Khalif Libasse Diouf, known by the stage name Kalifa (born April 6, 1989), formerly known by the stage name Le1f (), is an American rapper and producer. Diouf also founded the record label Camp & Street, with Boody, DonChristian, and Chaz Requina. Diouf garnered attention for unique musical and performance styles, as well as his role as an openly gay rapper. Following a series of well-received mixtapes and EPs, Diouf's debut studio album, ''

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

'', was released in November 2015.

Biography

Born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Diouf studied ballet and

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes 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 ...

, attended the

Concord Academy Concord Academy (also known as CA) is a coeducational, Independent school, independent University-preparatory school, college-preparatory school for boarding and day students in Concord, Massachusetts. CA educates approximately 400 students in ...

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

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

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 unconv ...

, such as their popular debut single "

Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" is a 2008 song by American hip hop group Das Racist. It was first released free on their MySpace page.

", Diouf became known as a solo artist with the release of debut

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

'' Dark York'', released in April 2012. Its second 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 Blood Orange. Early life Blanco was born in Orange County, C ...

(which was co-produced with Diouf collaborator, Boody) from their '' 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". Diouf's 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. Suri came to prominence as a member of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist, with whom he released two mixtapes and one album. Suri has ...

, 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. A native of Seattle, Washington, he started his career in 2000 as an independent artist rele ...

for the latter's song "

Thrift Shop "Thrift Shop" is a song written and performed by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring vocals from American singer Wanz, released in 2012, as the fourth single from the former's debut studio album, '' The Heist'' (2012). The lyr ...

", 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 Love" is a song by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, released as the third single from their 2012 debut studio album, '' The Heist''. The track, featuring vocals by Seattle-based singer Mary Lambert, talks about the issue of ...

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

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

issue for financial gain. In September 2013, Diouf released a 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 ha ...

'' 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 across a range of different media, including painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and video. His work explores the nuances of contemporary experience by layering ins ...

. 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 o ...

announced Diouf's record deal as well as an EP, a five-track project titled ''Hey'', which was later released on March 11, 2014. On March 13, 2014, Diouf made an appearance on national television with a performance on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

''. In November 2015, Diouf released a 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 ...

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,

Lunice Lunice Fermin Pierre II (born May 15, 1988), better known by his mononymous 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 Fili ...

, Boody,

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

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, composer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, ...

, 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 interdisciplinary arts organisation focused on the research, development, and production of work at the intersection of art, science, and theory. It serves as a platform for international projects, artistic research, and the com ...

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

club night called Progress Bar.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2015, XL/

)

EPs

* ''

Liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

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

Hey 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 ...

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

Mixtapes

* '' Dark York'' (2012,

Greedhead Greedhead Music is an independent record label founded by Himanshu Suri of Das Racist that has been defunct since 2015. Initially, Suri founded Greedhead Music as a management and recording company in 2008 to manage Das Racist. Greedhead's first ...

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

'' (2013, Greedhead/Camp & Street)

Filmography

Music videos

Television

References

External links

*
Official Facebook

Official Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leif 1989 births 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American rappers African-American LGBTQ people African-American rappers American hip-hop record producers American LGBTQ singers American non-binary musicians American people of Senegalese descent Concord Academy alumni East Coast hip-hop musicians LGBTQ people from New York (state) American LGBTQ rappers LGBTQ record producers Living people Non-binary singers Rappers from Manhattan Record producers from New York (state) Wesleyan University alumni