Lila Iké Treats Fans With Her First Album, ‘The ExPerience’

It is no surprise that Jamaican songbird Lila Iké, a newcomer, has become a hit reggae star, commanding airwaves across the globe. The soul-baring artiste today, released her debut EP The ExPerience, and the album is already an excellent success, winning forwards from fans and artistes around the world.

After several weeks of teasing and promotion the official release of her seven-track EP, culminated in an Instagram watch party last evening where the sultry, soulful, sexy reggae sensation treated fans to her first body of work.

The EP fittingly opens with her popular hit, Where I’m Coming From and continues into an intense selection of lyrical artistic brilliance. The silky sounds of Iké’s voice explores the tones, tempos and clarity of an understated musical experience.

The ExPerience surrounds you with life, love and relationships, packaged in an arrangement of talent and obvious passion – one that constantly reminds us of the beauty of music and why we should love reggae.

Signed to Protoje’s label In.Digg.Nation, Lila had notable collaborative efforts supporting her project – from producer Andron Cross aka IzyBeats (the beat maker behind Koffee’s Toast), to American label RCA Records and Six Course (with which the artiste signed a new deal on April 13, 2020).

Sharing the novelty of a mother-child experience, Iké disclosed her first studio project, eliciting a wave of public excitement on Instagram.

“I’ve been carrying this bundle of joy in my heart for some time now and it’s finally time to share it with you all. My very first project “The ExPerience”, (my baby). This project consists of 7 songs and on the 15th of May you guys can all hear it!,” she captioned in an Instagram post to her over one hundred and sixty thousand followers.

Waiting in anticipation for the arrival of the album, Lila, executive producer Protoje and fans were joined by the new grammy-kid Koffee and dancehall artistes Popcaan and Skillibeng, among others on her Instagram watch party.

Dressed in light clothing, the songstress opened the session grooving to her new beats, imploring fans to “roll in”.  “Yow, unu tell all a unu fren dem come pan dah live ya,” she urged fans.

Responding to a fan question on the live, Iké says the creative aesthetics used for the cover of her album appeared to her unintentionally.  

“There was a picture that we were using as the reference just for like the pose we wanted for like the angle that we wanted for my whole thing to be. And, the background for that picture was orange. So, when Nicky was doing the shoot, she got the orange backdrop and we were like dah colour here definitely blend in with my skin and I’m looking golden in these shots. So, we just decided to go ahead with the orange,” she explained. 

Iké says her favorite track on the album is Solitude, which she says offers a different untold side of who she is, because of its ability to connect with her on a spiritual and emotional level.

“I think my favorite song on the project would be solitude, which is the second track. One, because that song is very real to me. I wrote that song when I got the guitar, because I started it on the guitar. Protoge got me guitar for my birthday and I remember when he gave it to me, I just started playing it and I started free styling that song. I was going through a period that I just wanted to say the things I said in that song. That song means a lot to me and because of how different it is,” she said.

So far, ‘I Spy’, track number three on the album is expected to command ‘wicked’ attention for seasons to come.  Thy Will is another favorite with fans among the previously unreleased tracks.

Koffee and Popcaan, in the midst of the celebrations, requested replays of their favorites.  The Grammy-winner also chimed in to pour love and support for Iké’s latest achievement. “Yow, me excited yuh fret. Mi feel like mi ina yu position right now, mi excited like. Mi excited fi yuh. It’s a vibe, mi deh ya take in everything. Mi love it so far man, it’s a vibe,” Koffee said. 

It is no secret that all eyes and ears will now be glued to Jamaica’s shores, as fans all over the world sample Iké’s EP.  The island has never been short of talent and the good thing is that Iké has ascended as an assortment of pop-reggae wanderlust, providing just what reggae lovers are looking for.

Stream The ExPerience below or on your favorite music provider.