Valuing privacy in an age of unlimited access, Leikeli47 did not get her start on social media, and hasn't even used it in years. The enigmatic rapper and producer always performs with her face obscured by a bandana or balaclava, either of which happen to be highly recommended for use in the dusty breeze of a Nicola Valley evening at Bass Coast. Yet, where the comparably elusive metal-masked MF Doom embodied the spirit of a comic book super villain, Leikeli47 channels the scrappy spunk of a hip-hop hero that must shield their identity for the security of their loved ones. She doesn't put people in their place so much as help beautiful losers out of bad ones.
Released in 2022, Shape Up completed her trio of albums following 2017's Wash & Set and 2018's Acrylic. She'd hoped it would have come out in 2019, but the pandemic slowed everything down. Luckily, she was already used to wearing a mask at the time, and she keeps doing it now — She intends to be heard before being seen, to keep focus on the words instead of judging appearances.
Keeping true to her mysterious ways, a light tension started to form as the minutes crept past midnight, her scheduled start time, and she was nowhere to be seen. This gave the audience a little extra time with the legendary Mat the Alien, so it's doubtful anyone would complain about that.
Eventually, Leikeli47's touring DJ and hype man DJ Grizz took his place behind the decks, and quickly made sure the crowd was prepared to embrace the coming experience with a sashaying instrumental. Grizz noted how amazing the energy at the festival was — the communal generosity of spirit he felt walking around beforehand — and that soul nourishment was amplified as soon as Leikeli47 appeared.
Altogether, she was only with us for about 40 minutes, but her presence was undivided, working the whole stage and giving love for the opportunity. She set the tone with "Wash & Set" and a fist-pumping take on "Bitch Switch" before stirring the crowd to belt out the statement hooks for "Miss Me" ("Miss me with the bullshit") and "Carry Anne" ("It's my pussy / I can do what I want").
A particularly enthusiastic festival-goer made a totem for Leikeli's ballroom banger "BITM," which she gleefully acknowledged, but didn't end up playing the song. Although her most recent release at the time was Shape Up, the album from which "BITM" came, and her rendition of its incendiary single "Chitty Bang" drowned out a thunderstorm on the horizon, this set evenly showcased tracks from across her modest yet explosive catalogue.
It will likely be difficult for her to get away from tracks like Wash & Set's "Money" and Acrylic's "Girl Blunt" as they are so essential to her whole aura. The crowd owned the chorus to the former and lit up like Cypress Hill for the latter, while the presentation of both tracks was greatly enhanced by a freestyler who was being their true self all over the place.
Hearing her music through such a massive system highlighted how heavy her bass worship is, often closer to hard house than boom-bap on the beat spectrum. Her music makes just as much sense at a rave as Die Antwoord, and she's way easier to get behind ethically. One of the most touching moments of her set was when Leikeli encouraged people to follow their dreams. She proclaimed that the secret to success is starting, that it's never too late to begin, and coaxed the crowd into chanting "start" with her to hammer home the message.
As she left the stage, Leikeli47 announced that she has new music coming, but she may have run out of time to play any for us. Her lyrical poetry provides shelter from the headwinds that business and life blow our way, yet it also pushes us to do more and be more. Self-actualized and full of love, the earthbound angel signed to RCA hopes her music inspires people to be genuine above all, to sit with themselves, do the work, and thrive through their difficult journeys. The general public may never know her legal name, but someday, everyone should know Leikeli47.