Elaquent is back in a major way with a new song for 2020. Born Sona Elango, the producer and musician left his native Guelph, Ontario, for the rugged lanes of Washington, D.C., where he cut his teeth forging a style all his own. Through trial and error, Elaquent created his own sound that comes alive in the form of “Guidelines,” which features fellow DMV star and Mello Music Group artist Oddisee on the track.

With a sprawling catalog that hardcore fans have devoured via his Bandcamp page, Elaquent is readying his new project, Forever Is A Pretty Long Time, the Oddisee-assisted song is best viewed through two prisms: the art and the artist. Oddisee rides the smoky-filled production and takes the listener into the nether realms with his rhymes. “The death of one thing is not the total sum demise / My daughter looking at me / She the difference in me being, not just looking happy,” he says. Since early 2017’s The Iceberg, Oddisee has been touring, largely scarce in dropping music. Since his acclaimed last LP, he’s worked with L’Orange, Jazzanova, TheColorGrey, and just a few others.

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Elaquent, who has been integral in the rise of the beat music scene over the past decade, takes his boots-on-the-ground experience and pushes the listener into some unthinkable spaces. “Getting to work with Oddisee, a guy I grew up listening to, was an honor, and I’m really happy to link to do a grown man Hip-Hop song,” Sona shared in a chat with Billboard. “[It is] definitely one of the best songs I’ve ever had involvement in.” The producer/rhymesayer breathes life into digital sounds, but it also means that he is in tune with the process in a way that tells a story that few other instrumental albums can. Elaquent has previously collaborated several times with Hip-Hop veteran Moka Only.

Forever Is A Pretty Long Time (available for pre-order) will be released on February 21 via Mello Music Group. Guest appearances from Blu and Guilty Simpson are also slated to be on the bill.

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Oddisee’s The Iceberg was recently included in Ambrosia For Heads’ Top 25 Albums Of The 2010s.