Growing up, L'elie's father was in the music industry being a former rapper in a group called Strongarm Productions; L'elie grew up listening to him. His father was the first figure to embody what a rapper was and why they are essential to urban culture. This is when L'elie s love for the Hip Hop arts began, at the tender age of 6. Momentum of his talent began to pick up as he gained an involvement with a church where he exercised his creative abilities by playing music.
In his adult life, L'elie has matriculated to being more than just a musician/producer; he became a songwriter, rapper/entertainer as well as a businessman. He is the owner of his own Publishing Company, SMG. With just dedication, diligence and ingenuity he became his own boss and worked toward making his visions come into reality. Whatever kinks was present that obstructed Derell from perfecting business initiatives and protocol was ironed out through the amount that he read and studied. He made sure he a thorough understanding of what success can be in this industry.
L'elie was brought up from in the Soundview section of The Bronx. For the locals of this neighborhood, there have been some deprivation of positivity around them. Many have felt like they may be exempt from flourishing and being prosperous because of the kind of environment they came from. L'elie is continuously aspired to set the bar of what success can be for himself and those around him.
L'elie , in regards of the creative process of music emulates the styles and integrity of the late greats, Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur. Music should make a person feel at ease with who they are and have a greater understanding of the world around them for the sake of humility and enlightenment. That’s the flow that Michael Jackson and Tupac had on the world before they left it. Not only this but specifically Michael Jackson was great at creating content that managed to make the world forget about their differences and unify. That’s a major key to influencing the generation that is currently unfolding and in and future generations to come if someone left that immense of an impact.
​
Music and other mainstream media will successfully manipulate the minds and behaviorisms of people anyway so why not use this platform to instill greatness in people so they can overcome? This is one of the goals L'elie aims for. With his daughter heavily on his mind as inspiration he plans on using his art as a means to leave his mark on the world.