21 year-old Egyptian Canadian non binary artist Elko, seamlessly blends alternative, emo and post-Soundcloud rap influences into their own unique blend of alt pop drawing comparisons to 21 Pilots, Billie Eilish and Lil Peep.
The self-taught songwriter and producer crafted the bones of their debut album, 2020’s, Love Was The Reason, in their teenage bedroom on a cracked Mac mini, inspired by young love and the ensuing car-crash breakup. Each song is deeply autobiographical, referencing the neighborhood of Elko's Bedford, NS hometown - the secret lookout where teenagers sneak off to, to make out or smoke weed…the hidden trail where Elko takes his dirt-bike out to exorcise their frustrations... with their parents and their unyielding religious views... their friends and frenemies, and their fickle girlfriends. The songs soundtrack a vivid picture of youth, innocence lost and survey the wreckage of a teenager’s first love. Since then they've amassed 23m+ global streams, released a follow-up EP, 2021’s Painkiller Twilight, notched features via OnesToWatch, LyricalLemonade and Elevator and collaborated with Internationally-recognized artists phem and Lil Lotus and received acclaim from scene-darling Maggie Lindemann among others. Elko returns in 2022 with a hyper-pop influenced 11-track self-produced album that includes features from 8485 among others.
