Rapper Chris Elijah Releases 'Like This (feat. Donk)'
Atlanta native, Chris Elijah, a rapper, songwriter, minister and actor, has released his new single 'Like This', featuring fellow rapper Donk. "We all struggle and wish we had more answers to our problems at times", Chris explains. "Truth is sometimes God is building our patience, long suffering, or challenging us to be the answer." The song is Chris Elijah's foray into the sometimes daunting views of society and life for many people. He takes a page right from the Book of Ecclesiastes and even concludes his verse quoting Ecclesiastes 1:9.
Chris Elijah is no newcomer to the rap game and the highs and lows in life. The youngest of four children, Elijah grew up in Ellenwood, Georgia. As a child he dealt with low self-esteem, behavioral issues, and bullying. Listening to music was in many ways a method of escape for the adolescent. At the age of 13, Elijah literally watched his father take his final breaths in life, as he loss his 6 month battle with pancreatic cancer. This was a sobering reality for the teen, which consequently lead to his baptism.
"I didn’t comprehend the significance and sacrifice associated with baptism at that time but it just felt like the right thing to do," says Elijah. Heavily influenced by the secular culture and media, Elijah began rapping with his friends, including Don Russell, after one of their classmates made a diss song about their neighborhood. Of course they responded! “We called ourselves CashFlow,” states Elijah. Soon after, he began smoking marijuana and cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and having sexual encounters. At age 17, he experienced his first of two incarcerations. He would later go on to sell marijuana.
In 2006, one his childhood friends committed suicide and a week later Elijah’s mother suffered a stroke. Chris used marijuana and alcohol as coping mechanisms to deal with the pain. Later that same year, he was introduced to his pastor and decided to regularly attend bible studies and eventually church. Though still heavily involved in sin, that small decision would prove to have an eternal effect on his life. In late 2008, the then love of his life broke up with him leaving him distraught. “When she broke up with me is when it sunk in that I was a LIAR, ADULTERER, and IDOLATER because everything I told GOD I wouldn’t do to her, I eventually did,” recalls Elijah. Around that same time period Elijah’s mother was battling with a life threatening case of double pneumonia.
“It reminded me a lot of my father because I thought I was going to watch her die too,” Chris bluntly states. The whole experience severely humbled Chris to the point where he knew that by GOD’S grace he was alive and had no one else to depend on aside from GOD. The experience would lead to him begin his TRUE walk with JESUS CHRIST and experience authentic regeneration. He is now happily married to his beautiful wife, Arlicia, will soon be ordained as a minister, and is working on becoming a certified educator. This multi-talented rapper, songwriter, youth pastor, and actor is still standing on the scripture, he ironically had tattooed on his chest while he was still in the world, Philippians 4:13. "I can do all things through CHRIST which strengthens me".
