Lila Iké: "I just love when other people are happy and if I can contribute to that with my talent then I'll be happy as well!"

Lila, you were born in the hills of Manchester, could you please tell us a bit more about that part of Jamaica? Lila Iké: "It's part of the Jamaican countryside, with not a lot of things happening there, if you know what I mean, but people just living their simple natural lives, farming and thing.

At a younger age you were still considered to be the class clown, but at which age did the clowning start making way for music? Lila Iké: "I was already very fond of music when I was still in high school, but I just used it to entertain my friends and classmates. Whenever we were in class and nothing was happening or there wasn't a teacher around, I would sing for the rest of the class. It went from simply singing to pretending we were at a dance, adding the sound effects and all, to even literally acting the clown doing standup comedy or whatever. It was in fifth grade, when we were about to graduate from high school that I wrote a song as I didn't want to copy the traditional songs that everyone else was already doing. Our year group was considered very vibrant and rebellious, so standing out from the crowd fitted in with that image. When I first composed the song, I sang it to a friend of mine whose aunt was working in the school's administration department, and when she heard it she immediately went: "Lila, I have to let my aunt hear this!", so she took me to see her, I once again sang the song and she called in the choir director, who was coordinating the whole musical aspect of the graduation ceremony. He was immediately sold as well and told me he wanted me to perform the song in front of the entire year. I was kind of iffy about it in the beginning, but he managed to convince me I really sounded great and turned it into the graduation anthem for that year. After I had performed at the graduation ceremony, people immediately started coming up to me, asking me when they could hear more from me or if I had a record out already. Now when I moved on to university, that's when I really started out hanging around with a lot of musician friends; people that were trying to make a name for themselves with their music and become full-fledged artists. This inspired me to start writing more as well. I started recording music on my computer, putting it on SoundCloud and have never really looked back since."

What were your early influences? What were you listening to yourself? Lila Iké: "Growing up, I've always been a big fan of reggae music, because that was what my mom played all day around the house. I think I can honestly say I inherited my love and passion for music in general from her. I would literally wake up in the morning with loud music sounding through the house and it would still be playing when I went to bed at night. One artist she introduced me to, who definitely stood out for me, was Garnet Silk. The story of how he passed away and the fact that he literally came from down the road only fed my fascination for his work. I remember I was listening to his music one day and I literally felt a spiritual connection and from that point onward music really became my one and only focus as I strive to relive that special vibe I felt then."

Protoje, with Lila Ike you now have your own protégée. How did you guys meet and why her? Protoje: "Simply put, Lila is my joy! I met het through my assistant Jamila (Pinto, red.). She told me about her, I heard her sing and she immediately caught my attention. Lila is just a beautiful spirit, who shares so much joy and life with the people around her. Musically speaking, I think she's just an awesome talent and given the right time I truly believe she's going to become a force to be reckoned with within the Jamaican music business!"
Lila Iké: "Jamila was my high school friend and becoming Protoje's assistant, she always tried to make me listen to his music. Now at that stage I wasn't really into the whole roots revival scene yet, because I wasn't convinced anyone would surpass the greatness of the originals like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Garnet Silk and all of them. But Protoje is a man who is very lyrical, to the point of getting esoteric at some points; you really have to listen and pay attention to get what he's saying, something I discovered when another one of my friends made me listen to all of Protoje's albums back to back. That's when I reached out to Mila again, telling her I felt what Protoje was doing was really dope as shit. Now when I moved to Kingston she introduced me to him. It was literally the first day that I was in Kingston that she invited me to come to his album launch. At one point my phone rang. I had installed one of my own songs as a ringtone and somebody must have told him I wrote my own stuff, because he called out to me and said: "Yeah man Lila your song sound good!". Soon after he invited me to record my first single, which isn't 'Biggest Fan' by the way, but a mama tune that hasn't been released yet. After that 'Biggest Fan' and 'Gotti Gotti' followed and things started moving fast."

'Biggest Fan' is an autobiographical song. Would you mind sharing the story behind it? Lila Iké: "With that song on the one side I really wanted to reach my mom, because there were a lot of things I needed and wanted to explain to her, but lacked the courage to do so in an ordinary conversation. I wanted to explain why I opted for a career in music, when I knew she just wanted me to be successful and not just hang around with deejays, smoking herb, sitting around in a music studio all day. So when I wrote 'Biggest Fan', it was with my mother in my mind. I knew this was going to be my first release and wanted her to know and get my point of view and hear how much I loved what I was doing. Even though she had her reservations, my mom still always supported me in what I was doing. I also wanted to song to reach other young people that where perhaps going through the same things I was, and that's exactly the reactions I got after I released it. I feel it's important for parents to support their children in whatever career they want to pursue."

About 'Second Chance', a tune you did over Dennis Brown's Promised Land riddim, you said you felt it was the song you felt happiest about as it sounds closest to what you sound like live on stage. Lila Iké: "I love 'Second Change' as thus far it was the easiest song for me to write, simply because I never physically wrote any of those lyrics… I just went into the studio booth, they started playing the riddim and when I heard the bass line the lyrics just came. I just did it in one take, and ever since its release the amount of praise and loving reactions has been unbelievable. I guess through this song people have also come to realize I can really sing, as on my previous songs I still mixed it up with a little rub-a-dub and deejay style. Fun story… When I finished that song and was listening to the result on my way home, I still felt I wanted to change the narrative as I felt like: "Hell no, I'm not going to be out here begging someone for a second chance!". When I got home I wrote an entirely different version and took it with me to the studio the next day. But when I presented them with this "second draft", they went like: "No way! That vibe of that first version is exactly what you want people to hear and feel!", so I decided to leave it at that and they definitely proved me wrong. In the mean time we've also shot an accompanying video and I've become very proud of the song."

Are you working toward releasing a first album or an EP yet? Lila Iké: "Well, from my perspective, I don't want to rush into anything. I want to develop my skills more, before committing to a larger project like that. When I do release a first EP or album, I want it to make sense, have a certain theme and not just do it to have it out there."

In short, what is Lila Iké all about? Lila Iké: "Vibes! I just love when other people are happy and if I can contribute to that with my talent then I'll be happy as well!"

Foto: © Fabrice De Smedt