Leikeli47 Is Shaping Up

Throughout her musical evolution, the energy and focus she has dedicated towards her own personal growth and self-actualization has been reflected in her work, which largely deals with embracing individual authenticity and beauty. Now, with the release of her latest album Shape Up, the musician brings an important chapter in her musical journey to a close, while simultaneously signaling the beginning of a new era for her work.

One afternoon in April, I met with the artist in her hometown of Brooklyn. In the corner of Sternberg Park, we sat at a pair of benches between the playground and the baseball fields. The sky was gray and bright, and the tree branches overhead were covered in budding white flowers. In the background, the playful shrieks of children, fresh out of school, running laps around the nearby jungle gym; melded with the hollers and jeers from teenagers strolling around the baseball field. The crisp early-spring wind felt chilly against my face, making me wish I hadn’t left my knit balaclava at home.

Leikeli greeted me with a warm embrace. She was dressed head-to-toe in black, her feet comfortably resting in black crocs in preparation for her flight to Los Angeles later that day. Her eyes, decorated with bright neon orange liner, were the only portion of her face not concealed by her black face mask. Even though her face was mostly hidden, I could still sense her friendly smile as we sat down to begin the interview.

In early May, a few weeks away, her album Shape Up will be released— the third part of her LP trilogy that began with 2017’s Wash & Set and was shortly followed up in 2018 with Acrylic. 

“They’re all clear invites into my world,” she said to PBS in a 2019 interview.  “Invites into my experience—my black experience, my growing up, my streets, my campuses. All three of them are creative insights into who I am.”

As of May 13, Shape Up is available to listen on all streaming platforms. Read on for the full conversation about the artist’s perspective of the album, her musical influences, and her personal philosophies towards life and manifesting growth and success.

How are you doing today?

So good! I'm excited to be here. I'm excited that people are excited about this album. I'm excited about sitting in this park, talking with you. I want to say thank you so much, and yeah, I just feel good!

That’s awesome. So, any songs that you’ve been listening to today?

Oh, do you want to know? What did I listen to today? Let's go with the accuracy. [Takes out her phone] Okay, so, this has been on repeat. ["Big Shop" by Billy Joel appears on her phone screen] This, and the first piece of music I heard today was, let me see. I'm gonna set a quick alarm, so you can hear it. Don't laugh. It's gonna go off. 

[26 seconds later, James Brown’s voice blares through her phone speakers]

This is how I wake up. This is the alarm. It’s "Get Up" by James Brown. 

I love that. That’s a great way to wake up and get ready for the day. Put yourself in a good mood.

Exactly.

So, you’ve already released singles "Zoom," "LL COOL J," and "Chitty Bang," and Shape Up is set to release later this spring. How does this album build on the concepts of Wash & Set and Acrylic?

So, starting with Wash & Set-- it was a story about my new growth. It was a story about not looking like the things that I was going through. As people, we do that. We tend to journey through. I thought it was cool to come from the beauty space because that is a perfect arena for not looking like the things you're going through. As human beings, we all have this one common goal of getting beautified and feeling good about ourselves, but we never think about what's really going on on the inside. So Wash & Set was definitely a story about that. I really want to talk about not looking like the things that we go through, and resetting, and living, and accepting our new growth. 

Acrylic was an invite to my world. It's where I'm from, the places I've traveled, my journey, the things that grew me as a young woman. My saying and my quote for that album is, 'You know where you are when you smell acrylics.' You're in Brooklyn. You're in Harlem. You're in Virginia Beach. You're in Detroit. I wanted to lead with that but, I wanted to show people the beauty in our spaces that some may find uncomfortable. I wanted to lead with that. I wanted to show people the beauty in our spaces that some may find uncomfortable. And with that, we journey from the South to the city. We go from Highway 85 to the A train. It's all about the journey, and again– an invite into where I'm from.

Then I get to Shape Up, and Shape Up is a literal manifestation of all that I had to do, of all that I wanted to do. I wanted to shape up, inside-out– mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, financially. I really wanted to boss up in my life. I wanted to boss up in my self-care, I wanted to boss up in my reactions. I felt the need to really do the work to get to the confident place that I've been pretending to be in. Leikeli47, yes, she's super confident. Everyone sees her as this superpower, almost. She's bold. She's bright. She's on that stage. She is all of that. She is the confident girl. She is the girl that knows what she wants, and goes after what she wants. But there was also Leikeli off-stage that struggled with her confidence, struggled with herself, struggled with her story a bit. This beauty series in this trilogy played as a therapy for me, and getting to Shape Up, I feel like I'm finally there. I've arrived in that confidence. I've arrived in my walk. I've arrived in who I am. So it's been a really exciting journey, and an exciting revelation.

