Laila! has flourished more in the year leading up to her 19th birthday than some artists do in decades. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and producer first broke through on TikTok with spacey viral ditties “Like That” and “Not My Problem,” showing her intrinsic ear for R&B’s current wave and its off-center …
Read More »Benson Boone Kicks Off Rolling Stone's Future of Music Showcase With Charisma, Huge Vocals, and Plenty of Flips
“I’m ready for this year,” Benson Boone told Rolling Stone in a January interview for his new cover story, one of four for our annual Future of Music issue. “I’m so rested, and my mind is so clear. It’s unbelievable.” Boone, of course, is just coming off a major year, …
Read More »With a Debut Album This Good, Being a Nepo Baby is Not Laila!'s Problem
The pandemic encouraged much of the world to pursue new (and likely temporary) hobbies — kitchen chemists experimented with sourdough starters, homeowners convinced themselves to be home renovators, and binge-watchers got really into Tiger King. For a then 14-year-old Laila Smith, it was GarageBand. Experimenting with Apple’s free music production …
Read More »Cash Cobain and Laila! Drop Their Long-Awaited Single 'Problem'
Cash Cobain and Laila’s! long-awaited single, “Problem,” is here. The nearly-eight-minute track dropped a week before the surging New York rapper/producer’s Play Cash Cobain album is set to drop on August 23. Humorously billed on X as a “we are the world” track, the slick flip of Laila!’s “Not My …
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