Laila! Builds on Viral Success With Debut Album 'Gap Year!'
The title of the 18-year-old artist's inaugural album is taken straight from real-life experience.
Laila! is inviting the world to join her on a much-needed Gap Year! with her self-produced debut album, out now.
The 17-song project builds on the TikTok-originating success of breakout track "Not My Problem," which last month received an official video from director Otmara Marrero. In a statement at the time, the Brooklyn-born 18-year-old said the song is intended to serve as a "mantra," of sorts, noting that it started as a freestyle.
"'Not My Problem' began as a freestyle I made after making the beat first," she explained. "I played it for my sister and she said, 'that's hard.' I just started singing the hook and it worked. It’s more of a mantra about letting go and not taking on things that really aren’t your problem."
The song joins several others on the larger album experience that should be familiar to those who have followed Laila!’s rise in recent months, including "Like That!" and "Flyer Than U." Head here for the full thing, available now through the IIIXL Studio label with distribution made possible by a partnership with SoundCloud. As announced this week, Laila! is this month’s featured artist as part of the platform’s Ascending program, which focuses on global artist development.
As Laila! previously told fans in the run-up to the album, the title is pulled directly from personal experience.
"I’m not sure if you guys know but basically I graduated a year early from high school (in my junior year) and I didn’t have any plans for college," she said in an Instagram note last month. "In all honesty, I just wasn’t taking it seriously so I decided to take a GAP YEAR."
The album, she added, gives listeners "a collection of what I’ve made during this year of being out in the real world."
Last month, Laila! spoke with Jordan Rose for Complex, resulting in an interview during which she confirmed online speculation that Yasiin Bey is her dad ("the rumors are true") and named Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson as her earliest influences. Read more here.
On Sept. 20, Laila! will celebrate Gap Year with her first-ever headlining show. See more info below.
Welcome to Laila!’s World
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