Lila Iké ADD

Treasure Self Love - Interview with Lila Iké

08/31/2025 by Gardy Stein

Sometimes, it just takes one person to alter your life’s course. One person who understands where you’re coming from, sees your potential and encourages you to fulfil it. For Lila Iké, this person is In.Digg.Nation president Protoje, who has been at her side from day one, introducing her to studios, stages and audiences around the world. And what an introduction it has been! Lila just came back from a summer of amazing performances at Europe’s biggest festivals, has won the Caribbean Music Award for Best Female Reggae Artist the third time in a row and released her debut album Treasure Self Love, for which she and Protoje joined forces as executive producers.

Talking about all that and more, Reggaeville was able to interview this exceptional Jamaican voice the day after she received above-mentioned award in New York in a night filled with excitement and Caribbean music: 

Hi Lila, it’s so nice to talk to you. How are you feeling?

I'm feeling great. I just won the Female Reggae Artist of the Year Award. I’m in a great, great mood!

Congrats! That was last night, right? You performed there as well, how was the atmosphere?

It was amazing! The most amazing thing about it was that I got to be around my people. Every corner I looked, there was a familiar face, and I got to see other artists from the different Caribbean countries and understand a little bit about about their genres as well. It was just an evening in great company, with great music and great people.

It's the third time that you won this award. What does this mean for you, personally and for your career?

It's amazing! I have been nominated before for another award, I got two nominations for the MOBOs, but the Caribbean Music Awards is the very first award I've ever won. So it's very sentimental to me, and every year I keep winning, without any campaign. I just allow things to naturally be what they’re supposed to. I just feel really proud of myself, you know?

And rightfully so! You had an amazing summer so far… Reggae Land UK was the talk of the town, and you performed there as well, on that huge stage. How was that?

Oh my God! It was… I've been saying this before, it’s been my favorite festival in Europe and the UK. Ever! The vibe was vibrant, big ups to Reggae Land too, because their production was amazing, the colors, everything... it was just really vibrant. And, you know, I went on early, I opened the stage on the day that I played, and it was just like 2 o’clock, I wondered if anyone's going to be out there, but it doesn't really matter to me anyways. But when I walked out and I saw so much people, and everyone was just so happy and the band was sounding great, and also I was there with Protoje too, we played back to back, it was just a real enjoyable moment. I got to see Chronixx perform for the first time in a long time. I saw Mavado for the first time… it was just a great experience, man. I had a really good time.

I can imagine! Protoje was also with you on the Ruhr Reggae Festival, on stage with Tippy I, so you continued touring with him throughout the summer, right?

Yeah, we did. We also did Reggae Geel before that as well. It was a really nice summer, I must say. Thank God.

Also, your release party is now in the books, I saw some snippets from that on Insta. What made you decide to do that in London?

You know what it is, I started this brand, which is spin-off of the whole “Lila Iké the artiste”. I'm a big fan of sound system culture, you know, I grew up with my stepdad working on sound systems. So, all my life I've wanted to own my own sound system. So when I met my DJ [Josh Skints] I think about two years ago, we decided we were going to start a sound system. And it was basically… you know how you see Protoje with Tippy I and it's a different presentation of his music, the Wurl Sound thing, I wanted it to be like that whenever I have a show that wasn't with the band, it's not just Lila singing on top of an instrumental, it's an experience. And so out of that brand I created what we call the Wurl Sound, and every year, just before Carnival in London, I do a Wurl Dance, which is basically like a party, a reggae party, just warming people up to the carnival vibrations in London. And this year I was like, ‘You know what? I should just make it a smash, the dance and my album launch!’ It was really heavily supported. Every year it sold out, we play reggae music, but this year was unique because it was an album launch as well. So people got to purchase merch and I got to sign some albums and have people just really excited for my project. So that's really why I decided to do it there.

Nice! How was the turnout? How many people were there?

Well, the venue capped at 450, but it was definitely more than that, I think around 600. It was amazing!

Did you perform some of the songs too or was it a listening event?

Nah, definitely! The thing about it as well is… the people that come to the Wurl Dance, because as I said, it's been two years since I've created that brand, it's really like the core core Lila Iké fans who are tapped in and know everything that's going on. So they come there, they want to hear me sing. Usually whether the dance or the launch, I would have touched the mic at some point. So yeah, I did sing a few songs from the project, I did Scatter, I did Sweet, I did the song with Protoje [All Around The World] because he was there, and a couple others. It's a mixture of playing songs, singing songs and having other artists come through and sing too.

That brings us right in the middle of the album that you just released. How was the production process of Treasure Self Love? Did you see any difference from the production of your EP The ExPerience in 2020, or was it similar?

