For a then 14-year-old Laila Smith, it was GarageBand.
Ive kind of felt a little bit anxious about it all week.
So Ive just been trying to enjoy myself as much as possible.
Dylan DeJong Dougherty*
You produce all of your songs, and youre a producer first.
I was in band in elementary school and middle school.
I was always in the vocal programs.
So I just picked it up.
I didnt really continue taking it seriously until my sophomore year.
When I was 14, there was so much I didnt really know how to do.
So my beats back then were pretty interesting.
And I saw that you play piano.
Did you do piano before you got into production?Im not classically trained or anything.
I just played by ear.
But yeah, I would make songs on the piano.
And thats kind of where I got my start just building songs from the ground up.
Because I just loved being able to create something from the very beginning and make it something real.Related ContentLaila!
I was developing my own music taste outside of my siblings and my parents.
Just like Lauryn Hill, Mariah Carey just everything good.
Around middle school is when I started developing my own new taste.
I listened to a lot of SZA and a lot of Frank Ocean.
I listened to so much Brent Faiyaz they were just my favorite.
So, you posted Like That, your first song, in 2023.
How did you get over the perception anxiety to go, Im putting this out there.
I dont care how its received.
Why should I let the l fear hold me back from doing something?
Like, this is good.
I would rather do something and do it bad versus not do anything at all.
A perfect segue to my next question.
That is just my biggest like … Oh, my gosh.
Well, its the title of your first song.
So I think …That actually works.
And everything they say is just it just sounds musical, like even in their speaking voice.
Gap Yearfeels really communal.
We hear from your mom a little bit.
We hear from your grandma, Mami Nelly.
Thats my biggest award.
Every time I see my grandma, she just cant help but say how proud of me she is.
That just makes me feel on top of the world.
It went semi-viral when the internet found out who your dad is.
How do you navigate people calling you a nepo baby?
I work very, very hard.
And I think that thats always how I wanted it to be.
I wanted to do it on my own and not need to say anything else but show my art.
Your album has several references to writing notes and sending letters.
Do you write or do you journal?I do have a journal.
I feel like its interesting the way that I journal because its not very linear.
My first journal that I sat down completed, I started while I was still in high school.
Just to see how much Ive like accomplished since then, is really, like, amazing.
Anything specific that you feel like you manifested?Oh yeah.
Doing shows and interviews, I wrote that down, and its happened.
Not just the evolution of technology in itself, but the social distance that technology has created.
I dont wanna gatekeep, but I cant believe people havent already ransacked it.
And if I tell people, then its gonna … Im sorry, its gonna be bad.
You have a song on the album, Blackberry, and there are a few samples I noticed.
Its a very raw song, and its really beautiful.
I just heard so much like potential, not potential, but so many possibilities.
And then the Frank Ocean piece?I really think that interpolation just came from …
I love Frank Ocean so much.
I got the whole wide world in my hands.
I just kind of wanted to sing that and talk about that.
Theres so many extra hidden meanings in Blackberry.
And Tyler, the Creator has co-signed you and shared your music.
How does that full circle feel?Its so lit.
Tylers just super cool.
Hes really, really, super cool.
And its just exciting because it feels good to know Im being seen by people that inspire me.
And like, they think Im cool, and good at this.
I feel like theres so much noise.
But first I have this amazing foundation in my family.
And then like, people like Tyler, theyre like, Yo, I see you.
I cant help but feel like Im like Im nine again.
What about to sing with?I would just love to be in the same room as Brandy.
I would love to just talk to her.
I dont even know what I would do.
I dont think I would be able to stay on my two feet.
