Laila! Is Here To Give the Girls What They Need

If you've spent any time on TikTok recently, odds are, you're tuned into Laila!'s world already.




In 2023 the Brooklyn-based artist dropped "Like That," which quickly gained millions of views and took her straight into the Billboard's TikTok charts. "Not My Problem" followed suit, and soared in popularity twice over when Cash Cobain sampled the track in "Problem!". In it, 14 musicians – including the likes of Fabolous, Flo Milli, Anycia and more – each take turns riffing on Laila!'s catchy refrain. And now, Laila! just dropped her debut single, Gap Year. Oh, and did we mention she's 18 years old?




A through and through Aries, Laila! graduated from high school early and used her gap year to focus solely on music. Those hits that spent months dominating TikTok and Soundcloud mixes? Yeah, those were created from her bedroom: beats, lyrics and all. "I graduated high school in my junior year and music was just like the most organic next step," she tells Hypebae.




Gap Year delves into her life as a teenage girl with clear nostalgia from the '80s, '90s and Y2K era. The project features 17 self-produced tracks, including at least two more tracks that are bound to go viral. "This album is a collection of what I've made during this year of being out in the real world and doing what I love," she wrote on Instagram. "It's so, so personal and dear to me so I really really pray you all like it."

If her latest success is anything to go by, we're in for a treat. Laila! has big aspirations, and the talent to make it happen, too. "I really want to inspire people and pave the way for other girls making beats and doing something that's different, but also fun and nostalgic at the same time," she says. But perhaps most of all, Laila! is proving that doing things your own way pays off - especially when confronting those who've accused her of being a nepo baby. Yes, her dad is music royalty, but what she's done she's achieved all by herself.




Below, Laila! talks about finding her sound, making mistakes and her advice for the girls working on not giving a f-ck.

Congrats on Gap Year. What would you say was your biggest inspiration for this album?




My biggest inspiration for this album has been the transition that I've been going through in my life, really: taking an actual gap year. So I guess, just like my life, basically.




Is there a particular song are you most proud of?




That's tricky because I'm so proud of all of the songs. But, I guess, “Flyer Than U” and “Want To”. Making the beat for each was so fun and “Want To” especially is super intricate, too. Being able to create everything and being in charge of every aspect of the project has been so cool, because it's totally 100% me. I feel like I'm still in the driver's seat and, ultimately, it feels super authentic which I think is exciting and fun.




Do you believe in manifestation? If so, what's your wish for this album?




I definitely believe in manifestation. I think our minds and words are so powerful and we can speak things into real life. With this album, my aspiration is to touch and inspire people. I hope that I can be influential when it comes to my generation of artists and producers. I really want to inspire people and pave the way for other girls making beats, while also doing something that's different, but also fun and nostalgic. So, yeah, I just want to touch people. I just hope the project does something for someone. That's my goal.

Take us back to the beginning. How did you learn to produce?




I taught myself GarageBand! I'm a big believer in learning and like learning things myself. I'm also pretty impatient and I don't like people telling me how to do stuff. There's a certain way that I like to do things on the computer that I may not have necessarily learned [if I had been taught by someone else].




It definitely took a lot of time, effort and practice, but I liked it that way because I got to learn things my way. I developed certain methods and little tricks and things that I just couldn't have learned by watching a million tutorials. It was just fun to make mistakes and learn by myself.




When you finished "Not My Problem" and "Like That!" did you suspect they would go viral on TikTok?




No, I didn't. I didn't expect "Like That!" would go viral on TikTok at all! It was my first song ever, so I was just happy that anybody listened to it at all. So the fact that so many people saw it and celebrities were dancing to it and all that was crazy.




Obviously, there's more to the journey than virality. But, if you could predict any song from Gap Year to go viral on TikTok next, which one would it be?




That's a hard question. I feel like "If U Don't Know By Now" [could go viral], because it's just such a fun song and I feel like there are so many amazing soundbites in that. "R U Down?" also, because it is so fun and I hope it makes people want to dance. I can definitely see people on TikTok doing dances and just coming up with fun stuff to those songs because they're so full of life.

Who are you most inspired by musically?




Brandy and Aaliyah inspire me so much. The beauty of their music and their voices, and how sonically aligned they are with themselves… I feel like so much of their personality shines through their music, and I can get a really good sense of who they are by how it feels listening to their music, you know? Even their stories and how they came into the game super young is inspiring to me.




Talking about inspiration, talk us through your personal style influences.




My mom, honestly. I wear a lot of her stuff from when she was my age. Her style in the 2000s and the '90s was super cute and colorful. I also love Pharrell and Missy Elliott – they are big style inspirations for me too.




Speaking of family, you've previously said you want to keep your famous father's identity under wraps so you can continue to create in your own lane but his identity did come out. What was the response like?




Hmm, I guess it was a mix because I didn't want people to think that my talent wasn't valid just because of who my dad is, or my work to be diminished and disregarded. Looking back now, it's kind of funny because my dad's especially proud of me for working so hard and doing everything on my own but I was really shocked by people's reaction.




People were like, "You know guys… this actually doesn't change anything. Like, she has been working really hard and we knew her music before. Good for her that she was able to make a name for herself without using her dad's name or whatever." So, I was really happy to see people being really positive about it.




There were obviously people saying negative stuff, too. But I just feel like, at the end of the day, I know that I worked hard to get myself here and I didn't have to use anybody's name to do that.

In honor of "Not My Problem", do you have any advice for the girls working on not giving a f-ck?




Oh my God, I love this question! I would say: only prioritize the things that you actually care about. If you literally don't have any mental brain space to deal with something that someone else is bringing to you, that's fine. It's okay to say no. It's okay to put yourself first, and be selfish and be a b-tch, because if putting yourself first makes you a b-tch, then be a b-tch.




But don't just say sh-t is not your problem, when it is your problem. Because sometimes things are your problem and you can't just push them away or disassociate. It's never good to suppress sh-t, but when it comes to people projecting things onto you, people trying to make you internalize things…. That’s just not your problem.




Where do you see yourself – and your fans – in the next five years?




I see us at the Grammys. At every major award show, nighttime TV shows, red carpets and galas… I see us doing a show on Venus and Mars and Pluto [laughing] – nah, I'm kidding. But I do see myself being one of the most influential artists of my time.




'Gap Year' is now available to stream on all major platforms.

Read more at Hypebae