Life can look easy from the outside once you’ve made it. You see the accomplishments, the recognition, the people around you and everything you’ve built, and it’s easy to assume someone has it all figured out.
But success can be lonelier than most people realize.
Sometimes, achieving your dreams doesn’t mean the hunger goes away. Sometimes, it just gives you the freedom to figure out what you want next.
Elijah Smith has always seemed destined for something more. Because being a professional fighter is hard enough. Being a successful professional fighter while building a career in music is an entirely different challenge. Yet somehow, while Elijah has continued to evolve, the music has remained part of that journey.
Music isn’t some new hobby he picked up after finding success in MMA. He’s been doing this. Now, with Out of Reach, he’s carving out another path of his own while painting a real picture of what it took to get here.
Same Dreams
The opening track, “Same Dreams,” is a great introduction to the project.
It immediately establishes the importance of family. Elijah delivers a line that hits hard:
Thank God I got my pops, when some of my n****s ain’t have a dad.
Shakur Da Bag raps on “Same Dreams”
It lands because sadly, it’s true. And we know his father is always in his corner as his head coach. You can feel how much his presence and guidance have shaped him, both as a fighter and as a person, as he mentions Gilbert in a few songs.
Not enough people rap about this.
The title feels fitting because it can be interpreted in a couple of different ways. There are the obvious parallels between Elijah and his father, with Elijah pursuing many of the same dreams. But there is also the more personal interpretation.
These are the same dreams Elijah has been chasing for years.
Jmat is fire. He complements the track well, bringing a different flow to the song while delivering a couple of standout bars, including references to Elijah and the UFC.
It’s also worth noting that he is the only featured artist on the EP, making his appearance feel intentional rather than like Elijah is relying on features to carry the project.
Stand The Rain
“Stand The Rain” immediately changes the vibe. This is where Elijah gets to show his versatility.
He can rap. He can give you bars and make a banger. And when the song calls for it, he can sing without it feeling out of place. In a lot of ways, the song embodies him. Just when you think you have him figured out, he’ll pop out in a cowboy suit.
Two songs into the project, you get the feeling that Elijah knows he’s about to take off.
There’s a confidence here that suggests he knows who he is and knows that people are starting to notice. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t lonely sometimes. The song almost feels like a conversation in his head. He’s saying that the people counting on you don’t always see the pressure that comes with constantly having to believe in yourself.
That’s one of the recurring ideas throughout Out of Reach, and “Stand The Rain” begins to establish it. You can be surrounded by people you love and still feel like you’re walking through certain parts of your journey alone.
There’s no feature here, but there is some singing, once again giving us another look at what Elijah can do as an artist. He also talks about his grandmother, who was able to see him beginning to take off before she passed away.
That gives the song an emotional weight that goes beyond simply celebrating success.
Lose It
“Lose It” is where Elijah manages to be vulnerable while simultaneously telling you he’s “one of one” over a banger of a beat.
The song touches on some of the temptations that come with success. But what really caught my attention is Elijah admitting that he doesn’t even want to do music.
That feels like an important contradiction. He wants success. He wants to chase his dreams. And he knows he’s capable of more.
But the process of getting there isn’t always fun.
That plays nicely off “Stand The Rain,” making the sequencing of these songs effective. There’s a progression here where Elijah isn’t simply telling us about the good parts of chasing success. He’s letting us see the frustration, temptation and uncertainty that come with it.
My only complaint? It’s too short. I wanted another verse. Hell, I wouldn’t have minded another feature.
The beat is too good to let the song end that quickly.
In Between
“In Between” continues one of the EP’s biggest themes. The struggle of accomplishing success while knowing you’re still not where you want to be.
That’s particularly interesting coming from someone who has already accomplished what Elijah has in MMA. From the outside, it can be easy to look at someone like Elijah and assume they’ve figured it all out.
But that’s the problem with looking from the outside. You don’t see everything that goes into it.
His father’s advice comes up, further showing the influence he has had on Elijah. Not simply as a father, but as a coach and someone Elijah trusts to guide him.
There’s a section where he talks about having his daughter while also struggling mentally during that same period, yet always trying to be that person when he’s feeling weak.
That’s really the essence of this track. People see the result, but they never see the years it took to get there.
Novacane
If there’s one song I’m putting on repeat, it’s “Novacane.” This is everything I wanted from this project. And now I want more.
It’s a banger. It has a great beat, cadence and a great chorus.
“Allergic to the hate. Blinded by the brightness, b***h these diamonds in your face. Addicted to the money, use that shit like novacane.”
Shakur Da Bag raps on “Novacane”
This is the song where I hear the version of Elijah Smith you’d expect to hear from an MMA fighter who also happens to be a music artist.
But that’s also what makes the contrast throughout the EP so interesting.
Elijah doesn’t just make music that sounds like what you’d expect from a fighter. He’s giving us something more vulnerable, reflective and personal.
Then he turns around and gives us “Novacane.” That’s the balance I appreciate most about Out of Reach and any artist I listen to.
He’s not trying to fit into one box.
Out of Reach
When your father has walked the same path you’re now walking, you have a blueprint. But having a blueprint doesn’t make the road any easier, nor does it take away from the accomplishment of successfully walking it yourself.
Elijah has done that. He followed his father’s footsteps into MMA and built a career of his own, while also spending years developing another side of himself through music and carving out an identity beyond the cage.
I actually became a fan of Shakur Da Bag before I really knew Elijah Smith the fighter. Back when he was still an amateur MMA fighter here in Colorado, it was his music that caught my attention. He was always talented, and over the years, it’s been cool to watch that talent develop alongside what we now know was happening in his life.
Out of Reach is a solid EP from someone who hasn’t released a project since 2024. But more importantly, it doesn’t feel like Elijah has lost anything in that time.
He’s still got it. He’s still himself. And he’s still very much on his way to bigger things.
I’ve watched Elijah become a successful professional fighter, develop as an artist, become a leader in his gym and now step into fatherhood. He’s still trying to do it all, and I think that’s fucking admirable.
Elijah has the look. He has the talent. He has the experience. Most importantly, he has the ability to chase two dreams simultaneously.
Doing one is hard enough.
Doing both while your life is changing, people come and go, and the expectations surrounding you continue to grow is another thing entirely.
Out of Reach feels like a snapshot of where Elijah Smith is right now. He’s accomplished a lot, but he’s not satisfied. The hunger is still there. He’s still becoming.
And if this project is any indication, he might be closer to both dreams than he realizes.
Listen to Out of Reach
You can listen to Elijah Smith, aka Shakur Da Bag’s, Out of Reach below:
