Ellis’ latest release, For You, marks his return to Toronto’s R&B scene following his 2015 EP, Be Gone. For You represents a significant departure from the self-produced Be Gone, which has seen him trade lyrical wordplay for a more melodic “Tory-Lanez-meets-Justin-Bieber” style. If Ellis went from Harry Potter to Adam Brody on Be Gone (his words, not mine), For You sees him go from Adam Brody to Joe Manganiello.
For You sees Ellis flexing his entire vocal range. What starts with soaring falsettos progresses into a baritone outro that sounds like it was lifted from Section 80. After a few listens it’s hard to decide if I prefer his singing or his rapping; either way, it’s clear that Ellis has the talent to carve out his own lane doing either. If you’re interested in hearing more of his rapping, I strongly recommend checking out his Be Gone EP. For more of his melodic work, check out his collection of covers that have close to 100K spins on SoundCloud.
Hit Ellis on Twitter if you think his lifestyle is For You :@hearellis, or mikeyellis.net