Fresh from his very hot and sweaty Singapore debut in Red Bull Music Academy’s pre-ZoukOut Party last Friday, Khalif Diouf aka Le1f has certainly come a long way since his days earning a degree in dance at Wesleyan University. The New Yorker rapper came to initial attention for his work with Das Racist, producing beats for their breakthrough single 'Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell' before making an impressive solo debut with his mixtape Dark York in 2012 — an exhibition of his effortless flair in forward-thinking, twisted beats and flamboyant vocal flow.
A couple of mixtapes and EPs later, he even got invited to make his network television debut performing as a musical guest on The Late Show with David Letterman. Speaking to Coconuts, he recalls the experience as a surreal one, only realising the weight of it all when he saw himself on TV. “That’s when it hit me that I had done something truly major,” says Le1f.
As cutting edge and avant-garde as he is, he maintains that his origins as a dancer are inseparable from his current career. It seemed like natural evolution in his creative talents, starting out as a dancer, then a composer for modern dance before switching his attention to producing for hip-hop and then going into the whole business as a rapper.
If rapping doesn’t work out, would he pursue a professional dancing career anytime soon? “No way!", he laughs. I'll always have an appreciate for the art form, but nowadays, even the best dancers are broke. And I'm in no shape to compete with the conservatory kids.”
Homosexual personalities in a traditionally homophobic genre are far and few, but openly gay and bisexual artists such as Frank Ocean, Mykki Blanco and Zebra Katz have been taking on the realm of hip hop by storm, placing increasing attention on musicians in the gay community. Le1f hasn’t been one to shy away from his identity as a homosexual man; his subversive clips for singles 'Spa Day' and 'Wut' would seem like a slap to the face to the sexist machismo of booty sweatin’, twerkin’ and swaggerin’ of most hip hop music videos.
As expected, the haters come running right and left but Le1f takes it all in his stride. “At this point, there's nothing I would say about them aside from it's their loss,” he asserts. “If someone loathes diversity and thrives off of being spiteful, they have issues with themselves that should be addressed with a therapist or someone who cares about them... not with me.”
With an Asian tour off his checklist, the Red Bull Music Academy artist recalls his time in Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore as an amazing run, filled with “a nice turn out of people ready to dance and have a good time”.
He did remember that he once heard that he would have needed to ask for permission before hugging a person here. “If that's true, I might be in trouble, because I'm so used to hugging my fans when they come up to me after shows”, he laughs — and Le1f deserves every possible hug ever, especially after putting up an insanely entertaining show in his first (and hopefully not last) appearance in Singapore.
Photo: Red Bull Music Academy
Fresh from his very hot and sweaty Singapore debut in Red Bull Music Academy’s pre-ZoukOut Party last Friday, Khalif Diouf aka Le1f has certainly come a long way since his days earning a degree in dance at Wesleyan University. The New Yorker rapper came to initial attention for his work with Das Racist, producing beats for their breakthrough single 'Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell' before making an impressive solo debut with his mixtape Dark York in 2012 — an exhibition of his effortless flair in forward-thinking, twisted beats and flamboyant vocal flow.
A couple of mixtapes and EPs later, he even got invited to make his network television debut performing as a musical guest on The Late Show with David Letterman. Speaking to Coconuts, he recalls the experience as a surreal one, only realising the weight of it all when he saw himself on TV. “That’s when it hit me that I had done something truly major,” says Le1f.
As cutting edge and avant-garde as he is, he maintains that his origins as a dancer are inseparable from his current career. It seemed like natural evolution in his creative talents, starting out as a dancer, then a composer for modern dance before switching his attention to producing for hip-hop and then going into the whole business as a rapper.
If rapping doesn’t work out, would he pursue a professional dancing career anytime soon? “No way!", he laughs. I'll always have an appreciate for the art form, but nowadays, even the best dancers are broke. And I'm in no shape to compete with the conservatory kids.”
Homosexual personalities in a traditionally homophobic genre are far and few, but openly gay and bisexual artists such as Frank Ocean, Mykki Blanco and Zebra Katz have been taking on the realm of hip hop by storm, placing increasing attention on musicians in the gay community. Le1f hasn’t been one to shy away from his identity as a homosexual man; his subversive clips for singles 'Spa Day' and 'Wut' would seem like a slap to the face to the sexist machismo of booty sweatin’, twerkin’ and swaggerin’ of most hip hop music videos.
As expected, the haters come running right and left but Le1f takes it all in his stride. “At this point, there's nothing I would say about them aside from it's their loss,” he asserts. “If someone loathes diversity and thrives off of being spiteful, they have issues with themselves that should be addressed with a therapist or someone who cares about them... not with me.”
With an Asian tour off his checklist, the Red Bull Music Academy artist recalls his time in Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore as an amazing run, filled with “a nice turn out of people ready to dance and have a good time”.
He did remember that he once heard that he would have needed to ask for permission before hugging a person here. “If that's true, I might be in trouble, because I'm so used to hugging my fans when they come up to me after shows”, he laughs — and Le1f deserves every possible hug ever, especially after putting up an insanely entertaining show in his first (and hopefully not last) appearance in Singapore.
Photo: Red Bull Music Academy