La Reezy’s new album is a party bus ride around the Black experience, the New Orleans-born rapper says.
“When I was 13, I would ride the party bus with my friends, and we would look out the window and see different things. We would reflect on what’s happening on the bus [and] have a good time. That’s what I wanted this album to feel like,” La Reezy says. “[I] wanted it to feel like home, like New Orleans culture. Wanted it to feel alive and reflecting like you’re passing through the city. What better way to pass through the city than on a party bus?”
“Skiddle Bandana,” the first full-length album from La Reezy, is out July 7 and drops as the 12th Ward native continues to reach new career heights.
The 21-year-old had a major 2025 — which itself built on years of hustle and hard work. A string of EPs, including one recorded with Grammy-winner PJ Morton, collided with nods from Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, The Creator and The Next Up Award from the national Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx.
This year has already included another EP, “Leader of Da Uth,” an appearance on the Jazz Fest stage with Jon Batiste and, most recently, inclusion in XXL magazine’s Freshman Class — a closely watched (and debated) feature bringing national attention to quickly rising rappers. The 2026 class also includes Slayr, Skrilla, YKNiece and Trim.
“I’m just really very grateful, honored to be selected,” La Reezy says.
But it wasn’t a surprise, he adds. He says he’s confident in his music and what it can give to others.
“I do the work,” he says. “I feel like my music is life changing. I feel my music is healing, important and necessary. And I’m just grateful to have the opportunity to spread my name to such a huge platform.”
That swaggering confidence can be heard across “Skiddle Bandana,” framed by vignettes of friends climbing onto a party bus for a ride around New Orleans. But it’s not just hot air: La Reezy is an introspective writer — one of his 2024 EPs, “We All Need Help,” focused on his mental health — who understands his value.
“For me, it was just a fresh realization of wow, like my curly hair is super cool. My chains are fly. I think I’ve grown to be more confident and proud of myself and my looks and my accent and where I come from,” La Reezy says.
La Reezy co-executive produced “Skiddle Bandana” with Oakland producer ClayDough, using sample contributions by JBoogz, Al Hug, Spiff Sinatra and Ray Marco. New Orleans great Mac Phipps introduces La Reezy ahead of the album’s title track, vocalist Maleah appears on the song “How Did You Love Me” and the throughline skits feature rapper and comedian Lolly.
A diligent creator, La Reezy tends to work months ahead and made “Skiddle Bandana” last year. But with four projects in line for 2025 — “Welcome to La Reezyana,” the PJ Morton collaboration “Pardon Me, I’m Different,” “La Reezyana Shakedown” and “Free99$” — he decided to hold on to the release and further flesh it out into a full-length.
Bandanas have a long history in hip-hop, and the art around “Skiddle Bandana” features La Reezy draped in a large square of yellow and red. But he’s leaving the title open to interpretation, he says.
“I said it one day, and it sounded fly,” La Reezy says. “It could be community, unity, vibrant — I just know that it’s a way to express the Black experience.”
La Reezy touches on a range of topics across the robust album. He raps about growing up in a home where money is tight on “Normal Struggles” and how family members have shown up for him over the years on “Family Bizzy.”
With the dynamic “Melanate It,” one of his latest singles, La Reezy celebrates Black identity. And on the warm “How Did You Love Me,” he reflects on love, growth and his relationship with his partner. He also reminds the listener to get out and live on the closing track “We Live.”
A lot of the album is “trying to find the balance in understanding Black identity through struggling and understanding how the limitations that may come with being young from New Orleans actually is a blessing,” La Reezy says. “It creates an opportunity for you to make something bigger.”
“There’s no rap music without limitations. There’s no great art without some form of adversity,” he adds. “So [I’m] finding that balance through these experiences that I’ve had.”
La Reezy is hitting another milestone later this year when he heads out on his first headlining tour. After dates in London, Amsterdam, Paris and Cologne, Germany, he spends October and November in the U.S. and closes the tour with a hometown show on Dec. 5 at Gasa Gasa. Those tickets are on sale now.
Find La Reezy on Instagram: @lareezymusic.
Just in 2025, New Orleans rapper La Reezy has received a major award from the Hip Hop Museum, released three projects, collaborated with PJ Morton and caught the attention of Tyler, The Creator and Kendrick Lamar. And he’s hungry for more.
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