DEJ LOAF’S LYRICS are unapologetically blunt, skipping past the bullshit and cutting straight to the point. And her point, frankly, is not to fuck with her.
The Detroit artist’s fluid raps ride melodies from hard, spoken verses into R&B-style singing, all over the beats of masterful producers like DDS, Sonny Digital, and KLVN (to name a few). This blend of singing and rapping comes together naturally, like on “Desire” off her 2015 EP, #AndSeeThatsTheThing—one second she’s throwing verses about cracking skulls, the next she’s softly cooing about “my best friend, my godson.”
Dej Loaf, born Deja Trimble, debuted Just Do It in 2012 before releasing the massively popular Sell Sole in 2014. The latter mixtape’s track “Try Me” took off, piquing the interest of artists like Drake and leading to big-name collaborations with Future and Big Sean on #AndSeeThatsTheThing. This month she released a brand new mixtape, All Jokes Aside.
Don’t confuse Dej Loaf’s confidence with cockiness—she just knows what she wants and won’t let anyone get in her way. On “We Winnin'” from #AndSeeThatsTheThing, she sings, “Spill my name in the game/I know they want me to fail/Tell ’em I’m lit, tell ’em I ain’t going nowhere.”