Rising Reggae Star Lila Iké Embraces Self Care in Dark Times on New Song ‘True Love’

Budding reggae star Lila Iké embraces kindness, care, and warmth on her first new song of 2022, “True Love.”

The swooning cut, Iké explained in a statement, came from a freestyle she did about a year ago as she tried to parse the emotional turmoil and heaviness of the pandemic. The result is a self-care anthem, arriving with a music video — directed by Ayana Rivière — that finds Iké crooning the song on a beach, in the stars, and then a sprawling field, from which she ascends to the heavens in the clip’s final moment.

“I really want this song to reach people that may be battling with something inside themselves,” Iké tells Rolling Stone. “It is a gentle reminder to be kind, patient and love themselves. Self love is the greatest form, and it must come first and foremost above anything else.”

“True Love” arrives as Iké continues to prep her debut studio album, which will follow her 2020 EP, The ExPerience. The album will be released via RCA Records and In.Digg.Nation, the label founded by reggae star, Protoje ( “I’ve never heard anything like her style out of Jamaica,” Protoje told Rolling Stone of Iké back in 2020). 

Iké has a handful of festival dates scheduled for this spring and summer, including a slot at the Cali Roots Festival in Monterey, California on May 26. Additional dates will be announced soon.