Leikeli47 is a female rapper from Brooklyn, New York City, USA. Up until 2024, she was known to not reveal her face, concealing her face with a bandana or balaclava at all performances and professional appearances. As of 2025, her birth date or name is still yet to be known.
Likely47 was raised in both Virginia and New York, primarily in the Virginia and Brooklyn neighborhoods of Danville, Norfolk, Brownsville and Bedford–Stuyvesant. She is of partial Trinidadian and Guyanese descent.
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Leikeli47 is a female rapper from Brooklyn, New York City, USA. Up until 2024, she was known to not reveal her face, concealing her face with a bandana or balaclava at all performances and professional appearances. As of 2025, her birth date or name is still yet to be known.
Likely47 was raised in both Virginia and New York, primarily in the Virginia and Brooklyn neighborhoods of Danville, Norfolk, Brownsville and Bedford–Stuyvesant. She is of partial Trinidadian and Guyanese descent. She described herself as having been a shy child who was interested in becoming a rapper from a young age. She cites the late Michael Jackson and N.E.R.D. as some of her favorite performers. Prior to being signed to RCA Records, Leikeli released a mixtape in 2010 titled ''LK-47''. This was followed by a string of releases including the sequel mixtape ''LK-47 Pt. II'' in 2014 and a self-titled EP in 2015, ''Leikeli47''. In 2015, Leikeli's song "Fuck the Summer Up" was included on Jay-Z's inaugural TIDAL playlist.
Leikeli's first full-length debut Wash & Set was released on September 8, 2017 to a positive reception by critics. Afropunk.com wrote, "the album showcases Leikeli47’s distinctively hard-hitting yet playful lyricism, genre-bending musicianship, and enigmatic character." Darryl Robertson wrote for Vibe, "the dynamic, and featureless, effort is loaded with creativity, vigor and the power of her own feminism. It's evident that Leikeli is aiming to break rules and push boundaries hip-hop. Her sophomore album Acrylic was released on November 15, 2018. The title was inspired by her mixture of southern, Caribbean, and city roots. The album's first single, "Girl Blunt", was featured on the third season of the TV series Insecure, and on the first season of The Wilds. The album received positive critical reviews. Jenn Pelly wrote at Pitchfork: "Her flow is always gripping, her details novelistic: An aunt sells candy from a windowpane, an extension cord snakes across a hallway, and the lights flicker in an E train tunnel". Dhruva Balram wrote for NME, "At times, and especially on ‘Iron Mike’, Leikeli47 sounds like the best of M.I.A, Cardi B and Kamaiyah rolled into one". Acrylic' was named one of NPR's 50 Best Albums of 2018, as well as other lists including Paper Magazine, Esquire and Forbes.
Acrylic is the second part of a planned music trilogy that Leikeli has developed, called the Beauty Series. She stated that the next installment to the Beauty Series will be called Shape Up. About the theme of beauty salons, she told The Fader, "They're safe havens for all of us — all women, but especially the African-American community. I wanted to create a body of work that spoke to not looking like what you actually are going through". She has stated that she seeks to normalize Black beauty standards, such as decorated fingernails.
Leikeli performed with Pharrell during his I Am Other set at 2017's Complexcon, as well as Natalie Portman's Boston Calling Music Festival set in 2018, held at Portman's alma mater Harvard University. Her first headlined tour began in March 2019.
Leikeli47's third album Shape Up was finally released on May 13, 2022 and received positive reviews. Pitchfork gave the album an 8.0 and wrote "The anonymous Brooklyn rapper's third album is a little bolder and a little rawer, but it's her versatility-across hip-hop, ballroom, house, and R&B-that keeps her sound fresh".
In October 2024, Leikeli47 announced her fourth album Lei Keli ft. 47 / For Promotional Use Only would be following in the future months. On October 25, 2024, she released ''450'' as the lead single. The video was shot in black-and-white and shows Leikeli47 removing her face covering and performing public for the first time. The album was finally released on June 13, 2025.
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…shrink me down again