Lilithu’s Journey and Vision in “Foolish”
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Amidst Brooklyn’s dynamic musical landscape, Lilithu emerges as a compelling voice with her debut single “Foolish,” setting the stage for her forthcoming album, The Book of Lilith. Inspired by personal grief and resilience following the tragic suicide of her roommate, Lilithu’s music delves deep into themes of mental health and introspection. “Foolish” serves as a poignant reflection on self-discovery and the complexities of grief, offering a blend of hip hop, dubstep, and reggae that defies genre boundaries.
Lilithu explains, “The whole album was written in the wake of my roommate and friend, Lilly’s suicide. It mirrors the whole grief process that I went through and shares some of the lessons that I learned through the whole thing. ‘Foolish’ is about my realization that I need to take care of my mental health, but there is another song on the album called ‘TRIGGERED.’ It’s one of my favorites, and it’s about how angry I got after the whole ordeal. The grieving process with suicide is different. There is a lot of anger. At least there was for me.”
In “Foolish,” Lilithu combines hip hop, dubstep, bass, and reggae in a distinctive style. She reveals, “For this track, it was easier because I was working with djburnout420 and he has such a distinct sound, so I really relied on his expertise. One thing I did with a lot of tracks in the album is use the wub sounds from dubstep to accentuate the lyrics in my rap. It’s like there are two rappers, the bass and me!”
Working closely with djburnout420 and Aezon on her upcoming album, Lilithu describes how these collaborations have influenced her creative direction and sound. “Ryan (djburnout420) represented Berklee at the International Writers Camp in the Netherlands. Sam (Aezon) toured with Drum Corps International. They are both technically super talented. All of the songs that have interesting stuff musically, like key changes or time signature changes, are all in the collabs with them. They really know their stuff. I relied on them a lot for honest feedback about different tracks.”
She continues, “Sam is SO good at improvising. She can lay down a melody in like 30 seconds, and you can build an entire song around it. Ryan is an amazing sound designer and a super minimalist producer, which is nice. He co-produced the entire album with me, and it was so easy to work with him. I don’t like it when people say I need to buy hundreds of plug-ins to be successful; it’s just not true.”
Describing her typical creative process, Lilithu says, “I am very lyrics-driven. I think of the album as kind of like a book of poetry. So, I will write a little poem or lyric and then record myself singing or rapping it. This gives me the BPM, which helps me pick a genre/vibe for the song. Then I lay down the drum pattern and search through samples to find sounds that reflect the vibe of the song and the genre. Then I keep writing and recording lyrics to the beat until I can’t think of any more.”
Reflecting on the challenges of being a DJ, rapper, and music producer, Lilithu admits, “Probably DJ-ing. I get stage fright, and I find rapping and producing way more natural. I like pacing around my apartment, thinking of ideas and writing. Performing is less natural for me, but I still enjoy it.”
The title of her upcoming album, The Book of Lilith, holds significant meaning. Lilithu shares, “I’m releasing this album as part of a musical rebrand. I used to be more of a house DJ under the name bbgoblin. That brand was really cute and fun. It was still dark and I played bass music when I could, but it was very cutesy. This whole Lilithu rebrand was definitely inspired by my roommate, Lilly. She was very mission-oriented and always looking for ways to help people through music. I was more about the hustle. So, I knew that if I was going to get back into music, I needed to have some kind of mission.”
Looking ahead, Lilithu expresses her desire to evolve as an artist. “I’m hoping to make more happy and empowering music. One of my favorite tracks right now is ‘Love Life’ by Doja. I want to make more tracks like that, and less about suicide. I also want to focus more on remixes. There are not enough female rap remixes at the club. We need more. I’m currently working on a drum and bass remix to Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Not Nice.’ That is a song I would love to dance to in the club. The lyrics, her flow, her tone all perfectly convey female rage. She is a genius.”
Lilithu’s main focus after the album will be collaborating with more womxn rappers. She encourages, “To all your readers, if you identify as a woman, like to rap, and have something you need to get off your chest, hit me up on Instagram! I’m going to start taking on more collaborations in the winter!”
