In the era where everyone wants to be a rapper, it can be hard to stand out. In Atlanta, it can be even harder to differentiate yourself from your peers, however it isn’t impossible. Two North Atlanta students have taken this challenge head on they fight “through the hurt, through the love, through the pain.”

Seniors Aaron West and Elijah Lewis, also known as rap duo “AaronELIjah,” have been working hard in order to achieve success in the “rap game.” After releasing multiple singles, the pair has released their first official EP titled “I Am.” EP stands for “extended play record” and is  a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single, but is usually unqualified as an album or LP.

The project is available across every streaming platform available including Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify and Google Play. Consisting of 7 tracks, listeners enter the minds of the two as they speak on topics that aren’t typically touched on in hip-hop today.

Most rappers today speak on the usual topics prevalent in society such as women, money or drugs. According to the group, people are afraid of the truth. “It’s better to be honest and be yourself and speak about what is relevant to you,” said Lewis.

“Some people are stuck in a box, and some people are outside of it, but we make the boxes that confine us.” said West.

In order to be true to oneself, one must be able to reflect and release what holds them back, which was the driving force behind the EP. “We’ve lost love and we’ve struggled to get to where we are now,” said West.

“We struggled, worked to pay for the studio, dealt with some problems with that but we’re not even close to being done. We haven’t even started yet,” said Lewis.

As for their future goals, the duo plans to continue releasing music and stay hungry and are determined to achieve success. With aspirations of going platinum and winning Grammys, the two have a lot of work cut out for them, but they will wage war on the rap game. “Wages of Sin out now on every streaming platform,” said Lewis.