With a face often free of make-up and a childlike voice that delivers bars filled with tales of gun violence, come-p wishes, survival and tipsy nights off Hennessy, DeJ Loaf, the 23-year-old baby-faced rapper-singer, who hails from the East side of Detroit currently has everyone intrigued. Loaf garnered massive attention this summer with her hit single, “Try Me.” Although the DDS produced track is a huge part of the reason Loaf is no longer independent, she feels that “it’s not even close to being her best work. The new Columbia Records signee had co-signs from Drake, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign and Oklahoma City power forward Kevin Durant before she even had a deal. During a recent interview with SooDetroit, when asked what people could expect on her next project, she responded,”Flavors! I’ll have a song that’ll make you cry, a song that’ll make you laugh, and a song that’ll make you dance.”
Insert Sell Sole, the Detroit rapper’s latest effort. The 13-track release opens up with “Bird Call,” the song that caused DJ Whoo Kid to immediately hire Dan The Man to direct the video on spot. “No magazine spreads/Couple funeral services/Time to clean the hood up/That community service/We ain’t tippin’ no dancers/Y’all bitches be worthless/I might pull up to the club in like two of them suburbans,” she spits on the hook-less track. On the comedic track “Problem” Loaf goes hard with punch lines, but delivers a premature flow. “I know what the problem is/I’ll find out where yo mama live and buy the crib/I don’t got no kids/I’m seedless/Baby you thirsty/you teethin,’” she spits in typical hip-hop braggadocios form. Loaf finishes up her verse with direct sexual demands, “So don’t talk to me pussy/open up yo mouth/You gotta talk to this pussy/I be gone off that Hen/Might just offer you the pussy/So what/I make them gargle this pussy,” but don’t expect to hear an entire mixtape following in the footsteps of her predecessors, Lil Kim, Trina and Foxy. Birdman and Young Thug appear on “Blood,” a melancholy song about loyalty and the death of her father and other loved ones. During her verse, she speeds up her typical gradual flow, which helps ease the pain of the track, on which she describes herself as “numb.”
Loaf brings up the tape's energy with tracks like “On My Own” and “We Be On It,” where, like most rappers, she boasts about being self-made. Both tracks are capable of being club bangers. On “Me U Hennessy” the “Try Me” rapper slows things down a bit with a steamy one minute and 46 second tale about intoxicated love-making. “Can we stay home tonight?/Try something new tonight/This drink got me feeling right/I’m bout to lose my mind,” she raps in a sultry voice. The seductive track is the perfect segue into the motivational tracks that follow. On “Never,” a track lead by a piano with a dominate bass drum, Loaf sings to her fans about remaining steadfast while chasing their dreams. She follows that up with “Easy Love,” where she sings about a simple love. The track is like the rap version of Nivea’s 2005 title track “Complicated.” Remy Ma and Ty Dolla $ign help the newbie close out her mixtape with the official remix to “Try Me.”
Sell Sole is a good introduction to what DeJ Loaf has to offer, especially for those who have only heard of her because of "Try Me.: It’s not filled with a myriad of features that outshine her efforts. She seamlessly displays her capability of rapping and singing without it being overkill. People will obviously attempt to compare her to other women rappers such as Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea, but there’s honestly no comparison. So far, Loaf is in a lane of her own and can go toe-to-toe with her male counterparts. From her image to her content, Loaf is refreshing. She’s relatable (something which she said would be obvious on Sell Sole during our recent interview), and makes it easy to want to see what she’s going to try next.