EQUATE meets Leyma

20-year-old East London based bedroom produced artist Leyma returns with the aptly named single ‘been a minute’, the lead single from his forthcoming EP Tomorrow’s Almost Over (out July 24th). A true creative, and coupled with outstanding talent, Leyma has been crafting lo-fi music in his bedroom on his laptop since he was 15 - crafting fusing hip hop, indie, and R&B music underpinning personal lyrics about the struggles of youth culture today. This raw realness and effortless flow are what has gained him a growing community of fans, and accolades from key tastemakers such as DIY, Annie Mac, and Huw Stephens.

A multifaceted artist, Leyma’s new single is a welcomed follow up the experimental indie cut ‘sterling’s finest‘, and his sophomore EP L O N G D A Y S with the new single and illustrated video tells the story of longing to be with someone and the feeling of loneliness of being without. Sure to be an anthem for long summer nights, this single is the perfect lead-up to his 5-track concept EP, in which we are introduced to the 3 different sides of Leyma, and will explore different soundscapes and overarching messages. Through the creation of these characters, he is able to present to us different sounds and stories of his experiences without holding any personal attachment to the songs.

Read the feature below…

EQ: Hi Leyma can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got into music?

L: Just turned 20, I’m from East London. I’ve been into music since a kid, listening to stuff my parents would play in the car and around the house. We always had a lot of guitars around too, so playing music was always a normal thing. I’m grateful it was that way.

EQ: …and when was the moment you knew this was the path you wanted to pursue?

L: I remember being 16 at a festival in Wales called Greenman. The headliner’s Belle and Sebastian got a load of people on stage and I got up with my mate I just went straight to the front and looked at the crowd. I think it was probably then I knew I wanted to be a performer. That paired with not caring a lot about anything but music!

EQ: Your upcoming EP ‘Tomorrow’s Almost Over’ is a really eclectic mix of singles, what was your inspiration behind this body of work?

L: I can’t really pinpoint the musical inspiration of the music I make too often; I never think about it really when I’m making it. Three bedrocks are Tyler, the Creator, Mac Miller, and Tame Impala. For this project, I wanted to show more diversity in the music, and in the production.

EQ: We can really differentiate the three core parts of you within in this project, why did you feel like it was important to create a project that highlights your alter egos in this way?

L: It was important, for two things. Freedom and peace of mind whilst creating the music and lyrics. And for allowing me to experiment with the music and lyrics, pushing the music forward.

EQ: What is your favourite track from your new project (or which track feels the closest to Leyma) and why?

L: I’m so proud of this project. I wanted to make sure all the songs were at least for a week, my favourite song at that point in time. I think right now, wait4ever is closest to me.