Points On The Board: Singer Elle Varner On The Art Of Elite Songwriting

Not every performer can make a hit, let alone land a few that make waves on the charts.

In an era where music heads consume, create, and demand quality music all the time, it’s difficult to let songs that could stand on its own, time to grow.

Singer-songwriter Elle Varner‘s never had that problem. Debuting in 2012 with a pair of R&B hits that were a breath of fresh air for the genre, the LA native is back with Ellevation, an EP project that was made on her own terms.

Varner stopped by the POTB set to chop it up about her approach to crafting a hit, and what’s required to be consistent.

“It doesn’t matter if you have all these co-signs, or if someone ‘hands it you’, it doesn’t matter. You can’t cheat the hard work,” Varner said about staying loyal to your craft.

“So the ones that will last, the ones that will stand the test of time, they must ride peaks and the valleys. There’s no way around it.”

Can’t argue with that. Check out more from Varner and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Highlights

  • How has her writing process evolved over her career
  • Adopting Kobe‘s winning mindset to her live shows
  • The state of women in R&B
  • Serena Williams‘ impact on Compton
  • What’s required for her to get into her “Flow state”
  • Crafting songs for your core audience, b side tracks
  • Defining success as an artist on her own terms
  • The first hip hop, r&b albums you give your kids
  • The greatest songwriters to study
  • Her musical family
  • Versus: The greatest 90s movies soundtrack of all time.

And more.

On The Points On The Board podcast, we interview the closers and finishers from every discipline. Each week, digital producer, journalist Kyle Harvey sits down with rising athletes, sportswriters and creatives to breakdown the lessons they learned from the field of competition and how they applied to dominate it their crafts. Subscribe here for the latest episodes. 

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