Eli, GAY MAN | Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈

In the 63rd edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight “GAY MAN” performed by pop singer-songwriter Eli.

Prepare to beam with P-R-I-D-E 🏳️‍🌈! Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 celebrates, embraces, and spotlights songs by LGBTQ musicians or allies.  Here, we provide background and insight into musicians, analyze, plus go gaga over the decadent bops served up.  When songs dictate deeper and more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is fully articulated.  All styles of music are welcome, whether the songs are classics or brand-new. So, without further ado, in the 63^rd edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight “GAY MAN” performed by Eli.

“This is some freaky shit and that’s for sure / Guess I gotta tuck my shit and cover up,” Eli (she pronouns, per Instagram) sings in the first verse of “GAY MAN”. Are you confused yet? It’s worth noting that the queer pop artist was formerly known as Jeffrey Eli, which provides additional context to this 2023 R&B-infused track. In an interview with Galore, Eli (referred to as Jeffrey Eli) asserts, “… when [my friend and producer Brandon Shoop] started the beat, the idea to make a tune about falling in love with a woman popped into my head.” In the first verse, Eli continues singing, “Why (is it) mini-me is kicking down the door? / But why it would be my wood, I’m not sure.” In the press release for “GAY MAN,” it’s described as ‘an ode to pansexuality and finding love in usual places, stretching beyond the labels placed on individuals regarding who they love or are attracted to.’

Eli brilliantly plays around with gender and explores sexuality on “GAY MAN.” With some confusion from a listening perspective, there is also confusion from the parties involved.  “My baby, I am so confused,” they assert in the pre-chorus, continuing, “I never met a boy like you / You got me freakin’ about the shit I’m about to spew, girl.” In the second verse, which is more rhythmic than the first, Eli provides more deets.  “She like my top, she like my skirt, she like accessibility / I guess that opposites attract in many different means.” Of course, of course.  Getting more X-rated, “She like my sass, she like my ass, she like my sexuality / I licked her cat, I make her scream, my new pronouns are they/eat.” Woo! The two premier sections of “GAY MAN” are the chorus and the refrain.  In the chorus, Eli delivers classic lines like, “I bet you want to rub your pussy on my dick print 😳,” and, “And all these other boys be up inside your business / To be honest with you, you’re not unusual.” But, maybe the most important lyric of “GAY MAN” hails from the refrain: “You make a gay man go straight, you make a gay man behave.” Word.  Eli kills it on “GAY MAN”, singing sublimely whether it’s falsetto, lower-mid register, or the buttery smooth runs.  Beyond a great performance and engaging songwriting worthy of discussion, the accompanying instrumental is stupendous – the warm, robust keys and the beat! #SLAYYY 💅!