It was definitely a different experience! When I did my debut EP it was more in-house, especially because it was around Covid time, so we couldn't really go anywhere. So it was just me, Protoje and the team at the Habitat Studio in Kingston, we were just making music every day and we coined that project of just us vibing. As for this album, I literally recorded it all over the world. I did some recordings in LA, at the time I was signed to RCA, so they had put me in rooms with different producers, and it was exciting because, you know, I always love hearing someone else's interpretation of reggae music. I feel like reggae is a genre that no matter what you put it in the room with it blends really well. For me, working with producers who work with different artists from different genres, and I get to bring it back home and do my thing with it, that spreads the music and everything doesn't sound the same all the time. I love reggae music, that's like my heart and soul, but I'm also in love with other genres. I'm a big R&B fan, a big soul fan, a big neo-soul fan, a big dancehall fan. So it was really important to be in rooms with different people and have different interpretations of the music, and then it all kind of fell together the way it did.

That's so cool. You mentioned all those different interests and influences you have, but one thing that runs through the album is an homage to the early reggae & dancehall era. You have quotes from Peter Tosh, Garnett Silk, and the cover versions of course. What impact did the ‘90s reggae and dancehall have on you and your artistry?

I'd say the biggest! In the ‘90s, I was a little girl growing up, and as I said, I grew up around soundsystem culture. Where I'm from in Christiana, almost every weekend there was a big sound in my community just playing reggae music nonstop, dancehall music nonstop. So all of that music kind of soaked within me. And ever since I was little, I've been drawn to the sounds, the bass, the drum, but also watching people react to the music was a big thing as well. You know, you'd hear people bussing blanks and so on, it was always an exciting thing. So, when I decided to be an artist, when I walked into that path of just singing all the time and writing all the time, you know, these influences were already in my subconscious. Garnett Silk has a major impact on me as an artist, he's my favorite artist of all times, you know? So while I was simultaneously hearing the dancehall and the reggae, my mom only played reggae and gospel and just very clean music within the household, it's all of that blended together to create my sound. And as I began to discover myself, I started asking myself the question of, ‘Okay, so of all these influences, what's my voice? What do I want to say? How can I bridge the gap with all of these sounds and create something that is fresh and new and still can transcend generations?’ And I feel like that's kind of what I'm working on.

From all the tracks that were released in that period, you chose to cover Patra’s Romantic Call on the album. Congrats for this, by the way, it’s such a fun track! How did the idea come up?

I wanna tell you that, for me, creating, I cannot tell when last I've intentionally decided that in a piece of music, this is exactly what I'm going to do. It really all happens from natural inspiration. I was in London with the producer Juls. He invited me to his studio and he played me a bunch of riddims and, you know, Juls is mostly an Afrobeats artist. And I was like, ‘It's cold in London, the energy is definitely not giving dance music right now!’ So I wasn't really connecting with any of the beats, and just before I left, he played me that one, and it was the saxophone in it that grabbed me and I was like, ‘I really like this. I think I can do something with it.’ I wrote about five different songs on that riddim, and then I started… for some reason, the Patra just popped in my brain. I was like, ‘Yo, Patra song could fit on this so perfectly!’ And I went and I laid it down and we kind of just built it out into what it is now.

That's so cool. And how did Masicka come in?

Masicka came in because, obviously Patra brought it to dancehall. And I was like, you know, ‘I don't really want this to be an Afrobeats song because it's just not my thing right now. This needs to feel more dancehall!’ And so, with me doing the Patra cover, I reach out to Patra to do an intro for me and she came through and I was like, ‘I feel like a dancehall artist on a collab would be really dope on this!’ And because I'm familiar with Masicka because I was featured on his project last year, I hit him up. I was like, ‘Yo, I have this song I'd really love if you listen to it, tell me if you like it.’ He's like, ‘Send it!’ I sent it to him, he just sent me back a verse in like a week and it was just amazing. And then we linked up, did the video...

It really gives a great vibe! There are some other features on the album, too, that I'd like to mention. There’s Protoje, of course, I think he was a big part of the album also behind the scenes, right?

Yeah, man, sure! He and I executively produced this project, and Protoje is always like my second pair of ears and everything. Most of the times I'll be away, I'll make the music, I'll bring it back home to his studio and we'll just sit down and he be like, ‘Oh, we can change this drum and make it more foundation, or this bass...’ So yeah, definitely. He's all over it for sure.

The cover you did with him, All Around The World, is literally all around the world when you look at the video. How many countries were involved in this?

