Lila Iké Talks Working With H.E.R. On Reggae Album

Jamaican starlet Lila Iké has confirmed that she’s working with R&B superstar and Grammy and Oscar award-winner H.E.R. on her upcoming Reggae project after they were spotted in the studio last year.

In an episode of Deadly Links with host Becca Dudley yesterday, Iké sat down at a London street sidewalk to discuss what it was like flexing bars with the Damage singer, who revealed last month that she would be bringing “Roots Reggae, Dancehall, R&B Feels” on her next project.  While H.E.R. added that the album’s guest list would remain a “surprise,” Shenseea has already confirmed that she’ll be featured on the project.

Lila, 27, told Dudley that the Damage singer’s team reached out to her wanting help on the project and that she was excited for the opportunity because she was already a huge fan.

“That was dope, like she’s one of my favorite R&B Soul artiste right now,” she said.

The Solitude singer said she was extremely impressed with H.E.R.‘s work ethic and described the moments working with her as “one of the greatest things I’ve experienced in my career.”

“She’s exceptional,” Lila added, before explaining why.

“Her writing first of all… I think she’s what 22? [Now 24] she’s very young right but the way how she expresses herself, its like she just reminds me a lot of Lauryn Hill. Like I can see a young Lauryn Hill in her and also just her work ethic.”

Lila said they would spend several hours in studio recording song after song, and “she just keep[s] going, like we finish a song, it’s like alright let’s hear something else.”

“And just her knowledge of music, she understands the theory of music, she plays almost all instruments … its something beautiful to experience and be inspired by,” she continued.

The experience encouraged her to go back home and further perfect her own skills with the ‘chords’.

Iké, who released her debut EP, The ExPerience in 2020, said she plans on finishing her debut studio album when she gets back to Jamaica and is ‘excited and confident’ with what she and her team have in store. According to her, fans can expect some cool international collaborations and see her open up more about her life and thoughts.

Watch the full interview with Lila on Deadly Links below, where she also discusses the experience at her first live show in 18 months at the City Splash Festival alongside King Beenie Man.