Now, you all may or may not be familiar with the story of the man in the iron mask, but if it helps there was a film starring everybody’s favourite Oscar-denied dad bod, Leo DiCaprio; back when he wasn’t even in reaching distance of a nomination, let alone a loss. Well, this is the story of the woman in the woollen mask; the still anonymous and unnamed, Leikeli47. Sounds suspiciously like Leonardo DiCaprio, no? No.
Oh, and I’m aware that Leikeli47 is technically a name, but come on, shut up.
Anyway, this is no tale of twin heirs to the throne being separated at birth with murder and musketeers and false imprisonment, etc. Nope, this is the story of how one anonymous lady in varying ski masks and balaclavas came out of nowhere and has managed to steadily release sure-fire banger after sure-fire banger, alongside buzzmaking mixtapes and hype EPs, and catch the attention of one Jay Zed – who used her summer anthem ‘Fuck the Summer Up’ as the lead track, and title of, his Tidal summer playlist.
Leikeli47 has managed to do all this while maintaining her secret identity. Which is damn impressive really, these days. For whoever the Diana Price to Leikeli47’s Wonder Woman is, it’s all about the music, and so it should be. He says after 200+ words relating to everything but.
Without further ado, what are we here for? We’re for the latest in Leikeli47’s LK-47 mixtape series, Lk-47 Part III. Having dropped it this week alongside a current US tour, and having already fired some stellar shots at 2015, Leikeli47 is making sure the year rounds off with a bang. And what a bang.
LK-47 Part III is as scattershot and unhinged as we’ve come to expect from Leikeli47; careening from one extreme to the other, whether it be via genre, mood, or Leikeli47’s performance. LK-47 Part III is the sound of both the modern attention span and the infinite immediacy of everything available in the internet age. LK-47 Part III is the catastrophic explosion resulting from Leikeli47 filling herself up on it all, way beyond the point of maximum capacity. LK-47 Part III is the rapocalypse.
There are twenty tracks in total, over 42 minutes of music, and though some of those tracks are just incidental interludes and mash ups, the lioness’s share goes to some fierce fire. Tracks like ‘Bitch Switch’ at the start of the mixtape are instantly familiar territory with a hard beat, a looped vocal hook of ‘don’t fuck with me’, and Leikeli47 switching up between her impressive singing voice and growled spoken word – including the brilliant refrain of ‘look ma, no hands, broke my foot off in they ass cuz they kept playin’.
Her rapping skills are immediately on display with the likes of the serious spitting on the unstable but sporadically soulful ‘B.W.A.’ too. There’s some mad fun tracks with a wicked sense of humour as well like ‘The A Train’, but the mixtape on the whole is really, truly all over the place in the best way possible. There are darker, angrier tracks like ‘Watch Em Fall’ and ‘Face Off Pt. II’ alongside almost slow jams like ‘Elian’s Revenge’ and straight thumping party anthems like ‘Rumble (Remix)’. Then there are the just straight crazy tracks like ‘The Hit Factory’ that switch up too much to be defined.
Genuinely, every actual track on here is straight-up great. However, there are still some real standouts; the already familiar ‘My Ex is a Ho’, now featuring Pastor Troy, that feels even more manic here; the hypnotic weird awesome swag that is ‘Hol’ Up Ho’; ‘Black ft. Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem’ which is a stunning curveball that’s chock full of gospel soul, it’s uplifting, melodic as hell, and features some beautiful vocals; ‘Banker’s furious gravitas and brilliant boast of ‘I’m a banker not a robber, baby.’
EDIT: I realise Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, but come on, shut up.
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