Khalif Diouf, known by his stage name Le1f (), is an American rapper and producer. He also founded the record label Camp & Street, with Boody, DonChristian, and Chaz Requina. As a gay rapper he's garnered attention for his musical and performance styles. Following a series of well-received mixtapes and EPs, his debut studio album, ''

Riot Boi ''Riot Boi'' is the debut studio album by New York-based rapper Le1f. It was released on November 13, 2015 on XL and Terrible Records. The album features contributions and production work from artists such as Evian Christ, Junglepussy Shayna M ...

'', was released in November 2015.

Biography

Born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, Diouf studied

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

, attended the

Concord Academy Concord Academy (also known as CA), established in 1922, is a coeducational, independent college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12. The school is situated in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1971, Concord Academy became ...

with the class of 2007 and earned his degree in dance from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

before returning to the city to become a rapper.

Career

Initially known for producing tracks for Brooklyn-based alternative hip-hop group

Das Racist Das Racist was an American alternative hip hop group based in Brooklyn, composed of MCs Heems and Kool A.D. and hype man Ashok Kondabolu (a.k.a. Dapwell or Dap). Known for their use of humor, academic references, foreign allusions, and unconven ...

, such as their popular debut single "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell", he became known as a solo artist with the release of his debut mixtape ''

Dark York ''Dark York'' is the first mixtape by American rapper and producer Le1f. It was released on Greedhead Music and Camp & Street on April 9, 2012. Critical reception Alex Macpherson of ''Fact (UK magazine), Fact'' called the mixtape "a murky, often ...

'', released in April 2012. Its lead single, the 5kinAndBone5-produced "Wut" garnered attention as the standout track from the project and manifested into a music video in June 2012. In November 2012, Le1f was featured on the song "Fuckin the DJ" by

Mykki Blanco Mykki Blanco (born April 2, 1986) is an American rapper, performance artist, poet and activist. She has collaborated musically with artists including Kanye West, Teyana Taylor, and Dev Hynes, Blood Orange. Early life Blanco was born in Orange ...

(which he also co-produced with collaborator, Boody) from his '' Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss'' mixtape. Later that month, Le1f released a joint EP with Boody, titled ''Liquid'', which was followed by an accompanying video for the promotional single, "Soda". His second mixtape '' Fly Zone'' was released to generally favorable reviews in January 2013 and later spawned a video for the successful "Spa Day". The mixtape featured guest appearances from artists such as

Heems Himanshu Kumar Suri (born July 6, 1985), better known by his stage name Heems, is an American rapper from Queens in New York City. Best known for being part of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist, Suri is also the founder of Greedhead Musi ...

, DonChristian and Kitty. In August 2013, Le1f publicly criticised the rapper

Macklemore Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; (formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper and songwriter. A native of Seattle, Washington, he has collaborated with producer Ryan Lewi ...

for the latter's song "

Thrift Shop Thrift may refer to: * Frugality * A savings and loan association in the United States * Apache Thrift, a remote procedure call (RPC) framework * Thrift (plant), a plant in the genus ''Armeria'' * Syd Thrift (1929–2006), American baseball exe ...

", claiming that it borrowed its beat extensively from Le1f's own earlier song, "Wut", and proceeded to criticise Macklemore for another of his songs, "

Same Love Same may refer to: * Sameness or identity Places * Same (Homer), an island mentioned by Homer in the ''Odyssey'' * Same (polis), an ancient city * Same, East Timor Same ( ) is a town in the Same administrative post in the interior of East ...

", claiming that it was not appropriate for a heterosexual to exploit an

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

issue for financial gain. In September 2013, Diouf released his third full-length mixtape ''

Tree House A tree house, tree fort or treeshed is a platform or building constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation, work space, habitation, a hang ...

'' and later accompanied it with a music video for the second single "Hush Bb" directed by conceptual artist

Alex Da Corte Alex Da Corte (born 1980) is an American conceptual artist who works in painting, sculpture, installation, and video. Da Corte often uses surreal imagery and everyday objects in his practice and explores ideas of consumerism, pop culture, mytholo ...

. In February 2013,

Terrible Records Terrible (formerly Terrible Records) is a Los Angeles-based record label and artist management company founded by Chris Taylor and Ethan Silverman in 2009. Originally based in Brooklyn, New York, the label operated as a joint venture imprint ...

announced Diouf's record deal as well as his latest EP, a five-track project titled ''Hey'', which was later released on March 11, 2014. On March 13, 2014, Diouf made his debut appearance on national television with a performance on the '' Late Show with David Letterman''. In November 2015, Diouf released his first full-length studio album on XL and

. The album features contributions and production work from artists such as

Evian Christ Joshua Leary (born 11 June 1989), better known by the stage name Evian Christ, is an English electronic music producer, DJ, songwriter and performance artist from Ellesmere Port, UK. He is signed to Tri Angle Records, Warp and Kanye West’s p ...

Junglepussy Shayna McHayle (born October 31, 1991), known professionally by her stage name Junglepussy, is an American rapper and actress from New York City. Her first mixtape ''Satisfaction Guaranteed'' was released in 2014. She has received recognition fro ...

Balam Acab Alec Koone (born April 14, 1991), better known by his former stage name Balam Acab, is an American electronic musician and producer originally from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Koone began creating hardcore and metal at the age of 13 with a grou ...

Lunice Lunice Fermin Pierre II (born May 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Lunice, is a Canadian record producer and DJ from Montreal. He is one half of the duo TNGHT along with Hudson Mohawke. Biography Lunice is the son of a Filipino mother ...

, Boody, Sophie,

Dev Hynes Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, Hynes was ...

, and Dubbel Dutch, among others. In 2017, Le1f was part of the line up for the 17th edition of the

Sonic Acts Sonic Acts is an organisation for the research, development and production of works at the intersection of art, science and theory. It also commissions and co-produces new works, often in collaboration with international festivals, arts organisati ...

Festival in Amsterdam, which explored The Noise of Being. He has also performed several times at

club night called Progress Bar.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (2015, XL/

)

EPs

*'' Liquid'' (2012, Boysnoize Records) – Le1f & Boody *''

Hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

'' (2014, XL/Terrible Records) *''Blue Dream'' (2018, Self-released)

Mixtapes

*''

'' (2012, Greedhead/Camp & Street) *'' Fly Zone'' (2013, Greedhead/Camp & Street) *''

'' (2013, Greedhead/Camp & Street)

Filmography

Music videos

Television

References

External links

Official siteOfficial FacebookOfficial Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leif LGBT African Americans LGBT people from New York (state) American gay musicians Rappers from Manhattan American hip hop record producers LGBT rappers African-American male rappers Living people American people of Senegalese descent 1989 births Wesleyan University alumni Concord Academy alumni 21st-century American rappers Record producers from New York (state) 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people East Coast hip hop musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people