I never actually counted it, but we did Paris, so, France, Japan, London, New York, Egypt, Ethiopia. And I think there's other clips from tours in Germany and other places like that. But yeah, it was literally all over the world. That song was supposed to be for his album, so, he was working on it and I walked in and he put me on it, he’s like, ‘Have you ever heard this Barrington Levy song? Ever since I was a boy, I loved this song, and it was just really cool that Barrington did it with some rappers.’ And Barrington is singing it in a cadence that I found so hilarious, his voice can be so much! So that's why even on that song, you notice I sound really different because I was trying to imitate Barrington's sound. So, I went in the studio, I sang it, and it was really just for fun. And then Protoje and everyone in the studio was like, ‘What? This is cool! I'm not changing this, I'm keeping it!’ That's how it came about and he also did a verse on it as well. And naturally, it's a song that celebrates the joy of creating music and where it has brought us, so the minute we made the song, I started thinking about the music video. I said like, ‘Yo, wherever you go, just have somebody film you performing the song. Because I'm sure when we're ready to shoot the video, it needs to give people that energy that we're really, literally bringing the message across borders!’ (laughs)

True. It's a great track. Great video too! So cool.

Thank you.

These are some of the straightforward features, I would say. But some of the others were a surprise, at least for me. So Joey Bada$$ for one, then H.E.R. and also Maverick, whom I didn't know before. Can you say something about how these collaborations came to pass?

For Maverick, the first time I went to London on my own, because I've been there on tour with Protoje before, I was just linking up with different people, and we've always been fans of each other. We talk a lot on Instagram, talk about making music together. That song, I went to his studio one evening, I think I got there at 7pm, and I didn't leave until 7am the next day because we were just making music, nonstop. So, I was the first part of that song when you hear the keyboard, that was actually me in the studio playing it. His producer sampled it, and we just came up with such a beautiful song because we were having a discussion first about how… this was on the heels of Covid happening. And we're like, everyone is just locked away and just on social media, and it just maximizes this thing, our life. But really and truly what's at the core? And I just started singing the melodies, and that's how the song came about. With Mav, he’s an amazing singer, amazing artist, really dope writer. I had a lot of fun making that song with him!

Joey Bada$$, I met him on the music video of that song, and so he was like, ‘Yo, let's do a song together.’ I already had Fried Plantain done with my verses, so I just took out one of my verse, sent him, and he got me his.

As for H.E.R., she reached out to me also during Covid, she was working on a reggae project and they needed some writers. I wish she released it because it is so amazing! Her manager heard about me from somebody, and he was like, ‘I love that song Where I'm Coming From. I played it for Gabby. She really likes it. She wants to link up with you.’ And so, a majority of her writing was just like this on FaceTime until she was like, ‘You're really dope, we should link up in person!’ I wrote some songs for that project, and then she asked if I had anything working on. And funnily enough, I wrote that song He Loves Us Both, both hers and my part, long before I ever knew I was even going to meet her. So I had that song pattern. Really, it was like a dream collaboration of mine. So when I got the call to write for her and we started to connect and she asked if I had anything, I played it for her and she just went in the studio at the same time. She changed up the second bit of it, and that's how that song came about.

Cool! About this song, I mention in the album review how rare it is to have this subject addressed, in this Western culture with predominantly monogamous relationships. I found it very interesting that you bring it up from a female perspective, especially.

That message I, I really wanted… because the inspiration behind that song, it's a very true story, it's a personal story to me, it's something I experienced. And I wonder how many women go through this and deal with it like that, versus it being the bickering and disrespecting each other. Because really and truly, when it comes to matters of the heart, man, like we don't actually have control over who we're drawn to or who we love or who we fall in love with. And it's just a very interesting topic to speak about. And I wanted it to be a healthy, grown up conversation. And I just knew that the only person I could think of who could pull it off was H.E.R. So, she came in and she did an amazing job.

Yeah, true! I won't go through every song because I know time is a bit limited, but one thing I want to talk about is your styles. In every video that you put out, you look so stunning. Your hair, your clothes… who do you work with? Is it one stylist, one designer or are there several people around you?

