms. Additionally, both will perform in the Black History Month Tiny Shelf Concert at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, February 13, in Belk Library.