Elijah Daniel (born January 9, 1994) is an American comedian, rapper, record producer, songwriter, and author. He became popular online through his satirical social media posts.[1] Daniel began rapping under the name Lil Phag in late 2017.[2]
Daniel rose to prominence as the author of the erotic novelTrump Temptations.[3]
Outside of his solo work, Daniel is a part of the EDM/Pop act adam&steve alongside fiancé, Dr. Woke. Billboard has dubbed the duo "the gay Chainsmokers". They have since released six singles featuring Maty Noyes, Sophie Rose, Gnash, JVZEL, XYLØ, and Waterparks.
He won the award for Best Comedian with collaborator Christine Sydelko at the 9th Shorty Awards.[4]
Early life
Elijah Daniel was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was raised as an evangelical Christian. After his grandmother became ill, Daniel moved into her residence to care for her.[5] During this period, he began to write comedy to occupy himself.[5] He publicized his comedy work through posts on Twitter.[5][6]
Career
2013–2016: Career beginnings
White House petition
Daniel led an online White House petition in 2013 to make the Miley Cyrus song "Party in the U.S.A." the U.S. national anthem.[6][7] It received international coverage.[8] Starting in 2014, he began hosting a weekly internet prank with CollegeHumor called Text Prank Thursday, where he would have his Twitter followers text random phone numbers saying whatever he told them to say.[9][10] Daniel told Vice that he cultivated a group of followers online who appreciated his absurd and bizarre comedic antics.[7] By 2016, his Twitter following had grown to over 95,000.[1][11][12]
Work with Christine Sydelko
In January 2017, Daniel and Christine Sydelko released a parody video of the song "Closer" originally by The Chainsmokers, featuring Halsey.[13] The video prompted a response from Halsey, who criticized the parody and Daniel and Sydelko's supporters.[13]
Television pilots
Based on the press he received for his book, Daniel was able to sell two TV series proposals.[7][14][15] In conjunction with production firm PRØHBTD, Daniel was given roles of actor, producer, and creator of the two series.[5] These included one docu-series titled Elijah Daniel is Insane, and one scripted comedy titled Social co-starring Vine comedian Christine Sydelko.[1][5] In October 2016, FOTV Media Networks Inc. announced a business partnership with Daniel and Sydelko to produce a full season of their series Trash, Talking.[16][17]
2016–2018: Political stunts and media attention
Trump Temptations
In 2016, Daniel stated on Twitter that he was going to get drunk and write an erotic novel starring Donald Trump.[18][19][20] Daniel was inspired by a tweet which said the user wished to perform a sex act on Bernie Sanders.[3][11] He wrote the work as a parody of Fifty Shades of Grey.[21][22][23] Within four hours, he had released the erotic novel titled Trump Temptations: The Billionaire & The Bellboy on Amazon.[24][25][26] This was Daniel's debut novel.[27]
In May 2016, Daniel negotiated a rights deal with film studio NakedSword to turn his novel into a feature film.[36][37][38] They began adapting the story in 2016.[36][38][40] NakedSword stated they were interested in the project due to the absurd nature of the plot.[36][37][38] Trump biographer Marc Shapiro wrote in Trump This! that Daniel's novel was one of the most infamous works capitalizing on interest in Trump.[25] An article in Fortune said that Daniel displayed a Trump-like skill to capitalize on a niche demand.[41]
Hell, Michigan
On August 30, 2017, Elijah Daniel performed a publicity stunt centered around Hell, Michigan – an unincorporated town that allows visitors to pay for the opportunity to hold the title of "mayor" for a day.[42] In what he called "a copy-and-paste of Trump's Muslim ban", he announced a satirical law that banned heterosexuals from entering and living in the town.[43] In response, Daniel released an edited version of The Bible called The Holy Bible... but Gayer two weeks later. Sales of it were briefly banned on Amazon before being restored.[44] On June 17, 2019, Elijah Daniel claimed that he briefly "bought" the incorporated hamlet of Hell, Michigan, changed its name to Gay Hell, Michigan and created a law prohibiting any flag other than pride flags from flying in the town. This was done in retaliation to the Trump administration's ban on the flying of the gay pride flag by U.S. embassies.[45]
Television
In November 2017, Daniel, Christine Sydelko, and Tana Mongeau appeared on a segment of The Maury Povich Show. In this segment, Christine and Daniel pretended to be engaged, him proposing to her at Taco Bell. Christine feared Daniel was cheating on her with Mongeau, but Daniel's lie detector results revealed he was actually cheating on her with men.[46]
2019–present: Music
Since 2017, Daniel has been releasing hip-hop music under the stage name Lil Phag. He has released two extended plays and one studio album under the moniker, as well as a slew of singles featuring artists including Cupcakke, Bella Thorne, Tana Mongeau, and Dr. Woke, the latter of whom produced most of his music. The pair have since gone on to pursue their own musical project, Adam&Steve, which has a more EDM sound.
After the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, Daniel on Twitter publicly urged any closeted people to feel free to contact him privately for support,[48] and he published "An open letter to the LGBT kids who feel lost and scared" on Fusion.net.[48][49] The letter was positively received by ATTN:, which called it a powerful commentary on the attack.[48]
After receiving homophobic death threats via Twitter, in July 2016 Daniel messaged someone he believed to be the parents of the user about the incident and publicly posted a screenshot of his message to them.[50][51] His response was praised by Metro News and Elite Daily.
^ abShapiro, Marc (2016), Trump This!: The Life and Times of Donald Trump, An Unauthorized Biography, Riverdale Avenue Books, p. 80, ISBN978-1-62601-264-6
^Harlock, Tom (2017), Bing Bong: Official Video, Closer by the Chainsmokers & Halsey Parody, Elijah Daniel & Christine Sydelko ((citation)): Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)