You know, I've worked with a lot of different people, but usually when I'm making music, it's so real to me, I can vividly see everything play out, it's like I see exactly what the music video for this is supposed to look like. And then, my personal stylist is actually my assistant, her name is Shenelle Moore [@quillakat]. She's just brilliant at putting stuff together, and she also understands what I like wearing. I can dress really comfortably sometime, I love being fully covered and, you know, being in dope cords or whatever, but she'll more push me towards my more feminine side. Like, ‘You should look a little more sexy over here!’ and whatever, because I like playing it safe. But I feel like in the past year or two, I've definitely evolved my style at just being more tapped into my feminine energy and being more comfortable showing skin and just being a girl, you know, dressing up, having fun. (laughs) So for me, a music video, it's like you're making a song, but with visuals, it's very important that you pay attention to the detail as well. And also as a ‘90s baby, I grew up in an era where music videos was like movies. I used to look on BET like the dopest videos coming out. It was a big deal. So I was trying to keep that culture alive and also showing range as well to women, like, you can do reggae music that is seen as the conscious music and still look however you want to. It's style. It's literally just an extension of your art. There's no limit, you know what I'm saying? That's really what it is.

True! Coming back to the title of the album, it's really beautiful: Treasure Self Love. I like the poem that you have in Serious at the end, which explains a lot about it. But still, my question would be, what is self-love for you? What does it encompass?

Self-love encompasses me accepting myself for who I am, not comparing myself to anybody else, learning myself and understanding that the Lila Iké this year is not going to be the same person from five years ago. That’s the reason I called the album Treasure Self Love, and also didn't even make self love one word. I feel like those three individual words in themselves, I wanted the ambiguity of treasuring self, treasuring love. Get what I'm saying? For me, overall music is a treasure for me and I feel like what I gained making this project, because when I started working on it, I was at one of the lowest points in my life in 2021, and I really was on the brink of giving up and feeling like there wasn't any more hope for me within this space. But literally through making these songs, and as you get to the end of the album, you realize that’s really where the chunk of what this entire thing is about lies, I realized that I had to get deeper within myself and be comfortable with who I am, loving who I am and just being okay with it. Just understanding that emotions are like clouds and the weather, you have the sky and then today it's going to be sunny, tomorrow it might rain, but the sky remains! So, it's really deep and we could talk about it for the whole day, but I feel like self-love is really just learning self, accepting self and not just loving self, but really treasuring it. Because when you treasure something, you protect it with your life. And because the word self-love has become something that is so trendy now just to say it, I kind of never wanted to make it one thing, because that's not necessarily what I mean when I say self-love. It's like, separate those three words and really zone in on self, zone in on the act of loving and treasuring everything around you, really and truly treasure in life, you know? So that's kind of where that all came from for me.

Oh, thank you for the reasoning. That makes it very understandable and relatable. All the best for this baby! I have the deepest respect for your works, for what you bring from that feminine side. My last question would be, in your name tag here on Zoom it says “Blessings and Light”. And I know that this is an NGO you do. Can you tell us a bit about it?

You know, blessings and light literally! I'm a very… I love kids. Ever since I was growing up, I've always been drawn to kids. And because of my background, I never grew up with much, and I always felt like whatever I have, however I can bless somebody, I'm going to do it and I do it anyways. You get me? So, I started doing this annual back-to-school-treat within my hometown. Usually around this time as well, I just go back, I put on a concert, I buy some food, I buy bags, shoes, all sorts of different school supplies, and just give it back to the kids and just watch them have fun and enjoy. Like, a last fun day before school reopens. It really just started from wanting to do that within my community. I did it two years in a row, and I realized that I should make this official, that I should really get into the act of philanthropy because I do it anyways, and I'm passionate about it. I've been to different homes, speaking to kids, I've spent days at children's homes just playing my guitar and hanging with them. Not necessarily stuff that I publicize, but I really want to take that on, I really want to be a part of changing somebody's life because I feel like as talented as I am, with everything that's happening for me right now, it took one individual deciding that he's going to help me. You know, Protoje discovered my talent and he's been steadfast, being my mentor, my friend, my brother, everything, and helping me out. My life could have gone in a different direction. So, for me, I want to use my platform, my blessings, whether financially or whatever, to just help somebody else because you never know whose life you might change. And so that's kind of why I decided I'm going to officially make it a foundation where I can get other help from other people to reach more people. That's really what it's about.

A call to the people to support this! Respect from the bottom of my heart, really. It's so cool that you do all this on top of everything else… I mean, you have a full-time job at your hands and all. Thank you so much for taking the time from your busy schedule. What are the next steps, do you already have some shows lined up or do you go home to relax?

That's next, definitely! I'm going home to relax, to chill out, go to the beach, cook some food and just check in with family. And then, I think end of September I should have Summer Stage in New York, I have something at SOB's. I think I might do a little East Coast American tour between the end of September into the beginning of October, but for now, it's just relaxing. Get back into the gym. Get back in my routine.

Ok. Trod safe, and may everybody get to hear your beautiful music!

Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time, I appreciate your support. Blessings and love!