Lola Brooke Wants People to Feel as Powerful as She Does When Playing Her Music
Hip-hop‘s blazing newcomer Lola Brooke is getting used to taking up space, living rent-free in people’s minds, and holding even more real estate on their playlists — and she wants everyone else to feel as powerful as she does. The rapper, who broke through last year in a major way with the viral hit “Don’t Play With It,” joins Rolling Stone for an episode of On Your Radar with her game plan in full play.
“I want people to feel powerful when they listen to my music,” Brooke tells Rolling Stone. “I want people to feel they’re in control. I want people to feel happy in their skin. I want people to feel the sky is the limit. I want people to feel good. I want people to feel like Lola Brooke.”
“Don’t Play With It,” originally released in May 2021 with a feature from Billy B, lit a spark that spread into a fiery blaze. Earlier this year, Brooke unleashed a remix for the single that recruited Latto and Yung Miami of City Girls. She also hopped on Flo Milli’s “Conceited” alongside fellow rapper Maiya the Don. Her other singles, like “Just Relax” and “So Disrespectful,” highlight the range of possibilities she’s envisioning for her fast-rising career.
“I feel like “Don’t Play With It” is like the New York girl song. Whatever they say a New York girl is, just listened to “Don’t Play With It,” that’s what a New York girl is,” she explained, accepting the weight of following in the footsteps of the greatest figures in rap who came out of her city and paved the way before her. “The legacy coming from hip-hop and Brooklyn is … I always put it like this: it’s not on us, it’s in us. It’s just the pep in our step. It’s just a movement. It’s in the DNA once you’re born from New York City, but you was raised in Brooklyn. The DNA is different.”
Watch Brooke’s full On the Radar interview above.
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