Elle Varner

Known for her intelligent lyrics, playful wit, and genuine emotional depth, Elle Varner stood among the most promising R&B acts to surface in the early 2010s. Her 2012 debut full-length, Perfectly Imperfect, reached the Top Five on the pop albums chart and spawned several charting singles, most prominently the Top Ten R&B/hip-hop hit “Refill,” which earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song. Although RCA later shelved her follow-up project, Varner stayed active through numerous guest spots, among them an appearance on Chance the Rapper’s Grammy-winning Coloring Book. She subsequently joined the Entertainment One roster, issuing several singles and the 2019 mixtape Ellevation.

Elle Varner was immersed in music from an early age. Her parents, Mikelyn Roderick and Jimmy Varner, formed two-thirds of the Island/Motown act By All Means. Individually they contributed to sessions for Barry White, Tevin Campbell, Kool & the Gang, and Will Downing. As a youngster she joined them in the studio, absorbing the technical side of recording. She honed her own skills on multiple instruments, sang in a jazz ensemble, and later enrolled at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music within New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Upon graduation she and her father co-wrote “Fantasy” for Roderick’s 2007 album Copasetic Is.

Varner was signed to Clive Davis’ J Records, then home to such peers and influences as Monica, Alicia Keys, and Jazmine Sullivan. She launched her major-label career in August 2011 with the J. Cole-assisted “Only Wanna Give It to You,” which climbed to number 20 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/hip-hop chart. Corporate restructuring dissolved the J imprint, moving her to RCA by the close of the year. The distinctive “Refill” arrived on the R&B/hip-hop chart in March 2012 and peaked at number ten. Following the free digital mixtape Conversational Lush—whose title derived from that single—she finished her debut album, Perfectly Imperfect. Issued in August 2012, it entered the Billboard 200 at number four, and “Refill” later received its Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song.

While developing her second album during 2014 and 2015, Varner put out tracks including “Don't Wanna Dance,” “F**k It All,” and “Birthday.” The intended project, 4 Letter Word, was ultimately scrapped by RCA. Operating between labels, she contributed to several releases, most notably Chance the Rapper’s Grammy-winning Coloring Book. After signing with Entertainment One, she opened the 2018–2019 campaign for her next proper album with singles such as “Pour Me” and “Kinda Love,” plus the nine-track mixtape Ellevation.