Oakland’s Lake Merritt could be considered a microcosm of the city itself. It showcases the sense of community that the town hangs its hat on, with smiling faces dotted about the grass enjoying the sunshine. On a typical summer day, you might run into old friends from high school, hear an aspiring musician honing her craft, or see a sword-wielding man slicing the air off to the side.

For rising rapper Elujay, the lake is just another reason why Oakland holds a special place in his heart. Walking around the landmark, he fondly recalled the summer days spent in the area, making memories at every turn. “We’d hang out all day at the lake, go to a view spot... and then go to a frat party at night. And then get tacos after,” he said with a laugh. “I can’t even count how many times we’ve done that.”

The Tacos Mi Rancho food truck draws rave reviews throughout Oakland, giving customers some of the best Mexican food in the city.

So when he saw the staples of his childhood falling prey to gentrification, he decided to speak up the best way he knew how: through his music. His debut album Jentrify seeks to capture the essence of his city before it changes any further, and honor everything that made Oakland so important to him. “I was going to college, so I would come back and see things evolving into new businesses, new infrastructures,” he said. “They don’t understand there was a culture before this first generation of gentrifiers came in.”

Music is integral to that Oakland culture, something Elujay is well aware of. Artists such as Tony! Toni! Toné! helped define the region’s style back in the early 90’s, and it’s only flourished since then. “We have a sound out here, all the way back to that Tony! Toni! Toné!” Elujay said. “They taught me the importance of musicality. Tony! Toni! Toné! is kind of the staple of Oakland, mixing slap with vibes.”

It’s a combination that appears throughout Jentrify, revamped for the current music landscape to create what the rapper calls “futurehyphyfunk.” He pinpoints the Golden State Warriors’ recent victory parade as the moment he recognized his town’s signature rhythm, and knew he had to get it into his music. “It was like 200 people out there, and we had no slaps. There was one guy with the drum, and he started hitting it like this - it was like a 102 tempo - and everyone was going crazy!” he said excitedly. “I had to take a voice memo and figure out what tempo that was, and I realized, ‘wait, that’s our sound.’”

Elujay began making music at age 14, when a friend downloaded production software onto his computer. He started writing a few years later, when he entered the school’s poetry slam after a teacher’s ultimatum. “I was failing a class my sophomore year, and my teacher was like, ‘if you write a good poem and win the poetry slam, I’ll pass you,’” he said. So that night I spent hours writing, woke up the next morning and recited it in the mirror, then did the poetry slam and I won. I thought I could be dope at poetry, and I was already learning how to make beats again, so I thought I might as well just put my own lyrics into these beats.”

That two-step recipe has led the Oakland rapper to widespread success, traveling as far as Berlin for an in studio performance that’s yet to be released. His breakout hit “Flagrant” has amassed nearly two million plays on Spotify, but Elujay says he keeps his blinders on both sides when it comes to recording. “I don’t know man, I really don’t know. I just make music. There’s so much negative emotion that came into making [Flagrant], I just can’t even talk about it,” he said. “Adversity helps create quality art.”

Elujay started getting more serious about music later in high school, creating a project called Seasonal Joogs. “Basically, it’s nowhere to be found,” he said with a laugh. “It was kind of the building blocks to Jentrify. It was all produced by me, and there were some singers on it, some live instruments. I made it all at my dad’s house...” he said, trailing off while staring into his phone. “Gotta post this cover, my bad.”

It’s a promo for his new single with Chris McClenney, titled “Streamin’.” It’s the pair’s first collaboration, trading smooth verses over McClenney’s funky production. “You know what’s crazy, I’ve never actually met [Chris] in person,” Elujay said. “We’ve just been talking over the internet for a couple months, ever since my project came out. He sent me a bunch of beats, and there was one that he did with this dude Zikomo, and I was like ‘yo, this is bangin’, these drums are going crazy.”

A post shared by Elujay (@elujay) on Aug 2, 2017 at 6:25pm PDT

After a run of well-received singles, Elujay is gearing up for his new album, called Avnt Garde. “I wanted to relate the similarities between music and visual art,” he said about the title. “I used to be a visual artist, so even though the music comes first, aesthetics matter too.” Blending together house, indie, R&B, and trap influences, he’s aiming for that off-kilter quality associated with avant-garde works. “It’s kind of like artists putting together different colors in their palette, I’m putting different genres in my palette.”

It can be hard for Bay Area artists to break out on the national scale, but Elujay’s making the best of his opportunity. “People were telling me [Jentrify] made them proud to be from Oakland,” he said. “It’s definitely something I did for the city. I’ve intended on doing something for the city for years, and I’m glad it came out successfully. Not a lot of people from Oakland get to go engage an audience outside of the city, mainly because of the resources they have. I think for me, I guess I just got blessed.”