Lebra Jolie Drop Swaggering Self-Titled Debut EP

Rising Houston star Lebra Jolie unveils the urgent, tantalizingly confident EP, Lebra Jolie. Listen HERE via Interscope Records. The seven-song offering confirms Jolie as not only one of the most magnetic mic presences to emerge in some time, but as a songwriter with impressive wit, depth, and control. Lebra Jolie features contributions from the Detroit rapper Babyface Ray and from Rob49, the budding New Orleans rapper with whom she recently collaborated on the single “Give U Some.”

Jolie is one of the few rappers who can thread the needle of forcefulness and dexterity required to bring to life rap’s roots in dance music. Songs like “Fuck I Look Like” are the raw material needed for punishing, club-rattling performances, but where many MCs would get lost in the mix, Jolie is still able to exert her style and personality all over it. (“I’m a mother but I’m still they father,” she quips on the second verse.)

“Give U Some” remains an undeniable late-summer party jam, all bouncing 808s, skittering hi-hats, and gleeful raps that dart through the thunderous production. And yet Jolie is not afraid to grow tender and introspective, as she does on the EP highlight “Way Better.” On Lebra Jolie, she continues a journey that began by uploading demos to MySpace. This gave way to a YouTube page that was her entry into Houston’s hip-hop scene; freestyles like her unforgettable turn over Future’s “Mask Off” earmarked her as a talent to watch.

Though she’s spent just a short time in the spotlight, Jolie has already distinguished herself as one of the most exciting voices in her generation. Last year marked a major turning point, with the propulsive “Now What” vaulting Jolie to new heights, and songs like “Choppa” and “Jolie (Freestyle)” crystallizing her place as part of hip-hop’s new vanguard. Lebra Jolie is definitive proof that she’s going to keep transforming her genre and city for years to come.