Fortunately, her original style was so prescient that by returning to it on her independently released debut, fittingly titled Sell Sole II, the long-delayed project sounds just as timely and fresh as it did on “Try Me.” Artists who came along after her adopting her ad-lib-ridden flows flourished as she languished in label limbo. In 2017, the originally proposed release year, the label released a mere handful of confusing singles that buried Dej’s boisterous personality under incongruous, pop-reaching production and guest stars that just didn’t make any sense.

Everybody” and The Game’s Tupac-saluting “Ryda.” Dej Loaf seemed poised to take over the world - and then, abruptly, it was like someone pressed “pause” on her career despite all her forward momentum.Īside from one 2015 EP and a “commercial mixtape” that went criminally overlooked in 2016, Columbia Records went nearly four years without giving Dej Loaf a solid release date for her debut album, prompting her to cut ties in 2019. Her sing-song hooks drove further smashes like the Motor City all-star posse cut “Detroit Vs.

Her viral single “Try Me” instantly sparked an intense interest in her tomboy looks and futuristic rhyming style. The pint-size Detroit MC arrived seemingly fully formed in 2014 with her second mixtape, Sell Sole, at the very peak of the “blog rap” craze and the resulting major-label feeding frenzy. We say artists are “ahead of their time” a lot but very rarely is it so applicable as it is to Dej Loaf. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year.

Dej loaf try me genre