Elias Samuel, better known as Elbig Raingz in the Papua New Guinea Music Industry is a 29 year old who spiraled to fame in a short span with his hit single ‘Bus Driver’ and ‘Mimi Oh’ back in 2017 recorded under his studio ‘Tauf Isung Rekodz’. And he is back to impress his fans with his new and latest Extended Play (EP).
Hailing from a mixed parentage of Markham in Morobe, Napapar 1 in East New Britain and Asaro in the Eastern Highlands Province, this young lad is not new into the industry as his Dad and big brothers were a part of a local band, ‘Fiampan’ back in the days.
“Back then when I was little, I would follow my Dad and my big brother’s around just to help them by carrying their instruments wherever they went to perform without knowing that one day I was going to perform and travel around doing gigs”, said Elbig.
Musically, Elbig has not produced any albums, rather he has only produced singles but his current Extended Play (EP) is set to be released soon with five new tracks recorded under the Pro-Ed Studio owned by Grainger Runialo aka Gee Ruun.
“I have an EP coming up which consists of five songs and I can’t wait to release this tracks for my fans and listeners, I am excited!” added Elbig.
In 2017, Elbig was nominated in four categories in the PNG Music Awards where he got two awards; ‘Artist Of The Year’ and the ‘Main Artist Of The Year’ respectively.
“I was shocked as I did not expect to receive these awards”, said Elbig.
Elbig has collaborated with many other well-known artists in the music industry with the likes of Sharzy, Nathan Nakikus, Kronos and Gee Ruun, just to name a few.
“The collaboration with Sharzy was on the song ‘Style Vavina’, the track with Kronos was ‘Baby Yet’ and ‘Sagat Markham’ with Gee Ruun”, said Elbig.
Growing up in the music industry, Elbig has traveled out to other provinces like Rabaul, Madang, Goroka, Mt Hagen and Simbu doing music gigs.
“Music has taken me to places that I haven’t been to and this is the power of music itself, it takes you places”, added Elbig proudly.
However, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and just like any other music artist here in Papua New Guinea and the nation, Elbig has had his fair share of challenges and COVID19 being the worst of them all.
“Due to the pandemic, we music artists are now suffering, this is our source of income. We cannot travel around to host gigs. How can we get incentives”, he said sternly.
Under his studio ‘Tauf – Isung Rekodz’ which means ‘planti stone’ (many stones), other local PNG artists like Archie Tarzy, Narxon, Ragat Solomon and Siassi Heritage have recorded some of their hit singles.
Two of Elbig’s new singles ‘Go Maret’ featuring Andy Waves and ‘Sinsing Sia’ which featured Sammy Abel and Andy Waves were recorded under his studio label and are now currently playing on the airwaves.
“I would like to thank my fans and everyone who have voted for my music and those that have supported me since the start of my journey in the PNG Music Industry and I am looking forward to creating more my music for you all”, said Elbig.
Elbig Raingz said his upcoming EP’s will be available to download from all digital platforms like YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.