Lila Ike isn’t shy about how she feels about this one. “I’m so, so in love with this version!!” she wrote on Instagram, announcing that a brand-new take on “Love in a Lovely Way,” made with Zioni Kings, arrives this Friday.
The post came loaded with fire emojis and a pre-save link in her bio, tagged with #LoveInALovelyWay, #NewMusic and #ReggaeMusic. “Can’t wait for you to hear it,” she added. That’s about as much as she’s giving away before release day.
What she didn’t share is just as interesting. There’s no word yet on how Zioni Kings will reshape the track, whether that means a fresh arrangement, a new rhythm underneath her vocal, or something closer to a full reinterpretation. For now, fans only have her excitement to go on, and she’s clearly betting it’ll be contagious.
Reworking an existing song is about as Jamaican a move as it gets. The “version” tradition goes back decades, from the instrumental B-sides that gave rise to dub to the riddim culture where one backing track can carry dozens of different vocals.
An artist revisiting her own material with new collaborators fits squarely into that lineage.
There’s a practical side too. A new version gives a song a second shot at playlists, sound systems and listeners who might have missed it the first time around.
Some fans will want to know what the new take adds before they commit, while others will pre-save on Lila’s word alone.
Lila has built her following on that kind of trust. The singer from Jamaica came up through Protoje’s In.Digg.Nation Collective, breaking through with “Where I’m Coming From” and “I Spy.”
Her 2020 EP *ExPress Yourself* cemented her as one of the more distinctive voices in the current reggae wave.
Her calling card has always been a voice that moves easily between soulful roots and something more modern.
That flexibility makes her a natural fit for collaboration, and it’s part of why a reworked version of one of her songs feels like an event rather than an afterthought.
The Zioni Kings pairing is the real wildcard here. Whether this version ends up sitting alongside the original or replacing it as the go-to take for her listeners is something nobody will know until Friday.
Until then, the pre-save link is live and Lila’s own words are the only preview on offer. She’s called herself “so, so in love” with it, and that’s a high bar to set going into release week.