In "B.I.T.M," you say, 'Manifested my direction/ Had no time for second guessin'.' What does manifestation mean to you?

It's more than putting something in your psyche and just thinking on it. It's that, plus action. It's your faith, plus your work. When you think of manifestation, you think of the all-around work that has to be done. Manifestation does not just come through inner and outer. That's a part, yes, it starts there. But manifestation is also the company you keep, the things that you allow to pierce your eardrums, and the things that you allow to get into your heart system. Manifestation to me is not just wanting a business or wanting something for yourself– it's knowing the exact thing. So if you want the business, what color is the awning? What type of font? Is the font yellow, like the awning? What about the door? What does that look like? I'm talking about from inception on down and out. I truly believe that with going after your dreams that you're trying to manifest, you have to make sure that you have a stable foundation inside and out and around you. Manifestation looks like a dream realized, but not just any dream realized. Again, when you dream, if you want to build a tree, know how big that tree is gonna be. Know how high you want it to shoot up in that sky, and I'm talking about water it. Water that tree, nourish that tree, talk to that tree, believe in that tree. Continuously believe that that tree can grow as high as you want it. 

I totally agree. And everything you’re saying is all what Shape Up is about– all the work you've been doing that has been leading up to this album.

Yeah, and I can tell you what manifesting doesn't look like. It doesn't look like doubt. Don't second guess it. Know what you want and go after it, but go after it. You can't just think about it and dream about it. You have to really run through the door, headfirst. Just go.

I love that message. So you were talking about the Leikeli onstage versus the Leikeli offstage, and you previously have described yourself as a very shy person. So I wanted to know, how do you shake out those nerves before you perform and channel this duality in your stage presence?

My first thought is the people. If I can be honest, that’s the only thing that I'm thinking about before, during and after. I don't know what this person, who just bought this ticket, is going through. But they bought a ticket to come, and escape, and have some fun, and to live, and to find some sort of inspiration is what I'm assuming, so I get up there, and in my mind, again, before and after, is always the people. I want people to know that I love them that much. I want to go on and do that good. So I'm nervous, my hands are sweaty, because I love them that much. Because I want to go out and wow them that much. Because I want them to feel like this money that they spent was worth every dime. So, my thought is always my fans. At any time. Before the show, recording, even now. My business is to serve. I’m here to serve people, and I'm grateful that I get to do that because I get to serve people in this artistic way.

Can you talk about that first show that you ever did? How was that?

So, my first show was with Skrillex and Diplo at Madison Square Garden, and it was the Jack U show. And they brought me out to do my song at the time titled, ‘F*** The Summer Up’. It was a massive experience, but also a learning experience. Because a fact about that show is, before you go on any main stage like that you need in-ears. And they're like, ‘Okay, we got Leikeli. We're gonna get you the in-ears. We’re gonna get you the mic.’ And long story short, someone forgot my in-ears, and it was just like, ‘Go! Just go up there. It’s your turn to go.’ And I went up there, and I had to try to catch my sound. And the proudest moment for me was when I caught my sound. And what I mean by that is, the sound, as you know, is just bouncing, and it's just traveling. One word of me coming through that microphone sounds like it's amplified 500 times around me, without a focus. So to get on that stage with those two professionals with millions of records worldwide as this newcomer, and be faced with that first test, and not only battle through it, but you're doing it with Jack U, you're doing it with Skrillex and Diplo– it was a super fulfilling. So that was my first show. That was my first experience just diving into performing, and it’s just been on ever since.

So, I see that you're wearing the Celine track jacket, and recently, you collaborated with Celine’s creative director, Hedi Slimane. Can you talk about that experience, working with such an influential designer and photographer?

It was the coolest and the greatest experience I've had thus far. To get that call from the one and only Hedi was super. It was just an exciting moment, and to be chosen to be a part of such an iconic house and brand, and to be a part of this campaign, I was just extremely grateful. 

Any artists you are interested in collaborating with in the future?

Let me think. I would love to work with Kendrick Lamar and Nas. Those two spirits within this game that we're in, I just love how Nas has always been there for us, and so has Kendrick, being the one that came after. Nas is such an iconic figure. His stories, and his storytelling, and just staying true to who he is, as he journeys up as an artist, it's always been super authentic.  I just love the fact that, as a fan, I’ve never felt abandoned by him, on top of him being one of the dopest lyricists ever. The same for Kendrick. He’s whimsical, you know? He’s magical. I would love to work with these people, but more so, I would love to learn. Just sit around them, and just observe. I would also throw in The Lox as well. To just do a song with The Lox would be crazy.