LEOSTAYTRILL SHARES HYPNOTIC NEW SINGLE ‘SELENA’
(Credit: Jahnay Tennai)
LeoStayTrill – the UK’s most exciting emerging rapper and producer – enters the new year with the hypnotic ‘Selena’. A confident bop that continues to showcase more of his lyrical chops and how he is able to master any beat. The teaser, which dropped last week, has amassed 11m views and 1m likes already.
Leo says of the track: “There was no real meaning behind the song, I was just having fun with it to be honest”
Now a 2x MOBO Award nominee (Best Newcomer & Song Of The Year) ‘Selena’ follows on from “2s N 3s” featuring a never-before-cleared Clean Bandit “Rather Be” sample.
Late last year, Leo took the stage for his first ever sold-out headline show at The Camden Assembly, where he wowed fans and brought out ArrDee and Tion Wayne. With over 1.5M followers across Instagram and Tik Tok, and an Asake O2 Arena support slot under his belt, Leo’s proving to be a force to be reckoned with.
It’s been an exciting last twelve months for the Bromley born rapper. ‘Honeybun’, his second ever single released at the end of 2023, has accumulated an impressive 4M+ streams to date. It’s self-assured and winking in its wordplay and refreshing in its syncopated, metallic production. In the course of two minutes, Leo seamlessly flies through an entire catalogue of flows. ‘Pink Lemonade’ was the unsuspecting freestyle that became his most inescapably viral hit yet, dominating social media for the entire summer and leapfrogging him into a truly global breakthrough.
Boasting millions of monthly listeners on Spotify, 2M+ Tik Tok video creations, 37M likes on Tik Tok and over 80M streams, in only a year, Leo has crashed onto the scene in a spectacular fashion. In September of last year, Leo shared a plethora of new work: “Cardi” with rising star 163Margs, “Demure” with Brighton rap Titan ArrDee and freestyle ‘Lost in Sardinia” – Leo is proving that one of his greatest strengths is his work ethic.
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Born to Zimbabwean parents and raised in South London, at first his parents didn’t quite get it. But after seeing him performing to huge crowds while still in primary school, it wasn’t long before they understood he was a natural. “Now they’re fully on board,” he smiles.
Leo taught himself how to produce and started collaborating and creating music as soon as he could. And it was his symbiotic collaboration with producer Xeretto since 2019 (when they were 12 or 13) that he credits with bringing his trademark sonics to life in a new way. ‘Honeybun’ came from that and then ‘Pink Lemonade’ as well so I don’t feel like I need to go elsewhere to get something that we created.” Understandably so, when the recipe has already proved so successful. Coining a contagious blend of UK rap’s best bits, his sound has set him apart from the pack on the international stage already. Pairing the fast-paced percussive vocal delivery of drill with the earworm lightness of afro swing melodies. The innate rhythmic flair of African melodies and the effortless charisma and lingua franca of London’s cultural melting pot.
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