ARIA ELAN

Singer/Songwriter Aria Elan’s “feel-good” song “Don’t let them get U Down” inspires listeners to “keep your head up.” Aria sings: “You can do it, so don’t be blue. You just have to believe in you.” “Don’t let them get U down” was the featured song on every episode of “Higher Ground” podcast’s 2022 season, National Public Radio (NPR) USA and Public Radio International’s (PRI) 2023 season.

Aria grew up singing and playing piano in her father’s South Carolina, USA church. Influenced by gospel, southern soul, and country music, she began writing songs as a teenager. Incorporating jazz and African beats into her repertoire, Aria moved to Los Angeles, California, then to New York City where her musical “Amandla ka Mandela” was staged at the Henry Street Settlement Theater. Returning to California, Aria’s poem “A World without Borders” which is on her “Build a New World” album, won first prize in the statewide contest. Aria’s environmental and social justice activism motivate her to write and sing songs that uplift and encourage people all over the world, while at the same time making them: “dance to the beat; get off your seat.”