The Emotional Weight of “LOVESHY” Brings Eli Derby’s R&B Into the Complicated Language of Love

“LOVESHY,” the new EP from singer and songwriter Eli Derby, released through Art@War/Warner Records, takes you by the hand with the softness of cotton and leads you on a journey that feels like the late 90s or early 2000s, but with completely new songs and compositions in which love and relationships take center stage.

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“Fumble” stands out as one of the EP’s more reflective moments, centering on the regret that follows the loss of someone important. Derby looks back on a relationship he neglected while caught up in his own priorities, recognizing how his choices contributed to its end. The line “Lost my best friend / Too busy tryna win” captures that realization with particular clarity.

The song is accompanied by a music video with the same 2000s R&B aesthetic, featuring low-angle shots that move laterally as Derby sings to the camera, along with a music-free intro showing a couple arguing to provide context for the audiovisual piece’s storyline. The video also features Amaya Espinal, a cast member from the reality show Love Island.

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The regret expressed in “Fumble” is just one of the ways “LOVESHY” approaches love. In “Who’s There For You,” the focus shifts to another person and the question of who is there to take care of her when she spends so much time taking care of everyone else. “Fine As U” changes the tone into a more direct declaration, while “Pretty Girl Dangerous,” featuring Baltimore rapper Bri3, moves between instant attraction and flirtation.

Across 12 songs, “LOVESHY” moves through different stages of a relationship that come and go, going from attraction and desire to doubt and regret, eventually arriving at the search for a relationship that feels comfortable and secure.

Born in Maryland, he grew up in a family connected to the arts and the church. He began playing drums at a very young age and later added piano, bass, and guitar to his repertoire while developing his skills as a singer and producer.

His career began to take shape publicly during his teenage years, when he started sharing covers and later his own songs online. In 2021, “Gaslight” arrived, the single that began putting his name on the R&B radar. The song “Lately,” featuring 6LACK, was one of the standout moments of his early career.

Derby’s music has retained the sensitivity of the R&B that accompanied him during his early years, but he has incorporated guitar, contemporary production, and greater freedom to move between soul, pop, and other sounds. In 2025, he released “Slow Burn.”

On “LOVESHY,” Eli Derby sings 12 songs about wanting, making mistakes, longing, missing someone, and trying again, all through an R&B sound that keeps one foot in the present. The project draws from stories that unfold every day around the world, transforming them into music as a way to connect through the many nuances of love and its place as a universal language.

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SEO: Eli Derby’s “LOVESHY” explores love, desire, regret, attraction, and relationships through contemporary R&B inspired by the late ’90s and early 2000s. Released through Art@War/Warner Records, the EP highlights the Maryland singer-songwriter’s evolving sound, blending R&B, soul, pop, guitar-driven production, and intimate storytelling.

Tags: Eli Derby, LOVESHY, Fumble, Art@War, Warner Records, R&B, Contemporary R&B, Soul, Pop, Bri3, 6LACK, Maryland, Singer-Songwriter, New Music, EP, Love Songs, R&B Music