Reggae singer Lila Iké is no longer signed to RCA Records after four years.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Iké was released from the Sony Music-owned label ahead of her debut album, which had been scheduled for this year.
Iké’s departure comes amid a wave of downsizing at several major record labels, though it remains unclear if her exit is directly linked to these broader cuts. Over the past year, Jamaican artists Sean Paul and Jada Kingdom were also let go by Universal Music-owned labels Island Records and Republic Records, respectively. Kingdom, expressed feeling “out of place” within the label and last month during a TikTok Live she said she will not be releasing an album for fear of low sales and ridicule from fans. “Unuh a talk bout inuh want album album, drop album fi go flop?” she retorted. “After me see wah unuh do me co-worker dem, unuh support them with the single and after drop the album ‘look at the sales.'”
During her time with RCA, Lila Iké released her 7-track debut EP My Experience through a partnership with In.Digg.Nation, along with four singles: “Batty Rider Shorts,” “True Love,” “Dinero,” and “He Loves Both,” the latter featuring Grammy Award-winning artist H.E.R. Since its release on May 16, “He Loves Both” has racked up 777,000 streams on YouTube and 6.8 million on Spotify. Iké also collaborated with Afrobeats star Davido on the track “Flex My Soul,” presented by Billboard and Honda Stage.
Protoje, head of In.Digg.Nation, who himself previously left his RCA deal, told WMV that he has honored his obligations under his RCA contract and exited with his masters intact. At the time he told WMV that Lila Iké was still signed to RCA Records and would be releasing her debut album with the label
In a 2020 ER interview, Lila Iké revealed that since signing her record deal, “tons and tons” of people had been reaching out to her for collaborations—but for the most part, she wasn’t interested. “Some of them I really feel like you just nuh deh deh suh yet fi deh pon a song with Lila Iké,” she said, referring to herself in the third person. “To be honest, I feel like most of the people reaching out to me right now are upcoming artists trying to get known or break into the business, and I’m not really in support of that. Me really feel like if you want something, you really and truly haffi work for it,” she added.
She continued, “Personally, I am just focused on my thing right now. If I’m going to do a collab, it woulda haffi change mi life.”
Iké is gearing up to release her latest single, Fry Plantain, featuring rapper Joey Bada$$ via Ineffable Records. The promotional images for the track showcase the duo in sultry, stripped-down shots at the beach and by the river in Jamaica.
Reflecting on her signing to RCA, the Forget Me singer said it was a significant milestone because she knew “what it can do for an artist.” She also shared, “I don’t go into the studio anymore thinking I am a reggae artist, I go in thinking I am a Jamaican artist.”
