This is PAPER Diaries, an unfiltered look into the thoughts and lives of creative people making it happen for themselves — in the real world, on the internet and in our wildest fantasies. This time around, we caught up with rising pop supernova Eli, whose new single "Glitter" arrived in New York City with its own bus, courtesy of Glow, Spotify, and RCA Records. When you're a diva like Eli, everywhere's a stage.
How did your event go? And what was it like to interact with your fans in person?
Girl, it was a dream come true. Picking up your top Spotify listeners of the year on a sparkly pink glitter bus is much more satisfying than a “thank you” DM on instagram. Everyone was so fun and down to be crazy with me. We went from parasocial pen pals to bonded forever.
Your guerilla marketing and true passion for the music (and pop superstardom) has totally captivated Tiktok. Did you expect people to take to it so well, or did you expect there to be pushback?
It’s genuinely so hilariously affirming that everyone is getting it. That’s what I love about my eliance and my listeners. They’re so smart and witty and completely in on the bit. We have a secret language with each other.
Robyn just posted your billboard on Instagram. Did you both speak at all prior or was that totally unexpected? And how did that feel/how did you find out?
Completely unexpected. People were tagging me. I kept going back to make sure it was real. It felt so serendipitous because "Dopamine" was like the only song on my phone I was invested in during the few weeks leading up to that. Robyn’s influence goes deep... like so many of my current fave Ari tracks don’t exist without the pioneer that is Robyn.
Your new single "Glitter" follows a run of viral tracks. It also calls to mind the iconic Mariah Carey movie with a slightly doomed launch. What do you remember of the first time you saw the movie? And do you see anything of yourself in her character?
I wish I could say Glitter came across my DVD player growing up, but it did not, perhaps it was that doomed launch that made it never reach me, even being a Mariah fan. I just watched it with my friend Issa (Olive Ugly) a month ago. We took an edible, ordered a pizza and were enamored, confused, disturbed slightly. I think she wrote a good letterboxd review after watching it with me.
You've been pretty engaged with both fans and critics alike on social media, something that must feel expected of artists who kickstart their careers online. How do you balance engaging with both the positivity and negativity?
I just make sure if I’m gonna engage with negativity I’m gonna come correct and come with a valuable perspective worth engaging with that kind of stuff. But that being said, when it comes to real critique, I will always welcome that, for that’s an invaluable part of the music conversation. A few months ago during album promo, I was calling myself a stan twitter adjacent diva, since I grew up fangirling over Ariana Grande, reading WattPad fanfictions of myself at 14 on the internet and checking Pop Crave for MTV Awards looks. But I think I’m starting to remember why I was never actually in possession of a stan twitter profile as a child or teenager, ’cause I would see how ravenous and miserable the space could become quickly, and the “i’m edgy but really i’m just unhappy and taking it out on someone else” posts stressed and bummed me out too much.
Luckily now, I have a support system and a more healthy mindset about these negative shades of the internet. I’m able to not only just ignore the ignorance, and celebrate the lighthearted parts about pop culture, but to clap back and make sure some of these keyboard warriors know what I stand for. You can’t read the doll, but she can read you.
You've just been handed one million dollars to do the viral pop star marketing stunt of your dreams. What do you do with it?
Double it and give it to the next person. I’m already the next Stage Girl.
Thank you to Glow, Spotify and RCA for this insane bus! What a dream come true. If you’re gonna go on tour it should be in a bus with your face on it.
I've been a fan of Marcia Marcia Marcia since she walked in the Werkfoom with a bandaid over her nose and was running, or should I say swimming, fresh tilapia circles around a lot of the girls. Then I got to watch her transcend the show and run circles around it in theater, on Broadway and in her iconic art and creative entrepreneurship. I'm so grateful she let me pick her up on the bus.
I'm serving Disney Diva about to go wild. I love this hat, literally felt a shift when I put it on the first time. I got it in Burbank at Junk for Joy.
In this moment, I knew I had no choice but to sing the "maaaaalllll" riff that overlaps into the second pre-chorus of "Glitter." I loved my boombox, world premiere of "Glitter" outside the bus. Lady Gaga was performing in parking lots, I'm performing in the streets.
I kept falling on my fans but like they do on the internet and at my shows, they always lift me back up again
My album Stage Girl is about making anywhere the stage. Whether it’s from your bedroom, at the mall or on the streets of NYC, every new day is a new opportunity to perform.
Oh, you thought we were gonna steal the bus?
The "Eliance." I love these angels. What a dream.
You want a wig, we've got a wig. You want a fedora, we have fedoras. Like, keep up.
All aboard the Glitter Bus, girls! I'm just an ordinary girl, but the paparazzi was out.
Photography: Aysia Marotta
