Hip-Hop in 2018 has seen some incredible musical talent. From Beyonce slaying her Coachella performance to SZA rocking the Black Panther soundtrack, and Cardi B setting records left and right, it’s been a strong year for female talent. Yet Elle Varner, one of the most underrated artists of 2018, is surely about to come into her own.
After graduating from New York University’s prestigious Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music (a program that only accepts 24 students each year), Varner went on to release her first studio album, Perfectly Imperfect, in 2012, followed shortly thereafter by Conversational Lush in later 2012. In 2017, she appeared on Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book. Other collaborations include 50 Cent and J. Cole. Combining old-school soul, hip-hop, jazz, and powerful vocals, Varner’s musical talent is only rivaled by her lyrics, which epitomize the ultimate female struggles- from the annoying (“Opened my door to unpleasantly find/Somebody really just broke in my ride”) to the trivial (“My clothes and all my makeup smeared/I’m looking crazy/I’m feeling kinda grimy/’Cause I got this hangover to remind me”) to the struggle of feeling inferior on “So Fly” (“If I had no cellulite/Big breasts and pockets real wide/Then maybe I/Maybe I, I/I could be so fly/And if I had a small waist/I’d make the boys go insane”). Her most recent single, “Casanova,” waxes nostalgic about a breakup by singing that she has “one less Casanova.”
In addition to working on her upcoming album, Varner will also be appearing at the 5th Annual Source360 Conference and Festival in New York City, an event that will bring together hip-hop icons, new and emerging musical talent, and industry activists to celebrate hip-hop and promote civic engagement. Varner has been confirmed as a performer on the September 8 performance. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
